Blade Runner Review

Blade Runner, directed by Ridley Scott tells the story of a world destroyed by nuclear war. Set in a nihilistic, dystopian future, Harrison Ford plays Rick Deckard, an ex-cop turned bounty hunter who's job it is to hunt down and "retire" androids, or "replicants". These replicants are like people in every way, except they have stunted emotions and they are programmed to have a four-year lifespan. They are meant for slave labour, but are illegal once they escape from their owners. Four of these replicants escape the outer-world colonies back to earth, led by by the intelligent and ruthless Roy Batty, played by Rutger Hauer. His goal is to prolong life, and seeks answers in Los Angeles while Deckard hunts for this group in order to kill them. Deckard also has time to meet Rachael, a young woman working for the replicant producing Tyrell Corporation, though she doesn't know she's a replicant herself. This might sound like a post apocalyptic action thriller, but it's more like a film-noir detective thriller, with shades of grey and a flawed hero set in a decaying society.
I was attracted to this film because I'm a fan of Phillip K Dick, whose novel, 'Do Androids Dream Electric Sheep?' provided the basis of the story. The film deals with themes of humanity and good and evil; the replicants all experience human emotions, they cry and feel loss and love. At first it seems the antagonistic replicants are soulless killing machines, but as the film goes on, it is Deckard which fits this mold: he says very little, he seems detached from other characters and he forces a distraught Rachael into having sex with him against her will. Roy Batty, however, grieves for each of his comrades, cries when confronting his "father-maker", Tyrell and shows both child like mischief and sexual desire with JF Sebastian and Pris, who herself is a Puck-like figure of innocence.
There are numerous versions of Blade Runner I'm told, one involving Deckard having a voice over narration. I have only seen the "final cut" Ridley Scott chose on the DVD, and that's the one shown on TV nowadays. I prefer the fact that none of the characters except Batty say what they really mean. Everyone's an enigma, from Deckard to Gaff to Rachael to Deckard's superior. Instead of being told what's happening, we experience it, we discover new things for ourselves, usually as Deckard's discovering them.
There's an apocalyptic, claustrophobic noir atmosphere throughout the entire film, which I love. The lighting, the gorgeous sets and scenery, the visuals. The cast are all great, with Rutger Hauer standing out of a great ensemble. A special kudos to Edward James Olmos for making the best of his short role as Gaff. In the documentary it's stated how Hauer and Olmos interpreted their characters and so added to them and expanded them, like for instance, Batty's hair and final speech, and Olmos' dress sense and accent.
As Deckard picks off the replicants, a disenfranchised Rachael escapes from the Tyrell Corporation and ends up with him, even though Deckard is assigned to kill any replicant that has escaped. The climax shows Deckard hunting down a decaying Batty, who taunts him and calls him a killer. In the end, Deckard is saved from death by Batty who laments his brief life and memories being lost like tears in the rain. This whole sequence with Deckard running in shadows and the rain was stunning, a triumph in film making. Visually, this film is 10/10, the story-telling is fine, but it isn't paced well and seems rushed. There was an awful lot of time spent watching Deckard mill around his flat drinking and the seduction of Rachael was boring. But I digress, everything was done well, it was hauntingly beautiful and frightening, but not an action-filled shoot em up the plot suggests. The film ends on an uncertain note, with Deckard and Rachael leaving his apartment on the run from the police. There is no happy ending, only doubt. I highly recommend it.

The Killing Series 1 Overview

After twenty episodes, The Killing has proven to live up to expectations. By the time I finished the finale, I was bumb with shock and awe. As the series progressed, suspects emerged, secrets and lies were discovered, careers and lives were put on the line, livelihoods and families were brought down crumbling. Characters were killed off, no one could be trusted, and those few who were should never have been trusted. The cast were fantastic, especially the actors who played Sarah Lund, Troels Hartmann, Theis Larsen and Jan Meyer, but the cast as an ensemble were top notch. The writing was tight and drama always built towards a grand climax at the end of each episode. The score was brilliant and was stuck in my head for days. I can see how the subtitles may put people off if they don't know Danish, or can't keep up, as I first thought, but I got used to it quickly as the story got more absorbing. A grand find this was and I can't wait for the second series to be shown in the Autumn.

