Blade Runner

Kamala: Ridley Scott is either the most anal director ever, or the most dissatisfied with his studio's desired cut of his favorite film. There is an entire Wikipedia article dedicated to the SEVEN versions of Blade Runner out there. There is an "international cut," a "theatrical cut," a "director's cut," a "final cut," and more. We watched the american theatrical cut, reworked by the studio to be easier to understand and complete with a tacked on happy ending.

Emily: Kamala said she had seen this one before, but she had seen the grittier, pessimistic director's cut from 1992, with an entirely different ending. Similarly to Brazil, one of both of our favorite films, which everyone should see, Blade Runner was repeatedly bowdlerized by studio execs who failed to see the brilliance of the director's own devastating ending.

Emily: Blade Runner is the story of Rick Deckard's forced return from his self-imposed retirement from being a blade runner. In the near future (2019...I will be 29) a technology company has released an android, the Nexus 6, that is so close to being human that, when the replicants, as they are called, start to rebel against their human masters only certain, specially trained policemen can tell the difference between them and real people. These men are called blade runners. Deckard is forced back into his career to catch 4 replicants who are particularly dangerous. Their names are Batty, Pris, Leon, and Zhora.

Kamala: What I like the most about Blade Runner is the conflict between what is human and what isn't. Is Deckard any more human than Batty just because he was born, and not created? Isn't Rachel human because she believes herself to be? Is Deckard a replicant? Rachel's character shows that basically anyone can be a replicant, so what is the barrier of the knowledge available to a human about itself? This film is thoughtful and thought-provoking. Also, the futuristic view of Los Angeles is horrifying and yet realistic. An urban nightmare where most of the healthy people with at least some means are living in off-planet colonies, and those remaining on earth speak a strange street language cobbled together from Spanish, German, Japanese, and French.

Emily: The world is a human tapestry of weirdoes. Hare Krishnas, Punks, Japanese thugs, etc.