Blade Runner 2049: My own reflections.

Blade runner was a film I first saw in the mid eighties, My Dad had recorded it from the TV using an old VHS tape. The film rapidly became a favourite film of mine and I watched it several times. Indeed I watched it so many times, there was a time when I could no longer watch it as I was overfamiliar with the film. Around five or six years ago I bought the box set with several editions of the film and showed them to my wife and step son.

Around a year ago I first heard plans for Blade Runner 2049. I was sceptical at first: the first film, I believed, ended perfectly: the ambiguity left one to figure out what happened next and I didn't like the idea of my own imagination being trumped by a sequel. It seemed that the usual complaint of a dearth of new ideas in Hollywood addicted to recycling and churning out old tried and tested ideas was being reaffirmed by the creation of this sequel. Still I decided to keep an open mind and check it out when it finally arrived. I must confess that I had been encouraged by the images and trailers I had seen and the general positive buzz from the press and old friends alike. 

Yesterday, I met up with an old friend in Derby to go and see the film. He had already seen it once and I was keen to watch it to make my own mind up. My immediate reaction was that this was a film created to be seen in the big screen. The Mise-en-scene and non-diegetic sound combine to almost overwhelm the senses. It is a very audio-visual film which leaves one immersed in the film. The soundtrack by Hans Zimmerman evokes memories of the awe inspiring original soundtrack. The now almost too familiar Dystopian backdrop of the future California is visually stunning. It is interesting that in the gap between the two films that the ethnicity of the other cultures seemed to change in its dominance. In the early eighties the Japanese economy was in ascendancy and seemed to be set in becoming the predominant cultural and economic influence in the West and in the US in particular. Thirty years on, Japan is not considered as such a potential influencer although by no means defunct and this seems to be reflected in the watering down of the Japanese influence in the advertising. This is a shame as I liked the Japanese influence in the mise-en-scene of the original. 

The overall theme of decay is heavily pronounced: Earth is dying. Mankind has reached to the stars and the dispossessed and disenfranchised are struggling to make the most of this apocalyptic world. Added to this mix are the androids. They are still the slaves of this world wanting to rid their shackles and claim their place as equal to their human counterparts. This is the central plot line to the film: what happened to Deckard and Rachel. Ryan Gosling's character K is investigating. As an android himself, K feels closely connected to the case, The twist towards the end made me feel crushed for K and just goes to show that despite the character's otherness, I felt emotionally invested in the film. Thankfully, the film doesn't try to re-tread the original and there is another of a story to feel gripped.

I do feel the one issue I have had with the film is the issue I had with the original and that is the representation of women. It is certainly a man's world in these two films where women are subjugated primarily to men's sexual needs. Yes, like the first film, there are strong feisty women who have gained some positions of authority in this world. However, these women are operating in a distinctively  Patriarchal prism. Women are represented as objects for the sexual gratification of men,

Objections aside, ultimately, this film worked for me. Aesthetically, it is a stunning immersive film. In terms of plot, it is interesting enough to sustain me through 2 hours 44 minutes. The characters are not as memorable as those in the original but there is enough there to feel invested in the film's lead. The film, like the original, does suffer from the objectification of women. I will be buying it on Blu-ray.