The Killing Episodes 4-6

As my viewing of the sublime and compelling "The Killing" marches on, the plot takes more twist and turns in the case of Nanna Berk Larsen. We discover that Nanna's ex-boyfriend Oliver had revenge sex with her best friend, Lisa, the night she disappeared, and that she left the Halloween party for a secret rendezvous. A teacher is suspected, and after a certain teacher's record turns up stating that he was accused of rape by a third year, he becomes chief suspect. Meanwhile, Hartmann, suspecting his man Morten of leaking information to Bremer, sacks his employee and succeeds in forming an alliance with a fellow candidate. However, the basis of his campaign, "immigrant role models" is put into doubt when one of the role models, Rama, is made suspect to the investigation. Meanwhile, the Larsens prepare to say goodbye to their daughter. Having seen her body, Theis breaks down and orders Vagn to get information on the case, and learns that Rama is at the funeral. Theis, who we and Lund discover, has a criminal history of GBH and man slaughter, offers to drive Rama home, but obviously he has other plans. And of course, Sarah is literally on the plane when she realises that Rama is in serious danger. It's utterly complex and brilliant. I like the relationship between Sarah and her successor, Jan. I'm also a fan of the running "gag" in the programme of a character receiving good news and preparing to celebrate before they get a phonecall which instantly changes the mood. The acting and writing is superb and the dialogue is tight through the translation. I look forward to watching more.

The Killing Episodes 1-3

The Killing is a detective drama about a case of the disappearance of a nineteen year old girl called Nanna. I was apprehensive in the first ten minutes of the Danish cop drama; the subtitles were a turnoff and the slow buildup to  the body being discovered was boring. However, I'm glad I hung in there, because this DVD seems to be worth the forty five pounds. The story is told from the point of view of three characters involved with the case. First, there's the investigating officer Sarah Lund, who's supposed to be moving to Sweden with her boyfriend, but is forced to close one more case: the murder of a nineteen year old girl. She is aided by her replacement, DC Jan Mueller. Secondly, there's Troels Hartmann, a young politician and candidate for Mayor of Copenhagen. There seems to be a mole in his campaign committee who's leaking information to the press. Things take a turn for the worst when the dead girl is found in a car belonging to his campaign, implicating him in the murder. Was he framed? Why? Thirdly is Theis and Pernille Birk Larsson, the parents of the dead girl. The episodes after her death see them come to terms with her murder and make sense of what has happened, grieving and breaking the news to their young sons. Their story makes for heartbreaking viewing, sure enough. The drama comes in thick and fast, with suspects and conspiracy theories aplenty. Theis and Troels are deep characters that are not all they seem. It's well acted, each episode builds towards a thrilling climax and cliffhanger and the plot thickens in every scene. I love it.

A Game of Thrones: Book versus TV Series

Having just finished reading the first book of George RR Martin's A Song of Fire and Ice series, A Game of Thrones, I felt compelled to make a comparison of book and program. First, let me say how blown I was away with the sheer scope and ambition this epic has. The series was stunning itself with it's mass of characters, worlds and back story. The characters are not black and white, good or bad, or those that are end up dead. Every character's got something to hide, or a secret agenda, a motto they live by, a back story full of deceit and a shameful nickname. What impressed me was the different orders and societies such as the Night's Watch, the Maesters, the Kings guard, that make this fantasy world seem real. Even the prejudices shown in the world towards bastards, cripples and dwarfs give an air of authenticity, as if Westeros and the Seven Kingdoms could have really happened. There are decoy-heroes, plot twists that would never have happened anywhere else, there are deconstructions of fantasy and fairy tale archetypes. There seems to be everything in the series and more.
The book and series compliment each other and take advantage of each medium to tell the story; the series seems to serve the book and vice verso. For example, the book uses exposition and thoughts of the characters to explain extensive back stories and such, which the TV series can never do. The style of POV chapters means we only see events from certain points of view, which means a lot of gaps are filled in when it comes to the series. We see sides to characters like Theon, Cersei, Jaime and Robert that the book doesn't give us, that do a lot to create emotional investment in the characters. The scenes where Robert is talking to Cersei, Jaime or Barristan Selmy were some of my favorite scenes from the series, and serve as signs of foreboding of his downfall. The scenes featuring Theon serve as a reminder to the audience that he's an unpleasant character. One scene that stands out that wasn't in the book was Jaime recalling war stories with Selmy and later Jory, showing the Kingslayer to be a morally ambiguous character.
Each and every character is memorable, even those who seem similar. From the book, I liked Tyrion, although I found him to be less likable than he was in the show. Perhaps that is because of Peter Dinklage's performance and take on the character, who knows. I enjoyed his scenes, especially when he's in the Eyrie and later when he's with Bronn and Shae. Speaking of the cast, all of them are exceptional and really go for it, and some play their characters differently to how I interpreted them from the book.