Film x Philosophy: Blade Runner 2049

At first, the idea was dismissed out of hand: Ridley Scott's Blade Runner (1982) was so good that there was no question of following it up with a sequel. It was only when director Denis Villeneuve read Hampton Fancher's new script that he was hooked. The story had so much depth: it took the themes of the original film and improved and deepened them. Even Harrison Ford was on board to take on his role again as Deckard, now 30 years older. Blade Runner 2049 incorporates the changes in the world since then: the growing concerns about the climate crisis, developments in technology and the economy, and the looming power of the tech giants.

 

Really the only way to watch Blade Runner 2049 is on the big screen. To this day, it features the most technically advanced CGI effects possible, a soul-grinding soundtrack by Hans Zimmer and Benjamin Wallfisch, and the incredible architecture of the shots by Roger Deakins, who is perhaps the best cinematographer in the world. All of this comes together in the introspective and sensitive direction of Denis Villeneuve (Arrival, Dune), who has proven himself as one of the most competent auteurs of our time.

 

With this edition of Film x Philosophy, we ask the question once again: what does it mean to be human? Blade Runner 2049 zooms in on the human soul. What is that elusive part of ourselves that distinguishes the human from the robot? And is it possible for a mechanical copy of that human to attain this as well?