Blade Runner: The Unicorn Dream

 

 

leading from

Blade Runner: Rick Deckard: human or replicant?

 

 

 

a) Slipping in the Unicorn Dream

 

a.i) Spotting a unicorn by the side of the road?

 

In the climax of one of David People's final drafts, where Rachael and Deckard are driving away from the city at the end of the film and spot a unicorn by the side of the road.

 

This was somehow supposed to tie in with Deckard's previous dreams

 

1. Ivor Powell: Deckard's unicorn dream, that was always a puzzle to some people. Actually it was an idea Ridley had come up with during filming - it was never really scripted. Well, except for one brief reference in the climax of one of David Peoples' final drafts, where Rachael and Deckard are driving away from the city at the end of the film and spot a unicorn by the side of the road. Which was somehow supposed to tie in with Deckard's previous dreams. (Future Noir (3rd  version) p406)

 

 

a.ii)  Need for an unusual daydream results in a vision of a unicorn

 

Originally Ridley wanted Deckard to have an unusual daydream while he was sitting at the piano, something like a very private thought, one that the character Gaff would later know without being told. 

 

It would suggest that Deckard would have had a memory implant that Gaff had been privy to and that Deckard was a replicant. At first Ridley couldn't figure out what he wanted the daydream to look like. 

 

He kept thinking and rethinking the basic concept until, finally, he hit on a unicorn. 

 

In turn this would explain the significance of Gaff leaving a tinfoil unicorn for Deckard to find at the end of the picture, letting him know that he knew Deckard's private thoughts.

1. Ivor Powell: The way this all came about was, originally Ridley wanted Deckard to have an unusual daydream while he was sitting at his piano. Something like a very private thought. One that Gaff would later know without being told. Which was meant to suggest that Deckard had had a memory implant Gaff had been privy to, and that Deckard was a replicant. Which in turn explains the significance of Gaff leaving a tinfoil unicorn for Deckard to find at the end of the picture - Gaff was letting Deckard know that Eddie Olmos knew Ford's private thoughts. (Future Noir (3rd  version) p407)
2. Paul M Sammon: I'd like to begin with a query regarding one of Blade Runner's biggest question marks; the 'Unicorn Scene" in the Director's Cut, that moment in the film when Harrison Ford is slumped at his piano and daydreaming about the mythical beast. Before we get into that shot's thematic meanings. I'd like to ask about its origins. Was it in any way influenced by Legend, the film you did after Blade Runner, which also featured unicorns.
   
   Ridley Scott: No. That unicorn was actually filmed prior to any thought of making Legend. In fact, it was specifically shot for Blade Runner during the post-production process. At that point in time, I was editing the picture in England, at Pinewood Studios, and we were heading towards a mix. Yet, I still , creatively speaking, had this blank space in my head in regards to what Deckard's dream at the piano was going to be all about.
   That was distressing, because this was an important moment for me. I'd predetermined that the unicorn would be the strongest clue that Deckard, this hunter of replicants, might actually be an artificial human himself. I did feel that the dream had to be vague, indirect. I didn't mind if it remained a bit mysterious, either, so that you had to think about it. Because there is a clear thread thoughout the film that would later explain it.
   
   Anyway, I eventually realized I had to think of an image that was so personal it could only belong to an individual's inner thoughts. And eventually I hit on a unicorn.(Future Noir by Paul M Sammon)

a.iii) Late decision to have a Unicorn

 

But the decision to have a unicorn dream had come late in the day, and Ridley wasn't able to film the scene until they returned to England for post-production.   

 

Ridley was thinking about the next movie and there was a project that they were working on called Legend, which they affectionately referred to at Leg End.

1. Ivor Powell: But this all came later. At first Ridley couldn't figure out what he wanted this daydream to look like. He kept thinking and rethinking the basic concept until, finally, he hit on a unicorn. But the decision had come late in the day, so Ridley wasn't able to film that unicorn until we returned to England for postproduction. (Future Noir (3rd  version) p407)
2. Ivor Powell: Towards the end on Blade Runner I know we were thinking about the next movie. And there was this project that we were working on, which was called Legend, affectionately known as Leg End. (Dangerous Days documentary)

 

a.iv) Filming the Unicorn scene

 

In terms of the unicorn scene, while the clapperboard itself shows the date of October 1981,Future Noir writer Paul Sammon had it that Ridley went out to film it in January 1982 at Black Park in England, which was a small wooded area complete with lake situated very close to Pinewood Studios.

