• We have updated the guidelines regarding posting political content: please see the stickied thread on Website Issues.

Blade Runner & Blade Runner 2049

While some draw reference to Josef K, it’s also possible to squeeze another influence into this deliberately ambiguous sprawl of a movie.
I go on a bit about Mr. Punch but he has a german cousin called Kasper.

The name Kasper probably comes from the ancient Persian meaning
"keeper of the treasure." Tradition holds, one of the three Magi who
visited the Christ Child was named Casper. This character also
existed in the "mystery plays" of the medieval Church.

The puppet Kasper has his origins in Italy's Commedia Dell'Arte. This
form of street performance started in Naples. Plays were generally
bawdy affairs. Performances could be veiled forms of political protest.
Pulcinella (the traditional clown-like character with white clothing, a
long white hat, and a black mask) is the precursor to Germany's
Kasper, France's Guignol, and Britain's Punch.

The puppet character actually named Kasper first appeared in Munich
in 1858 in a marionette play (The Enchanted Lily) by Graf Pocci. Like
his cousin Punch, the early Kasper used a slapstick to beat the Devil,
Witch, and Crocodile.

In 1920, Max Jacob introduced the form of Kasper Theater recognized
today. Kasper became a positive hero, eventually stopped using the
slapstick (except in Bavaria and Austria), and took on a more child-like
quality. This form is called the Hohensteiner style (after Hohenstein
Castle in Saxony where Max Jacob and his troupe lived and Kasper
performances were held).

So K(asper) is just a puppet and Keeper of the Treasure.

As for the rest of the cast...

  • Gretel is Kasper’s good friend. She is clever, practical, and helpful. She often helps Kasper by outsmarting the villains. She has many positive traits.
  • The Policeman represents authority and society’s laws. He is a good friend and helps to set things right. The Policeman is often asked for advice. Though he may overlook Kasper’s pranks, he will give Kasper a stern look or warning reinforcing the value of rules in society.
  • Besides being evil, stubborn, easily annoyed, and crafty, the Witch can cast spells and often teams up other villains. She is the role children frequently choose to act out aggression or unexpressed conflict.
  • The King is powerful and just in his decisions. He rewards the characters for their bravery. It is often only with Kasper’s help that the King can remove danger from his realm. The royal family often represents the child’s own family. These characters are also used to imitate adult relationships such as courtship and marriage.
  • The Devil impersonates negative attributes, like egotism, greed or hunger for power. He attempts to seduce Kasper and others to give in to them, illustrating their destructive effects on the community to the audience.
You just watched an old puppet show.
 
Last edited:
Saw Blade Runner 2049 again on Tuesday night, for the third time. I love it even more.
 
its not a bad movie, just needed a different story, stronger writing, cast with gravitas
 
call yourself a cyberpunk !

I am the Arch-CyberPunk.

Blade Runner 2049 was Peak Cyber Punk, it developed and expanded on the original themes. It even has lots of flying cars, being shot down, dogfighting, crashing through windows, being harpooned with an emp-enabled javelin. A virtual partner combining with a pleasure-model replicant to show her love for Joe.

Las Vegas abandoned due to a dirty bomb. A derelict San Diego used as a rubbish dump for Los Angles.
 
Finally saw it so was able to read this thread's last few pages at last. I thought it looked impressive, with the enormous landscapes reducing the characters to insects to illuminate their isolation from one another. It's basically another lonely, sad sack male movie, observing that technology will become a substitute for interaction, social and even sexual, as we become more alienated. Bleakly amusing that K's belief he was a special boy was totally wrong! We all want to believe we have something that marks us out as worthwhile, BR 2049 says, nope, we might as well have been grown in petri dishes. Cheers for that emotional beatdown.
 
Finally saw it so was able to read this thread's last few pages at last. I thought it looked impressive, with the enormous landscapes reducing the characters to insects to illuminate their isolation from one another. It's basically another lonely, sad sack male movie, observing that technology will become a substitute for interaction, social and even sexual, as we become more alienated. Bleakly amusing that K's belief he was a special boy was totally wrong! We all want to believe we have something that marks us out as worthwhile, BR 2049 says, nope, we might as well have been grown in petri dishes. Cheers for that emotional beatdown.

Ah, but is he not a special boy?

Even when he discovers that he himself is not the Christ-child he sacrifices his own life to unite father and daughter in deference to the miraculous revealed--is that not to become 'more human than human'?
 
Ah, but is he not a special boy?

Even when he discovers that he himself is not the Christ-child he sacrifices his own life to unite father and daughter in deference to the miraculous revealed--is that not to become 'more human than human'?

I don't believe that he is actually dead at the end of the film.
 
No, but on the way out--I thought the consensus was that he dies in the snow?

Edit: Wiki says he's dead.
It's an open verdict. Maybe to have a sequel?
 
No, but on the way out--I thought the consensus was that he dies in the snow?

Edit: Wiki says he's dead.

Ah! Wiki has spoken!

Not my interpretation, Den of Geeks suggest that his fate is open but there is an implication that he may die of his wounds.
 
Finally watched it a couple of weeks ago and now kicking myself I didn't go to a screening. Very impressed. I liked almost everything about it, apart from the dam wall water scene. 4.5/5
 
more tim anderson future retro art from the real blade runner
C__Data_Users_DefApps_AppData_INTERNETEXPLORER_Temp_Saved Images_VoightKampff-frame.jpg
 
Where can I get a Voight-Kampff machine?
 
i dont know but i want one to go next to my PASIV suitcase
 
next time i go speed dating ima gonna pull that upside-down-turtle-in-the-sun routine, see what her reaction is ...
 
next time i go speed dating ima gonna pull that upside-down-turtle-in-the-sun routine, see what her reaction is ...
You: You’re in a desert walking along in the sand when all of the sudden you look down, and you see a tortoise, crawling toward you. You reach down, you flip the tortoise over on its back. The tortoise lays on its back, its belly baking in the hot sun, beating its legs trying to turn itself over, but it can’t, not without your help. But you’re not helping. Why is that?
Her: [pause] Wait, did you get that from Blade Runner?
 
You: You’re in a desert walking along in the sand when all of the sudden you look down, and you see a tortoise, crawling toward you. You reach down, you flip the tortoise over on its back. The tortoise lays on its back, its belly baking in the hot sun, beating its legs trying to turn itself over, but it can’t, not without your help. But you’re not helping. Why is that?
Her: [pause] Wait, did you get that from Blade Runner?
followed by the shoulder of orion monolog, à la drillbit taylor

 
Last edited:
Incidentally, how impressive was the CGI Sean Young? After Rogue One I was unconvinced they could crack the uncanny valley, but the Rachael was an excellent item of effects and motion capture. Clever to get her to declaim the film in the press, to divert attention from the fact she was in it, too.
 
Back
Top