Directed by Ridley Scott in 1982, Blade Runner is an action/scifi/thriller that follows the story of Rick Deckard, a Blade Runner played by Harrison Ford, as he hunts down and retires (kills) four escaped “replicants.” At the beginning of his search Deckard goes to meet Tyrell, the mastermind behind the androids he is trying to hunt down. In this scene we are introduced to Rachael, Tyrell’s assistant. She becomes an important part of the movie and Deckard’s life, and it is her transformation that I will be analyzing.
The first time we see Rachael, she is immaculate. She is wearing a tight, stiff, black suit with high shoulders and sharp angles. Her dark hair is smooth and pulled up into a perfectly symmetrical updo. Both her hair and suit are contrasted by her flawless bright red lipstick. It is also important to note the way she carries herself; she has her hand placed perfectly in her pocket and takes confident, demanding strides towards Deckard.
Along with these aspects of Rachael’s personal appearance, the lighting and camera angles used on her highlight her perfection and assuredness. As she walks towards Deckard, and the camera, she begins fully in the frame and bathed in light without harsh shadows, allowing the viewer to see her entirely and emphasizing the symmetry and angles in her appearance that I described earlier. As she reaches Deckard and turns to face him, the camera shifts and zooms in, turning the once full-frontal light into a back light that highlights her profile, and once again, her perfection. A little ways into their conversation Rachael asks Deckard if she may ask him a personal question. At that moment the camera moves downward and we view her from below. She goes on to ask a very serious and somewhat scrutinizing question about whether Deckard has ever “retired” a human by mistake. The camera remains low throughout her question and this, coupled with her downward eye direction towards Deckard, shows her certainty and authority.
All of these components play into our overall first impression of Rachael and Rachael’s impression of herself. At this point in the movie she believes she is human. She is fairly confident in that fact and is therefore confident in herself. This will change throughout the movie, though, and will be, once again, highlighted by the film techniques and her appearance.
But, first, here is the Tyrell scene to provide more context for the initial analysis of Rachael:
Rachael’s introduction
(0:00 – 1:02)
The first time we see Rachael, she is immaculate. She is wearing a tight, stiff, black suit with high shoulders and sharp angles. Her dark hair is smooth and pulled up into a perfectly symmetrical updo. Both her hair and suit are contrasted by her flawless bright red lipstick. It is also important to note the way she carries herself; she has her hand placed perfectly in her pocket and takes confident, demanding strides towards Deckard.
Along with these aspects of Rachael’s personal appearance, the lighting and camera angles used on her highlight her perfection and assuredness. As she walks towards Deckard, and the camera, she begins fully in the frame and bathed in light without harsh shadows, allowing the viewer to see her entirely and emphasizing the symmetry and angles in her appearance that I described earlier. As she reaches Deckard and turns to face him, the camera shifts and zooms in, turning the once full-frontal light into a back light that highlights her profile, and once again, her perfection. A little ways into their conversation Rachael asks Deckard if she may ask him a personal question. At that moment the camera moves downward and we view her from below. She goes on to ask a very serious and somewhat scrutinizing question about whether Deckard has ever “retired” a human by mistake. The camera remains low throughout her question and this, coupled with her downward eye direction towards Deckard, shows her certainty and authority.
All of these components play into our overall first impression of Rachael and Rachael’s impression of herself. At this point in the movie she believes she is human. She is fairly confident in that fact and is therefore confident in herself. This will change throughout the movie, though, and will be, once again, highlighted by the film techniques and her appearance.
But, first, here is the Tyrell scene to provide more context for the initial analysis of Rachael:
Rachael’s introduction
(0:00 – 1:02)
Shortly after this meeting, at the request of Tyrell, Deckard conducts a test on Rachael called a voight kampff. This test is used to distinguish between replicants and humans. Once the test is over Rachael is asked to leave the room and she walks away quickly without saying a word. Once she is gone, Tyrell explains to Deckard that Rachael is an experiment, and she has been provided with memories that are not her own in order to make her believe that she is human. But he also says that he thinks she is starting to become suspicious of her origin, which turns out to be very true because Rachael turns up at Deckard’s apartment wanting to know the test results. He tells her the truth and she becomes visibly upset.
This is the true beginning of Rachael’s transformation, but it peaks and is most apparent in the “romantic” scene between her and Deckard.
Rachael’s suit has gone from black to grey, her collar is undone and her eye makeup is smeared at the very beginning of the scene. She removes her jacket to reveal a light grey silk blouse and then begins to play the piano. These aspects of her appearance are humanizing her already, but she still continues to let go; she pulls her hair down into its natural, frizzy curls and her red lipstick disappears (where it went, nobody knows). She becomes almost child-like in her appearance and has a slight melancholy expression on her face. Through this change in appearance from her labored over and polished look to a more natural and undone one, she is showing acceptance of who she really is and not trying to cover anything up anymore. This is ironic in a sense, because as she accepts that she is not human, she is becoming more humanized.