 

A white stallion was secured through a British film animal rental service to serve as the Unicorn. 

 

The creature's horn was constructed out of polystyrene and applied to the horse's forehead by Nick Allder who had earlier done special effects for Alien. 

 

However Ridley didn't divulge to Ivor his long term collaborator what his intentions were at the time with this scene. 

 

Perhaps Ridley had something else in mind but as far as Ivor thought "Well, we're just slipping in this little thing which is a little test".

 

While it seemed like test footage to Ivor Powell who was acting as executive producer of Blade Runner, surely for another film, but put on on Blade Runner's tab.

 

But it turned out to be something more than just a test.

 

1. Ridley Scott: Its horn was constructed out of a virtually weightless material - polystyrene - and applied to the horse's forehead by Nick Allder , and English effects man with whom I'm work on Alien . (Future Noir (3rd  version) p407)
2. Paul Sammon: Therefore Blade Runner's mythical beast was filmed at the first week of January 1982 at Black Park, England, a small wooded area (complete with lake) situated very close to Pinewood Studios. A white stallion was secured through a British film animal rental service to serve as the unicorn itself. (Future Noir (3rd  version) p407)
3. Ivor Powell: Ridley never, ever kind of divulged what was going on in his mind at that time. And I thought: "Well, we're just slipping in this little thing which is a little test." You know, unfortunately, that went on to the, you know, the Blade Runner tab for another film. But Ridley maybe did have something else in his mind. It was something more than a test.  (Dangerous Days documentary)

 

a.v) Terry Rawling edits it in

As Terry Rawling edited it in, he wanted it to work like Deckard's thoughts. 

 

So he would pick up a photograph, look at it remembering and then the viewer would see the unicorn running through the forest coming towards the viewer and right up to the camera when it would shake its head. 

 

At that moment, the shot would cut to Deckard shaking his head as if he were shaking his thoughts away and for Terry this made it such a lyrical piece and magic.

1. Terry Rawlings: Anyway, the original unicorn sequence went like this. It was essentially a series of various intercuts. These began when Deckard picks up some photographs off the piano, swivels around on the piano bench, and then leans back against the piano itself. Then Ford began looking at a picture, and - flash! - you had a quick cut of a unicorn running through a forest. Then that went away and Deckard carried on looking at his snapshot. Next came another shot of the unicorn, coming right up at the camera. It then shook its head,  and as it shook its head, I cut back to Ford shaking his head. Like he was shaking this thought out of his mind. The Harrison laid down those pictures and the scene continued as you see it now, with Deckard picking up and taking Leon's photo over to the Esper. (Future Noir (3rd  version) p408)

 

a.vii) The importance of the green landscape

 

Ridley considered that it was not the unicorn in the dream that was important, it was actually the green landscape that they should be noticing, because his original thought was to never show a green landscape during the movie and the viewer would only see an urban world. 

 

So he figured that since this moment offered the pictorial opportunity of a dream.

 

Why not show a unicorn, and why not in a forest? 

 

It would have been an image so out of place with the rest of the picture that if it ran for only three seconds, the audience would clearly understand it was some sort of reverie.

 

1. Empire: What is the significance of the unicorn?
   Ridley Scott: So much has been made by the critics of the unicorn, yet they've actually missed the wider issue. It is not the unicorn itself which is important. It's the landscape around it - the green landscape - they should be noticing. My original thought had been to never show a green landscape during Blade Runner. We would only see an urban world. I subsequently figured, since this moment offered the pictorial opportunity of a dream, why not show a unicorn? In a forest? An image so out of place with the rest of the picture that if it ran for only three seconds, the audience would clearly understand it was some sort of reverie.
   Empire: So Deckard is a replicant?
   Ridley Scott: Well, in preparing the storyline, it always seemed logical to me that in a film of paranoia, Deckard should find out he was a replicant. It seemed proper that he might begin to wonder whether at some point the police department hadn't done the same thing to him. So I always felt the amusing irony about Harrison's character would be that he was, in fact, a synthetic human. I felt it should remain hidden, except from those who paid attention and got it. (http://www.empireonline.com/movies/features/empire-80s-month-ridley-scott-revisits-blade-runner/)

 

 

b) Losing the Unicorn

 
What happened in the production was that he needed to put the unicorn dream sequence in for the initial version of the movie and the others involved in the discussion didn't want it. 

 

Tandem Productions (one of the film’s financial backers) really didn't see eye to eye with Ridley's subtle ideas and were eager to throw them away but this all tied together in the final frames of the film when Deckard picks up the unicorn. 

