Ryan Gosling In The Snow

Blade Runner 2049 and What's Real

“I want to know if love is wild
Babe, I want to know if love is real”

- Bruce Springsteen, “Born to Run”

“Life is a series of natural and spontaneous changes. Don't resist them; that only creates sorrow. Let reality be reality. Let things flow naturally forward in whatever way they like.”

- Lao Tzu, Tao Te Ching

The last time we were together, Ridley Scott’s dystopian vision of the future, Blade Runner, was at the center of our attention. Today, I want us to re-enter the world as guided by Denis Villenueve’s 2017 film, Blade Runner 2049. Villenueve is my favorite director. The Dune story is so incredibly important to me and the fact that he was able to pull off not one, but two, and potentially three groundbreaking films about Frank Herbert’s story elevates him to a prestige status. Add in that he adapted Ted Chiang’s short story, “Story of Your Life”, into the movie Arrival. That is a science-fiction story that will mess you up emotionally. And Villenueve is not limited to sci-fi. Sicario is one of the most intense movies of our modern day and he has other films that are well regarded by many.

Villenueve might be the absolute best at incorporating the full color palette into his films. The original Blade Runner is dark, dingy, and yet beautiful. Blade Runner 2049 magnifies that beauty with color. Watching the film is akin to walking through an art museum. Pair Villeneuve’s vibrant vision with Hans Zimmer’s talent for sound and you get transported to a new world.

Blade Runner 2049 takes place 30 years after the original. A few things have changed in this world, but much of it is the same. Tyrell Corporation went bankrupt and was absorbed by the Wallace Corporation, an equally diabolical force in society. The LAPD still employs Blade Runners to hunt down and retire (execute) Replicants, but there’s a twist…Our Blade Runner at the center of the story, K, is a Replicant himself.

Being a Replicant does not appear to be a complication for K and his line of work. He gets asked by the Replicant scheduled for retirement, “How’s it feel, killing your own kind?” Our Blade Runner doesn’t care. Sapper Morten just wants to live a quiet life on his farm, but sadly his demise is the job of the Blade Runner.

Now is a good time to bestow some praise upon Dave Bautista. That man has some serious acting chops! His acting resume would be very strong for someone that starting acting as a kid, let alone professional wrestler-turned actor. His moment sets the stage for the rest of the movie. And the last words of Sapper Morten, “Because you’ve never seen a miracle.” That miracle becomes the center of the entire story.

The miracle is that a Replicant gave birth. Artificial Intelligence created life and brought it into this world naturally. This movie has layers upon layers of deeper themes. Existence, Purpose, and Reality are three such themes.

• What does an artificial being creating life mean for its existence? What about ours, humanity’s? Are we now co-equals in this lived experience?

• What is our purpose in this life?

• What is real?

I want to focus on that third question, “What is real?”

K is a Replicant, charged with killing other Replicants. He is manufactured, and yet he develops a moral code throughout the movie. His lover is a projection. Joi, played by Ana de Armas, is a product of the Wallace Corporation. Blade Runner fans often speculate that Deckard might be a Replicant. There seems to be no clear answer to that debate. Ridley Scott doesn’t even a give clear answer here. Do Replicants naturally reproducing make them real? Is the miracle reality?

So, what is real in the Blade Runner world? What is real in our world? In an age of broken institutions and digital environments, we are often sold a projection of what’s real. This is why the shot of Ryan Gosling in the snow is so powerful. The snow is of nature. The snow is real.