"Quite an experience to live in fear, isn't it?"

"Blade Runner is adapted from the novel, 'Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?' written by award winning science fiction author, Philip K. Dick. [...]  Just as the ghost of Dick's twin sister, Jane, affected his books, so too did the memory of Ridley's brother, Frank, affect his film. Mortality is present in Dick's novel. But under Scott's direction, 'Blade Runner' reshapes Dick's distopia into a story of two men: one who is dying and seeking meaning to his life, and the other, who because of their encounter gains a deeper understanding of who he is. And as the film reaches his climax, completely unlike the novel, one man sits and watches helplessly as a surrogate brother surrenders calmly to his death. While mortality and identity appear to be the film's commanding themes, there re others running through it's futuristic landscape. There are questions about zoology and technology, memory and authenticity. Then there is theology and biology. And biggest of all, humanity and equality. Yet another theme is urbanity and Blade Runner uses it to present a vision of the future. Paradoxically, that future can be found in the past. It's imagery is reminiscent of the 15th century paintings by Jeronymous Bosch. The film presents an appocalyptic view of Los Angeles, and even before we enter the City of Angels, the soundtrack hints that judgement day is at hand. In literary terms Dante Alighieri described hell with meticulous detail in his epic poem 'Inferno'. With those medieval illusions, Roy Batty has come to Earth in pursuit of more life, but all he finds is a world plagued with pollution, decay and a creator unable to help. Not unlike the knight returning from the crusades in Ingmar Bergman's 1957 masterpiece, 'The Seventh Seal'. It is not the only film we find in Blade Runner. You have 'Shanghai Express', 'Citizen Kane', 'The Maltese Falcon', 'Mildred Pierce', and 'Out of the Past'. Then there is 'Blow-Up', 'The Conformist', the films of Stanley Kubrick, especially 'Barry Lyndon', Scorcese's 'Taxi Driver', and Coppola's 'Appocalypse Now', and of course, Blade Runner itself has had an enormous influence on other films. You can take your pick from 'Akira', 'Ghost in the Shell', 'Brazil', the films of David Fincher particularly, 'Se7en', 'Dark City', 'The Matrix', another Dick adaptation: 'Minority Report', 'Batman Begins', and 'Wall-E'. This unusual use of focus is not mere affectation. It is a poetic flourish that encapsulates Roy's predicament: he has but a short length of life to live, and Ridley Scott visualizes that time by narrowing the space in which Roy appears in focus. Modern architecture is perhaps best exemplified by the skyscraper, and 'Blade Runner' uses enormous high rises to illustrate another of it's themes: social structure. Now, I don't say social order. This city teams with chaos. But undoubtedly, Blade Runner's society is avertical one of haves and have nots. These visions can be traced back to the silent era. Specifically 'The Crowd' directed in 1920 by King Vidor, and Fritz Lang's 'Metropolis', a year earlier. Langs masterpiece resembles these drawings by the Italian futurist Antonio Sant'Elia. While Sant'Elia's designs inform Blade Runner's vision of the city, it is the designs of an American architect, Frank Lloyd Wright and one of his buildings in particular that succinctly answers the key question of identity: who or what is Rick Deckard? There are several clues as to Deckard's real identity. The most emphatic of which emerge in Ridley Scott's final director's cut of 2006. But long before that and present in the film from as early as its pre-poduction stage is an architectural clue. These scenes set in Deckard's apartment are actually filmed in a house designed by Frank Lloyd Wright. Ennis House, built in 1924 is one of the landmark buildings in Los Angeles and features concrete blocks with very distinct details. Frank Lloyd Wright insisted upon these carvings after having visited the Mayan temple in Mexico. This is where Doctor Eldon Tyrell lives, and the silhouette of the Mayan temple echos above Deckard's apartment by way of the details on the walls. So the creator lives in the temple while his creation dwells in an apartment adorned with ornate carvings from the temple. Another important element is, of course, eyes. Note the manner in which the eyes of the known replicants are lit (?). The gift of sight brings with it the ability to recognize, and both are crucial steps in forming an identity. To recognize yourself is to see yourself. And that is important in understanding who you are. This is the 'Arnolfini Marriage' painted by Jan van Eyck in 1434. Examine the background and you will see the artist reflected in the mirror. But we don't know who took this photograph, because whoever took it doesn't know who they are. Ridley Scott has given us several great films and at least one masterpiece. But I think that Blade Runner is his most personal film. For me it belongs more to the museum than it does in the multiplex.