 

Hampton Fancher also was someone who rejected the idea, and David People's couldn't understand it either.

 

It was cut and would be lost for decades to come. 

 

Another scene that went was when Deckard stood behind Rachael in his apartment and Deckard is out of focus but in that shot he has a glow in his eyes which might get people to ask if he's a replicant.
 
They were asking "What's this unicorn?"

Ridley would reply "If you don't get it, what's the point in me explaining it?"

They were telling Ridley, "If it doesn't mean anything, we're gonna cut it out."

Ridley said "Well, it's a fundamental part of the story."

They replied "Well, isn't it obvious that he's a replicant?"

Ridley then replied "No more obvious than that he's not a replicant at the end."

In the end, it becomes a matter of choice for the viewer.

 

But in the end say said "Cut it out, it's too vague" and so it was chopped out.

(With that, the negative and the postive of that footage would be lost by the time of the restory Blade Runner ten years later in 1992)

1. Ivor Powell: Tandem was uneasy with the unicorn sequence because it had been unscripted by Ridley shot it anyway. I also don't think that they quite understood it.  (Future Noir (3rd  version) p408)
2. Terry Rawlings: That's an understatement. The money people kept pestering Ridley with questions like, "What's this unicorn?' Ridley would reply, 'If you don't get it, what's the point in me explaining it?"(Future Noir (3rd version) p408)
3. Wired: You shot the unicorn dream sequence as part of the original production. Why didn't you include it in either the work print or the initial release? .
   Scott: As I said, there was too much discussion in the room. I wanted it. They didn't want it. I said, "Well, it's a fundamental part of the story." And they said, "Well, isn't it obvious that he's a replicant?" And I said, "No more obvious than that he's not a replicant at the end." So, it's a matter of choice, isn't it?
   (http://archive.wired.com/)
4. Terry Rawlings: That was frustrating, because virtually the last shot in the film - the one of Harrison finding the tinfoil origami - was an all important connection between Gaff knowing Deckard's memories of unicorns. Tandem never got this connection at all though. They said, "Cut it out, it's too vague.' So the original unicorn sequence was indeed cut out very early on . (Future Noir (3rd version) p409)
5. Hampton Fancher:  I always rejected Deckard's dream of the live unicorn. That was purely Ridley's concept (Future Noir (3rd  version) p405)
6. David Peoples: The live unicorn definitely was Ridley's idea. Even though I was fortunate enough to have seen the original footage of that shot when I was in Pinewood reworking Deckard's narration back in 1982, I can't say I ever understood it. I certainly didn't write it. (Future Noir (3rd  version) p405)
7. Terry Rawlings: But the negative for that original unicorn scene had been lost by the time of the restored Blade Runner in 1992, and they couldn't find the positive either. (Future Noir (3rd  version) p407) 
   

 

 

Source :https://twitter.com/Lauzirika/status/1306750988943060992

c) The Point Of The Unicorn Revery
 

 

c.i) Dream of the Unicorn

With that Unicorn sequence, when Harrison Ford as Deckard sits at his piano looking at all the photographs and wondering who these people are and what they're after, he's drinking to the point of being a bit drunk, then Ford begins to look at a picture, and - flash! - there is quick cut of a unicorn running through a forest. 

 

Then this goes away and the Deckard character carries on looking at his snapshot. 

 

Then comes another cut of a unicorn coming right up to the camera, it then shoot its head and in the editing Terry Rawling cut back to Ford shaking his head, as if he was shaking a thought out of his mind and saying to himself "Memories"

 

As if memories of his own were coming back and the thoughts were being triggered by the photos. He mulled those images over and then shook the memories out of his head. 

 

Then Ford laid down the pictures and the scene continued as the viewer would see it, with the Deckard character picking up and taking Leon's photo over to the Esper.

The thoughts would never occur again. 

