Since the release of “Blade Runner” in 1982, it has been THE question that has haunted fans of the film: is the character played by Harrison Ford a replicant? If for Ridley Scott the answer is in no doubt, not everyone shares this opinion…
Since the release of Ridley Scott’s film in 1982, this is THE question that has haunted Blade Runner fans, especially since the director’s cut version of the film. And if some thought that Denis Villeneuve would come to the fore on this specific subject in Blade Runner 2049, they will be at their expense. The filmmaker declared that he wanted to maintain the ambiguity around Rick Deckard, and that the answer is not as clear as one might think.
In Philip K. Dick’s novel, Rick Deckard is presented as a human. But doubt sets in within him, and it is very openly that he asks himself the question, with a colleague Blade Runner, of the possibility of themselves being replicants without their knowledge, and of what they would do if they found out. The film is much more mysterious on this subject, hinting at this possibility in a subtle way.
Deckard is not who he thinks he is
The 1992 version of Blade Runner, known as the “true-false” director’s cut, as well as the – definitive – final cut of 2007, provide elements which support the hypothesis that Deckard is not who he thinks he is. There is already the famous dream of the unicorn. Memories and dreams are implanted into the replicants’ brains from real memories. The unicorn would therefore come from the dreams / memories of another person.
“In fact, I wanted people to believe that these were his thoughts. For example, he took a photo, and he started to look at it and remember. We saw the unicorn crossing the forest, approaching the camera. She shook her head and so did he, as if to chase away the thought.” says Blade Runner editing supervisor Terry Rawlings.
Below, the sequence in question…
Another element: the golden reflection in the Replicants’ eyes, which betrays their nature, is always shown at one moment or another by Ridley Scott in a subtle camera movement. Deckard is also entitled to it. Below is the screenshot:
screenshot
“You have to be an idiot not to understand!”
We also know that Replicants are attached to photographs, which give them the illusion of a past. It is also thanks to the photographs that Deckard manages to find traces of the Nexus 6 rebel Zhora. There are a lot of photographs in Deckard’s home, particularly those above his piano that Rachel looks at. This cannot be a coincidence.
Perhaps the most disturbing clue of all is the famous origami in the shape of a unicorn left by the character Gaff (Edward James Olmos) on the ground in front of the door to Deckard’s apartment, at the end of Blade Runner.
“At the end of the film, I wanted something extraordinary, which could be illustrated: the unicorn. […] Who could have known what was on his mind other than someone who had access to the files that had been implanted into his skull? It couldn’t be clearer. You have to be an idiot not to understand!” said Ridley Scott.
In 2002, in an interview given to the magazine Wiredhe returned to the subject: “Deckard was always designed as a replicant. That’s why Gaff, who leaves origami everywhere, doesn’t like him. We don’t know why, but all the clues are there. If we assume that Deckard is a Nexus 7, he has an uncertain life expectancy, and behaves more and more like a human.”
Below, the sequence in question…
A version of the script, dated February 1981, left little room for doubt about Deckard’s nature. His final voiceover said: “I found out on the roof tonight. We were brothers. Roy Batty and I. Very advanced models of combat. We fought in wars that no one had ever dreamed of…in a nightmare that we can’t name. We were a new breed…Roy, Rachel and me! We were born for this world. It was ours!”
“It’s not his memory!”
That said, not everyone necessarily accepts this version/view of the facts. In a video module accompanying the DVD release of the final cut and called Deck The Replicant: the true nature of Rick Deckardthe filmmaker Frank Darabont, a huge fan of the film, looks back on the unicorn’s dream sequence:
“It’s not his memory, how could this have happened? In fact, he’s thinking about Rachel. He’s thinking about his implanted memories. He’s thinking about his implanted fantasies. Among the myths, the unicorn is a mythical female symbol .
At the end, when Gaff forgets the unicorn, that doesn’t mean: “I’m smarter than you, you’re a Replicant. I know everything about you!” This is Gaff’s final words for Deckard, which means: “you know what? I think they [NDR : les Réplicants] are as human as others; if you like it, go for it old man! Go get her, go save her!”
The result of the races is that the debate on the nature of Deckard still continues, 42 years after the release of Blade Runner: can Deckard be a Nexus 7 type Replicant, remaining in the state of a unique prototype?