Fantasporto's blog

Fantasporto’2012 under the sign of

BLADE RUNNER

“...I've seen things you people wouldn't believe. Attack ships on fire off the shoulder of Orion. I watched C-beams glitter in the dark near the Tannhauser gate. All those moments will be lost in time... like tears in rain... Time to die...”

Roy Batty (Rutger Hauer) in Blade Runner

The 32th edition of International Film Festival of Porto emerges under the sign of the Future. Fantasporto had a precious landmark in the first presentation of one of those movies one never forgets. A film that leaves a mark. A film that transformed our idea about the future and was an inovator even on film- "Blade Runner". The film willl be presented closing the special program dedicated to the Future.

There’s much more to it than just the quality in a masterpiece level that makes a brilliant film become a film of cult. It needs to trigger an intense and lasting passion that is a truly rare state of grace. But there are movies that enter our minds and mark the cinematographic memory. "Blade Runner" is one of those rare films: an icon of Fantasporto, a symbol of our conception of cinema and our vision of the fantastic and imaginary.

Perfect symbiosis of an extraordinary novel by Philip K. Dick "Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?", not just adapted but recreated for the big screen by such a talented filmmaker as Ridley Scott, "Blade Runner". The film, released in 1982, was first named "Dangerous Days", then known as "Blade Runner: The Final Cut" and now goes by the plain and simple title of "Blade Runner").

In the year 2019, humanity is on the verge of extinction. The androids, or replicants model Nexus 6, are almost as human as the humans themselves, maybe even too human. Four of them escaped from an off-world colony and now roam the earth, mingling in the chaotic futuristic metropolis. A private detective - a robot hunter - is hired to destroy them.

The future that Dick promises us is not bright but Ridley Scott's artistic view, on the other hand, is fabulous. Douglas Trumbull recreates a futuristic and decadent  Los Angeles, as a preview of the challenges the architecture of big cities will be facing in the centuries to come. To the sound of Vangelis, Harrison Ford, Sean Young, Rutger Hauer and Daryl Hannah recreate this sci-fi police western, a philosophical and pessimistic essay at the same time.