Blade runner

The dystopian state of "Blade Runner" Chan Chun Ming, Clement Introduction "Blade Runner" directed by Ridley Scott, a British director, was released in 1982. This science fiction film was adapted from the novel “Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep” by Philip K. Dick in 1968. “Blade Runner” aroused plenty of heated criticisms among audience. There are seven versions of this film but this paper adopts the “Director cut’s version of 1992” so there is no voice over in the film. The theme of the movie points out the hideous side of selfishness among humans who make use of the replicants to work for them as slaves. The purpose behind creating those potential strengths of replicants, through the highly technological devices and sophisticated scientific knowledge, is to satisfy the needs of human beings. The background of the whole movie presents a dismal cityscape of Los Angeles in 2019.The streets are not only suffused with rubbish but also it is a crime-prone society in a futuristic ambiance and stuffy condition. It is strange why a futuristic city looks like a sterile environment. Furthermore, the only sunlight in the movie that can be seen is in the scene of Tyrell’s apartment while darkness is enshrouded in the entire movie, giving an unsettling feeling to audience. All the phenomena depicted in “Blade Runner” are to mirror the problems of our contemporary society nowadays. Furthermore, the superiority of technology fails to 2. build up an idealistic and harmonious society for people. The basic premise of this paper is to explore the reason behind a dystopian environment in “Blade Runner”. Any powerful functions or benefits that people can enjoy and satisfy through technological advantages of scientific achievement may become a nightmare in the future. In other words, a sense of insecurity becomes an ominous apprehension in a state of dystopian society in the foreseeable future. The definition of dystopia The entire text of "Blade Runner" is portrayed in a milieu of dystopian landscape and this paper, the first and foremost task, is to identify the definition of dystopia based on the binary opposition. The opposite of utopia is dystopia. According to the definition of utopia, it states that a fictive society based around notions of equality, social harmony, economic prosperity and political stability while dystopia refers to fictional societies that are incredibly imperfect, lacking the harmonious and egalitarian qualities of life depicted in utopias. The prefix of 'dys' means bad. Basically, these are two diverse notions in terms of a social concept. In addition, utopia was coined by Thomas More with a combination of Greek eutopia (a happy place) and outopia (no place) together. The difference between these two contrasting terms can outline the meaning of dystopia and examine the understanding of its counterpart about utopia. All in all, the definition of dystopia, which provides a useful vehicle to explore its meaning, can be used to vindicate how the environment of a society looks like and indicate what the problems of a dystopian state exists in the text. Problems of dystopian phenomena Numerous scenes of "Blade Runner" display plenty examples of the dystopian cityscape such as the gushing flames in the first scene, smoggy surroundings of streetscape, incessant falling of acid rain, rubbish-laden streets, insufficient sunlight in the city and the glaring spotlight of spinners (flying vehicles), illustrating the aspect of decadence in a dystopian city. The eco-disaster has devastated the whole city in an alarming degree. Furthermore, the impact of nuclear war produces the massive overkill that brings severe damage to human beings. That's why Sebastian is getting decrepit because of the toxic chemicals. The spotlights of spinners become the essential light source in the evening. Consequently, it constitutes the problem of light pollution as the spotlights give off glaring light at night. Crime is found in Los Angeles as the replicants kill humans as they take revenge on them because they have been under oppression by humans. The replicants are slave labours, working for 4. human beings and, most importantly and ironically, they are looked down upon in society. In fact, their status are the outsiders in society. It also reflects the problem of inequality existing in a futuristic society with such technological advancement. Said (2003:24) maintained that Orientalism not only offers a marvelous instance of the interrelations between society, history and textuality but also the cultural role played by the Orientin the west connects Orientalism with ideology, politics, and the logic of power. The replicants are treated as inferior class in terms of their identities as they are half humans and half machines. They are exploited to serve to humans. The rationale of Orientalism is to illustrate the imbalance of power which is found in society especially some group with stereotype in society. They are regarded to live in a fixed period at certain time in history. Thus, the status of the replicants is considered to be otherness and their identities of being replicants will last forever. To a greater extent, there exists two different classes in society, including humans and replicants respectively. The inharmonious aspect of society is noticeable since replicants are being oppressed by humans. It is ironical to say that inequality still turns out in a highly technology-orientated society in the future. Indeed, the rebellion of those relpicants is really caused by the selfishness of human beings who lead to the root