It’s one of the biggest mysteries in cinema: Is Harrison Ford a replicant or human in Blade Runner?

Since the release of the Ridley Scott film in 1982, it’s been a question that has plagued Blade Runner fans, especially since the film’s director. And if anyone thought that Denis Villeneuve would come to the forefront of this particular theme in Blade Runner 2049, it would be at their expense. The director stated that he wanted to keep the ambiguity around Rick Deckard and that the answer is not as clear as one might think.

In Philip K. Dick’s novel, Rick Deckard is introduced as a human. But he has doubts, and he questions himself very openly with his fellow Blade Runner, about how possible it is that they are replicators without their knowledge, and what they would do if they found out. The film is much more cryptic about the subject, subtly hinting at this possibility.

Deckard is not who he thinks he is

The 1992 version of Blade Runner , known as the “True-False” director’s cut, as well as – finally – the final version of the 2007 film, provide elements that support the hypothesis that Deckard is not who he believes. There is already a famous unicorn dream. Memories and dreams are implanted in the brains of replicants from actual memories. Thus, the unicorn comes from another person’s dreams/memories.

“Actually, I wanted people to believe that these were his thoughts. For example, he took a photo, he began to look and remember. We saw how Tsorka crossed the forest, approaching the camera. He shook his head as if to banish the thought. says Blade Runner’s head of editing, Terry Rowling.

The sequence below…

Another element: the golden reflection in the eyes of the replicants, which betrays their nature, always shows Ridley Scott at one point or another with a subtle camera movement. Deckard has that right too. Below is the screenshot:

“You’d have to be an idiot not to understand!”

We also know that Replicants are attached to photographs; It gives them the illusion of the past. Also thanks to the photos, Deckard manages to find traces of the rebel Zhora of the Nexus 6. There are lots of photos in Deckard’s house, especially the one above the piano that Rachel is looking at. This cannot be a coincidence.

Arguably the most disturbing clue and the famous origami unicorn that the character Gaffy (Edward James Olmos) left outside the door of Deckard’s apartment at the end of Blade Runner.

“At the end of the film, I wanted something extraordinary that could be illustrated: the tsorka. Who could know what he had in mind except those who had access to the files embedded in his skull? It couldn’t have been clearer, you’d have to be an idiot not to understand!” Ridley Scott said.

In a 2002 interview with Wired magazine, he returned to the topic: “Deckard was always designed to be a replicator. That’s why Gaff, who leaves origami everywhere, doesn’t like him. We don’t know why, but all the clues are there. Considering Deckard is a Nexus 7, he has an uncertain lifespan and is acting more and more like a human. “

The sequence below…

A version of the script, dated February 1981, left little room for Deckard’s nature. His last voice said: “I heard it on the roof tonight. We were brothers. Me and Roy Goose. The very advanced models of combat. We fought wars no one dreamed of… a nightmare we can’t name. We were. A new breed… Roy, Rachel and I! We this We were born to the world. This was ours!”

“It’s not his memory!”

That said, not everyone necessarily accepts this version/view of the facts. The video module that accompanies the DVD release is the final cut and called Deck The Replicant : Rick Deckard’s true natureFilmmaker Frank Darabont, a big fan of the film, recalls the unicorn dream sequence:

“It’s not his memory, how could this happen? In fact, he’s thinking about Rachel. He’s thinking about his embedded memories. He’s thinking about his embedded fantasies. Among myths, the unicorn is a mythical female symbol.

At the end, when Gaff forgets about the unicorn, it’s not like, “I’m smarter than you, you’re a replicant. I know everything about you!” These are Gaff’s last words to Deckard, meaning, “You know what? I think they are There are people just like others; If you like it, go for it, old man! Go get it, save it!”

The upshot of the races is that the debate over Deckard’s nature continues, 42 years after Blade Runner’s release: Could Deckard be a Nexus 7-type replicant who remains in a unique prototype state?