Blade Runner
Sep. 19th, 2010 01:34 pmI remember that the first time I saw Blade Runner when I was maybe 14, I was blown away. My response could basically be encapsulated as "Holy shit, you can actually do that in a film?" I loved it because it opened up something, a set of ideas that have always stayed with me.
But I didn't understand it. I remember when the Director's Cut came out how much I missed the narration. I probably said something along the lines of "What the hell is up with the unicorn?" I was genuinely surprised when someone suggested that Deckard might be a replicant. And I thought about it, and I watched it over and over, and I argued with my friends about it.
It's probably been ten years since I've seen it, but I sat in my house yesterday and watched the Final Cut all the way through... and it was still magic. Maybe a different kind of magic; after all, we've both changed considerably. It's elegant to me now, thoughtful and persistent. I find myself enjoying the tiniest shifts of facial expressions, surfing on the deep emotions that were always there but I wasn't old enough to see. I get the sense of underlying contours, of an internal logic that's both familiar and strange at the same time.
Magnificent.
But I didn't understand it. I remember when the Director's Cut came out how much I missed the narration. I probably said something along the lines of "What the hell is up with the unicorn?" I was genuinely surprised when someone suggested that Deckard might be a replicant. And I thought about it, and I watched it over and over, and I argued with my friends about it.
It's probably been ten years since I've seen it, but I sat in my house yesterday and watched the Final Cut all the way through... and it was still magic. Maybe a different kind of magic; after all, we've both changed considerably. It's elegant to me now, thoughtful and persistent. I find myself enjoying the tiniest shifts of facial expressions, surfing on the deep emotions that were always there but I wasn't old enough to see. I get the sense of underlying contours, of an internal logic that's both familiar and strange at the same time.
Magnificent.