of trouble in society. Different ethnic groups with a mishmash of various languages can be discernible in the movie especially in the crowded streets. The crucial point is to convey an important message that the process of diaspora has been underway and they are left on earth because they have little economic capabilities to settle in the off-world colony and, what's more, they are the underprivileged in society. The society is not in a state of idealistic entity in terms of economic prosperity. It is due to the fact that the economic resources of the society are dominated by a few conglomerates. The Tyrell Corporation, which is a striking example in the text, controls the production in society. It reveals how the capitalists exploit the economic opportunities in a post-industrial stage in the future. Instead of following a right track of utopian development with an evenly economic distribution, the society tends to go down into an abyss of dystopian swirl. The perfectness of society is far way from people. Williams (1988:384) claimed that the following items can be subsumed as the features of dystopia, including irreversible environmental pollution, numbing overpopulation, frighteningly violent crime, intractable bureaucratic administration and authoritarianism and the most heartless forms of economic exploitation. "Blade Runner" can find the above-mentioned characteristics of dystopia. The role of film noir Ostensibly, the dark lighting effect is one the vivid elements of film language to construct a predominant mood of the movie. The centrality of this lighting technique successfully builds up a unique aura to match with the production design of a dystopian degradation prevailing the movie thematically, powerfully highlighting a strong contrast of dark and light visual images. The movie belongs to a film genre of film noir, which was a major film movement in 1940's. Dick (1990:96) illustrated that in film noir, the interplay of light and dark is accomplished by high-contrast photography and low-key lighting, which create a monolinear world of white and dark. Actually, "Blade Runner" is not a black and white film. It makes use of film noir as a medium or a production design to reflect the atmosphere of a dystopian problem to audience, thereby giving a sense of insecurity and uncertainty towards a futuristic city with a strong emphasis of technoscience-based infrastructure. In doing so, it is highly critical of the age of modern technology and science because these two elements do more harm to humans totally. One point is worth noting that the essence of film noir turns into a momentum to reinforce the message of a dystopian state in the whole text thematically and aesthetically. All the crimes are committed at nocturnal timeframe. Several scenes of murder happen at night, including the killing of Holden, Leon, Tyrell, Zhora and Chew. The most stunning visual stimulus is the deadly fighting between Batty and Deckard at the ending of the movie with the downpour of rain elegiacally. It delineates how awful a dystopian situation it is. Darkness is a symbol, implying something terrible that is going to happen. Thus, the foggy streetscape is enveloped in darkness whereas the shining lights of the flying vehicle produce a sharp contrast in lighting effect artistically. There are certain traits of characterization found in film noir such as private detective and a female character who is a femme fatale. Deckard is a blade runner who hunts down and kills those replicants. Actually, his job is similar to a private detective while Rachael is a replicant who belongs to femme fatale. Lacey (2000:65) added that the conventional protagonist of films noir is an alienated male, a drifter or private eye detective and the character of the femme fatale. Deckard comes across Rachael in the course of chasing the replicants and the former becomes infatuated with the latter. The story line turns out a twist as Deckard saves Rachael's lives and they flee together out the dystopian city. In fact, it is an open ending as it leaves plenty of room for audience to figure out their final destiny. The interesting point is that the life span of a replicant lasts for 4 years so it triggers the audience to think of their romance whether it is a happy ending or sad ending. In film noir, the male character will change his fate when he meets a female character. Deckard has to choose to escape with Rachael as their decision because the outcome of being a replicant has to retire, implying extermination. If Los Angeles were a utopian city, social harmony and stability would co-exist in society. However, tolerance and mutual respect will become extinct in a futuristic society so there is nothing more to describe the social milieu of Los Angeles than a dystopian degeneration. The incorporation of film noir in the movie can strengthen the negative aspect of dystopian state. The dreadful nightmare in the movie is an epitome of our deep worry in contemporary society in which the technology has already brought us. Indeed, technological-determinism is not a panacea to everything although technology can help humans make their dream come true to a certain extent. The theory of postmodernism "Blade Runner" has been regarded as a classic example of postmodernism and Sunderland (2009) thought that "Blade Runner" has been seen as a quintessentially postmodernist film. The central notion is how the affinity between dystopia and postmodernism can be bound up together. Basically, postmodernism is anti-technology and skeptical to progress because nobody can guarantee technology is absolute