1. Terry Rawlings: Anyway, the original unicorn sequence went like this. It was essentially a series of various intercuts. These began when Deckard picks up some photographs off the piano, swivels around on the piano bench, and then leans back against the piano itself. Then Ford began looking at a picture, and - flash! - you had a quick cut of a unicorn running through a forest. Then that went away and Deckard carried on looking at his snapshot. Next came another shot of the unicorn, coming right up at the camera. It then shook its head,  and as it shook its head, I cut back to Ford shaking his head. Like he was shaking this thought out of his mind. The Harrison laid down those pictures and the scene continued as you see it now, with Deckard picking up and taking Leon's photo over to the Esper. (Future Noir (3rd  version) p408)
2. Terry Rawlings: So basically, the substance of the original unicorn sequence displayed Deckard going through photographs and saying to himself, 'Memories,' you know? As if memories of his own were coming back. That was sort of the idea. Deckard's own thoughts were being triggered by these photos. He mulled those images over and then shook the memories out of his head. (Future Noir (3rd  version) p408)  
3. Ridley Scott: When Harrison's on his piano, looking at all the photographs and wondering who these people are and what they're after, he's drinking, he's a bit drunk there and as he drinks, you go off into the unicorns, so it's a revery, and that was the only reference right there to this abstract image which is a unicorn, because at the end of it he comes out of his thought process, and that never occurs again until the end of the movie, because when he comes to that apartment, he thinks he's gone in there and killed her 'cause they know where she is, and er, when they come out, there it is, certainly a unicorn.
   Interviewer: And it means .
   Ridley Scott: He's a replicant (On the Edge of Blade Runner documentary)

 

c.ii) Discovering the Unicorn origami

 

c.ii.1) Finding the origami

 

At the end of the movie when Deckard returns to his apartment and thinks that the others have gone in there and killed her, on his way out discovers a piece of origami representing a unicorn left behind by Gaff. 

 

In the first version of the film when Deckard finds the origami, perhaps one might assume he was thinking "Oh, so Gaff was here, and he let Rachael live." rather than "Oh my god! Am I a replicant too?"

c.ii.2) Ridley views Deckard's other level of response

 

But Ridley sees that Deckard is nodding, understanding and agreeing, when he picks up the silver unicorn realising something, in a way he glints and looks angry. 

 

Doing the job he does, reading the files that he reads on the other replicants, Deckard may have wondered at one point "Am I a human or am I a replicant?"

 

c.ii.3) Ridley's excitement about the Origami

David Peoples saw Ridley getting excited over the whole notion of Gaff's origami, because it meant that Edward Olmos could leave that unicorn sculpture behind at Deckard's apartment at the end
 

That would be a representation of Deckard's innermost thoughts, and what Ridley's point of view was a fully fleshed out possibility to justify the look at the end. 

 

To him it's an affirmation, Deckard nods, he agrees" "Ah hah! Gaff was here. I've been told."

 

 

c.ii.4) Another message in the Unicorn

 

For Ridley, with that, one of the layers of the film has been talking about private thoughts and memories , so how would Gaff have known that a private thought of Deckard was of a unicorn? 

 

So that's why Deckard shook his head like that. 

 

And Gaff would represent the authorities and the higher authorities know who he is. 

What Gaff has said through the unicorn is "I know something you don't know, that you should know and think no one else knows, is that you dream of unicorns in your down time."

1. Wired: When Deckard picks up the origami unicorn at the end of the movie, the look on his face says to me, "Oh, so Gaff was here, and he let Rachael live." It doesn't say, "Oh my God! Am I a replicant, too?" .
   Scott:No? Why is he nodding when he looks at this silver unicorn? I'm not going to send up a balloon. Doing the job he does, reading the files he reads on other replicants, Deckard may have wondered at one point, "Am I human or am I a replicant?" That's in his innermost thoughts. I'm just giving you the fully fleshed-out possibility to justify that look at the end, where he kind of glints and looks angry. To me, it's an affirmation. He nods, he agrees. "Ah hah! Gaff was here. I've been told." .
   (http://archive.wired.com/)
2. Interviewer: I know that you're no longer going to be directing Blade Runner 2, do you expect the film to be addressing the ongoing debate about whether Deckard is or isn't a replicant
   Ridley Scott: He is definitely a replicant
   Interviewer:That's what I always thought
   Christian Bale: D'you like that
   Interviewer: Yes,  I do, that's my, that's what I think, well I don't
   Christian Bale: Did you win money? Did you win money on that?
   Interviewer: I should have put a bet on it, I wish that I had now
   Ridley Scott: It's a 'dugh/duck', it's a 'dugh/duck' (?). Because he picks up that unicorn, looks at it and goes "ungh woah, oh god", he is, the whole investment early on through the whole movie the origami you see was there, and said " I know something you don't know, that you should know, think no one else knows, is that you dream of unicorns, unicorns in your down time", and people go "whaaat?", see you weren't paying attention. ( Entertainment: Blade Runner. 26 Nov 2014 )