The lighting and camera angles follow this transformation accordingly. The lighting is now dim and has a slight blue tint, reflecting the sadness in Rachael’s realization. And it now comes from above and is casting shadows on her face, which is much more natural than the lighting from the Tyrell scene and allows for some flaws and her expression to be better seen. The camera angles, too, have changed. As she takes her hair down we see her profile once again, but much closer and in this different lighting, accentuating her new found naturalness and her unchanging expression. However, in contrast to the Tyrell scene, in this scene we switch from profile to viewing Rachael from above, giving the impression that she is now the one being looked down upon or overpowered by the reality that she is not who she thought she was and her entire existence has been faked.
This transformation of Rachael from a perfect, confident human to a much more humanized replicant preludes the very human emotions between her and Deckard that are to follow. Everything about her and about her attitude towards him has changed and it is all reflected beautifully in this scene:
“Romantic” scene
(0:40 – 2:55)
This is the true beginning of Rachael’s transformation, but it peaks and is most apparent in the “romantic” scene between her and Deckard.
Rachael’s suit has gone from black to grey, her collar is undone and her eye makeup is smeared at the very beginning of the scene. She removes her jacket to reveal a light grey silk blouse and then begins to play the piano. These aspects of her appearance are humanizing her already, but she still continues to let go; she pulls her hair down into its natural, frizzy curls and her red lipstick disappears (where it went, nobody knows). She becomes almost child-like in her appearance and has a slight melancholy expression on her face. Through this change in appearance from her labored over and polished look to a more natural and undone one, she is showing acceptance of who she really is and not trying to cover anything up anymore. This is ironic in a sense, because as she accepts that she is not human, she is becoming more humanized.
The lighting and camera angles follow this transformation accordingly. The lighting is now dim and has a slight blue tint, reflecting the sadness in Rachael’s realization. And it now comes from above and is casting shadows on her face, which is much more natural than the lighting from the Tyrell scene and allows for some flaws and her expression to be better seen. The camera angles, too, have changed. As she takes her hair down we see her profile once again, but much closer and in this different lighting, accentuating her new found naturalness and her unchanging expression. However, in contrast to the Tyrell scene, in this scene we switch from profile to viewing Rachael from above, giving the impression that she is now the one being looked down upon or overpowered by the reality that she is not who she thought she was and her entire existence has been faked.
This transformation of Rachael from a perfect, confident human to a much more humanized replicant preludes the very human emotions between her and Deckard that are to follow. Everything about her and about her attitude towards him has changed and it is all reflected beautifully in this scene:
“Romantic” scene
(0:40 – 2:55)
I chose to review Rachael’s transformation because throughout the movie she was the one who I personally sympathized the most with and I found her complexity and emotions really intriguing. We have all gone through changes in our lives that involved complex and conflicting emotions and we have all had to learn things about ourselves and accept what we cannot change. Obviously, we have not had to do this to the extent that Rachael did, but this transformation is still relevant to everyone and its portrayal in this film as seen through the acting, directing, costume, and creative design revolving around Rachael was beautifully done and captured all of the different aspects of every transformative experience perfectly.
Sources:
Barsam, Richard Meran., and Dave Monahan. Looking at Movies: An Introduction to Film. New York: W.W. Norton, 2010. Print.
Blade Runner - Deckard Meets Rachel Pt 1. YouTube, 22 Aug. 2007. Web. 02 June 2014.
Blade Runner. Dir. Ridley Scott. Prod. Ridley Scott and Hampton Francher. By Hampton Francher and David Webb Peoples. Perf. Harrison Ford, Rutger Hauer, and Sean Young. Warner Bros., 1982.
"Blade Runner." IMDb. IMDb.com. Web. 02 June 2014.
Mariya. "StyleMounties: Blade Runner: Analysis of Rachael the Replicant." StyleMounties. Blogspot, 29 July 2011. Web. 02 June 2014.
Rachael and Deckard, Romantic Scene from Blade Runner. YouTube, 26 Aug. 2010. Web. 02 June 2014.
Sources:
Barsam, Richard Meran., and Dave Monahan. Looking at Movies: An Introduction to Film. New York: W.W. Norton, 2010. Print.
Blade Runner - Deckard Meets Rachel Pt 1. YouTube, 22 Aug. 2007. Web. 02 June 2014.
Blade Runner. Dir. Ridley Scott. Prod. Ridley Scott and Hampton Francher. By Hampton Francher and David Webb Peoples. Perf. Harrison Ford, Rutger Hauer, and Sean Young. Warner Bros., 1982.
"Blade Runner." IMDb. IMDb.com. Web. 02 June 2014.
Mariya. "StyleMounties: Blade Runner: Analysis of Rachael the Replicant." StyleMounties. Blogspot, 29 July 2011. Web. 02 June 2014.
Rachael and Deckard, Romantic Scene from Blade Runner. YouTube, 26 Aug. 2010. Web. 02 June 2014.