A few weeks’ back, A.I. Artificial Intelligence had us asking what it means to be a “real boy.” In this week’s film, Blade Runner 2049, a female character raises a similar question, linking mecha with replicants through the moral ambivalences and ambiguities of any relationship between human creators and their creations.
Such science fiction premises are all intriguing to ponder – and ponder them we will throughout this month. But in IRL, we don’t yet have the technology to render these questions immediately relevant to us. Instead, at least for now, we can only wonder how the A.I. that some humans have created might be exploiting the rest of us.
Anyway, hello, welcome, and thank you for stopping by. For new visitors, here’s what this situation is all about:
With Savor the View, we’ll watch, think, and talk about movies and the things that matter. A special welcome and thanks to our regular crew!
Each Monday, I share brief, spoiler-free remarks and questions to frame viewing a movie on our own.
Each Thursday, I share post-viewing questions to poke at the issues, ideas, quandaries, inspirations...whatever...that movie might have summoned (spoilers, ahoy!).
Paid subscribers can talk it all out in a weekly Discussion Thread.
Overview
Blade Runner 2049 (2017): Denis Villeneuve directed this sequel to Blade Runner (1982) based on a screenplay by Hampton Fancher – co-writer of the earlier film – and Michael Green. Through this film, as well as Arrival (2016) and the Dune series (2021; 2024), Villeneuve has crafted science fiction tales that nestle tender intimacy at the heart of grand-scale visuals, technologies, and themes.
Refreshing my memory of other notable movies from 2017 reminded me of browsing the Blockbuster aisles too late on a Friday night: not a lot of good stuff left. For sure, films like Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri stand out – but compared to other years, few movies released then still seem to matter much now. Mainstream Hollywood was not at its best in 2017.
I think the world generally wasn’t at its best in 2017, but August’s total solar eclipse at least offered North America one highlight for the year.
The universal/general
This film features a number of themes and motifs. Memories, dreams, names – when do characters mention or express these elements and what does each mean as the movie progresses?
The specific/unique
The opening scenes between “K” (Ryan Gosling) and Sapper Morton (Dave Bautista) is infused with ambient threat. But from whom, to whom, and which side do you feel you should take?
How do you feel about “K?” Why?
How do you feel about Joi (Ana de Armas)? Why?
What role does color play in this film? Do you notice the palette in any given scene affecting mood or commenting on plot?
The viewer is always present
Echoing the questions from the past two weeks because even a film from just a few years ago could easily feel dated on this topic:
What in this story seems to have aged well? What hasn’t? Why or why not?
Does this story in general strike you as plausible? Why or why not?
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