security. Scientists and technicians have a set of beliefs based on truth and reasoning to underpin their conceptualization. Their truths become grand narratives. However, postmodernism totally denies any grand narrative. Science, with its importance of truth behind a set of grand narratives, fades away as it cannot overcome all the problems that human faces in reality. Lyotard (1984:37) asserted that the grand narrative has lost its credibility, regardless of what mode of unification it uses, regardless of whether it is a speculative narrative or a narrative of emancipation. Dr. Tyrell, a scientist, thinks that the replicants can help humans through sophisticated technology. However, it is not case. His purpose is based on the mentality of profit-making. Science, indeed, causes a lot of disastrous result to the earth and even the mutiny of the replicants. That is, the nature of science becomes malfunction. The technological devices or gadgets only make the society become a consumerism-orientated mode. Thus, consumerism is a major trend and a spectacle of society takes shape. This term is suggested by Guy Debord. The advertisement billboards are the bombardment of visual images of commodities found in "Blade Runner". This is the trait of late capitalism put forward by Fred Jameson and Barker (2008: 209) explained that late capitalism extends commodification to all realms of personal and social life, transforming the real into the image and simulacrum. The present trend of emphasizing superficial value through purchasing is a not a healthy practice. "Blade Runner" depicts this phenomenon in a futuristic society in order to satirize the acts of humans in existing society. It demonstrates that people are under economic exploitation and their living standard is not as idealistic as it seems in a technological city. It is apt to mention that some traits of postmodernism can be used to explain how the state of dystopia is formed in "Blade Runner" . The animals shown in "Blade Runner" are the replicas of the real animals as Zhora mentioned that she could not afford to buy a snake. The reason why all the animals are not real is that the eruption of eco-disasters kills all the animals on earth. It is ironical to say that all the animals look more real than the real one. Baudrillard (1983:148) claimed that it is reality itself today that is hyperrealist and we live everywhere in an 'aesthetic' hallucination of reality. It is hard to distinguish all the visual images whether they are real or fake because the age of simulation has already become a way of life in the postmodern period. The outlook of all replicants are as same as human beings except their limitation of memory system because they do not have past memory. Furthermore, their future also looks gloomy as they have 4-year life span. The design of the building identifies the particularity of postmodernism. The golden skyscraper of the Tyrell Corporation is an amalgam of the Gothic design and the modern architecture, becoming a kind of pastiche in artistic formation. The Tyrell building implies a symbol of economic exploitation in Los Angeles. This building does not signify economic prosperity but it denote how Tyrell enjoys a special status, controlling economic resources in society. Kuhn (1990:185) commented that the city is not an orderly layout of skyscrapers and ultracomfortable, hypermechanized interiors. Rather, it creates an aesthetic of decay, exposing the dark side of technology, the process of disintegration. The stylistic design of the building is only for the sake of artistic function rather than for making any positive contribution in a fair opportunity of economic development. The significant point is that advanced technology only results in bringing a dystopian society because the financial resources of a society are controlled by a few people. Conclusion The central focus of this paper places special emphasis on a dystopian state. In fact, it is the selfishness of humans who create the trouble to themselves. Most importantly, technology leads to a dystopian cityscape pessimistically. "Blade Runner" triggers our contemporary society to do reflection concerning technology that brings worry in society and it seems that "Blade Runner" offers an apocalyptic insight towards technological futurity. The significance of postmodernism, with it denial of truth towards science and acceptance of diversity, refuses to acknowledge technoscience as the sole contribution to society and, what's more, espouses heterogeneity, broadening a new horizon for people in contemporary society. In short, postmodernism, so to speak, is a new way of thinking in terms of zeitgeist. References Barker (2008) Cultural Studies Theory and practice.Sage.3rd Edition. p.209 Baudrillard, J (1983) Simulation. New York. Semiotext(e). p.148 Lacy, Nick (2000) Blade Runner- York Film Notes.Longman. Longhurst, B, Smith, G. Bagnall, G. Crawford,G&Ogborn, M (2004) Introducing Cultural Studies. Pearson: Longman. (1stEd) p.214 Lyotard, jean Francois (1984) The Postmodern Condition. Manchester. University Press. Kuhn, Annette (1990) Alien Zone.Verso, London and New York. Said Edward W. (2003) Orientalism. Penguin Books. http://dc-mrg.english.ucsb.edu/WarnerTeach/E192/bladerunner/Dystopia.Blade.Runner.Hoffpauir.htm - information about the meaning of utopia and dystopia. http://www.jstor.org/stable/1600763 (Ideology as Dystopia: An Interpretation of "Blade Runner" : Douglas E. Williams from International Political Science Review. Vol. 9 No.4 Sage Publication. http://cinemaroll.com/cinemarolling/blade-runner-and-postmodernism 14.

