++Over at Wonders in the Dark, James Clark has posted an admirable essay on what’s likely my (and everyone else’s?) favorite piece of science-fiction noir. With Jim’s kind permission, I’m reblogging it here.
© 2016 by James Clark
Blade Runner (1982) is one of a very small handful of films that can be truly described as “haunting.” What makes its power doubly remarkable is that it derives from an auteur who does not originate the bare bones of his works but depends upon pre-made literature by which he can deliver impacts at cinematically optimal force. The writer behind Scott’s scenario here, Philip K. Dick (1928-1982), was an exponent of science fiction with a view to the question, “What constitutes the authentic human being?” His novel, Do Androids Dream of Electronic Sheep? (1968), cites a planet Earth largely abandoned by old-line Homo sapiens and populated by androids in relation to which a bounty hunter reaps rewards of sorts. Dick, who died four months before the film’s release (to a tepid response), had declared that Scott’s running with those initiatives “justified” his…
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Do you mean your ‘favourite’? It is one of mine – together with Brazil and Stalker. And there was I saying I don’t like sci-fi…
Oops! Thanks for picking that up, MS — I’ve corrected.
There are actually quite a few SF noirs around. I made a list for when Kate Laity and I did a panel on the topic at a convention a year or so ago, but of course I’ve now lost said list. I really should find it again. There might be a book in there . . .