Cold war

A good movie but not better than Infernal Affiars

Grasshopper vs Softhard

Definitely concert of the year. Very entertaining. ck

Taken 2

An action packed movie but you've to leave your brains behind in order to enjoy the movie.

Iron Sky

A cult movie that draws a few laughs

重遇——張德蘭

趁幾天復活節假期，一行八人，一起到泉州，探訪岳父岳母他們的故鄉。 車程很長，但不打緊，重要的是那份回鄉的感覺。老婆說，她六歲到香港，鄉下是怎樣的，早已記不得，而對過慣城市生活的女兒來說，鄉下是很遙遠的東西。 在車上沒事可做，都是看點書，聽音樂，來打發時間。現在要用最短的時間量度一個人的品位，通常會問：“What’s on your iPod?”而我的答案，通常令人摸不著頭腦，例如有Adele，One Direction，Simple Plan這些流行的歌曲，亦有Pink Floyd，Yes，ELP，Deep Purple這些在我成長年紀影響至深的音樂，更當然會有大量的jazz和blues，而更重要的當然之選，是她，張德蘭。 回憶總是美麗的。 記得第一次接觸張德蘭的音樂時，我只是六歲。那是跟父親參加飲宴，當晚表演嘉賓，就是那陣子還叫張圓圓的小妹妹，唱了大量的國語歌。雖然當時年紀小，也覺得她的歌聲很甜美，樣子可愛，亦令我開始接觸流行曲。 然後是反叛的年代，大量的重型搖滾，就是我的至愛。接著是出國留學，電視播的是「陸小鳳」，劇情相當吸引，但令我留意的不是鄭少秋唱的主題曲，而是「愿君心記取」，「鮮花滿月樓」這些小調，歌者叫張德蘭，即是從前的張圓圓。 以前資訊沒有現在這麼流通，留學生必備的是那一整套的金庸武俠小說，及好幾盒的卡式帶，而我其中一盒帶，是女友送的，就是張德蘭的歌。 在沒有電腦的年代的留學生，生活總是樸素的，那種「酒無人勸，醉也無人管」的生活是不好受，寂寞時，想起家人，想起女友，就聽聽張德蘭的歌。如是者，便過了五年。 回到香港工作，舊的東西，如事過境遷。留下的，總會留著，但過去的，便讓它逝去，包括那份初戀。雖然已進入CD的年代，但寂寞時，夢回青河，喝一口紅酒，聽一點張德蘭的歌，讓淚水滾動，都是一個好的釋放。 到了早一陣子，我跟老婆結婚週年紀念，和一大班朋友去聽演唱會，而歌者正是張德蘭。隨著她唱著顧家輝的名曲，我便墮進思念之中，現實上拖著至愛的手，回憶中帶著鄭愁予的名句：“我不是歸人，是個過客”，想起從前的往事。 演唱會煞是好看，張德蘭當晚唱的，除了首本名曲外，亦在A Capella的環節，大演功架，還有以不同的形式，演唱別人的歌曲。這幾十年來，我變了很多，而張德蘭的音樂造詣，可算再登高峰。 演唱會後，二話不說，立刻置了她的新CD，叫重遇。是的，如徐志摩所說：“我將於茫茫人海中訪我唯一靈魂之伴侶。得之，我幸；不得，我命”。我找到了，Eureka，亦重新認識張德蘭。便把她的新歌，放在iPod裏，伴我這個回鄉之旅，給我一大發現。 我是頗為抗拒「口水歌」的。心想，任你怎樣唱，也難超越。但張德蘭這張新碟中，有很多「口水歌」，都給我帶來驚喜，例如「偏偏喜歡你」。 在大學時，我曾經喜歡過一位女孩子，但緣分未到，只有分手離場。回港前的幾個晚上，聽的是陳百強的「偏偏喜歡你」，離愁別緒，加上感情失意，卒潸然下淚。但此番聽張德蘭的版本，卻有新的感受。我有妻有女，生活相當愉快，而女兒名字，就叫「翩翩」，所以在回鄉當晚，唱卡拉OK，點了這首歌，唱罷給老婆及女兒深深一吻，多謝她們帶給我的快樂。 又例如「鐵塔淩雲」，除了許冠傑外，怎可以有另外之選？月前他重回港大，一唱此曲，令人回首當年，幾經風雨，香江仍是最美，而張德蘭聲音帶柔，就好像一位愛人，向你訴說多年的支持，給你一個鼓勵，肯定美麗的將來。 至於兩首A Capella，「願」及「陪著你走」，真的好到沒得說。原來在沒有音樂之下，張德蘭的演繹，把歌的級數提高了，好像醇酒般，慢慢品嘗，享受當中的變化。 還值得一提的，當然是電視劇「我的如意狼君」主題曲「朝花夕拾」，就像當年由張圓圓年代變做張德蘭年代一樣，大家會問，這是誰唱的啊？樂壇多了一把天籟之聲，可喜可賀啊！原來是重遇張德蘭，於是奔走相告，她回來了。 其實，張德蘭一點也沒有離開過，隨著年和月，點與滴，天天都在進步之中，此番再戰樂壇是向大家說明一個道理，就是成功永遠留給有準備的人。 四天回鄉之旅匆匆過去，重拾的是那份甜蜜的回憶，陪伴的是美好的人與事。多謝你，張德蘭。 走筆至此，要問一句：以後的日子，可否以張圓圓的名字出新碟呢？反正，圓圓的名字是多麼的好聽啊。不信，你問高圓圓。 「人和人年和月都太類似，無論怎麼都只活一次，晴朗的天空中找到生息的真意，人才能無悔舊時。 在人潮和圍牆下只要願意，憑著一雙手總是可以，晴朗的天空中跨過彼此的疆界，連潮流亦會轉移。」 專輯：重遇張德蘭 歌名：在晴朗的天空下 曲：李宗盛 詞：林夕 唱：張德蘭 張志儉

Batman - the dark night rises

A good movie but not an excellent one. Nolan wants to explore many issues but they are dealt with in quite a superficial manner. Furthermore, he should have employed a martial arts co-ordinator from HK to take care of the fight scene. ck