Recorrências temáticas e narrativas em Blade Runner 2049

Abstract

The objective of this study is to conduct a thematic and narrative analysis of the movies August 32nd on Earth (1998) and Arrival (2016) in order to contribute to a better understanding of the movie Blade Runner 2049 (2017), using the latter as a point of arrival. The analysis of Blade Runner 2049 aims to understand the tensions between a style possibly created by filmmaker Denis Villeneuve and the aesthetics of the contemporary Hollywood cinema (BORDWELL, 2008). The critical matriz methodology (BERNARDET, 1994) is the inspiration for debating and identifying elements of a possible theme that may be specific to the three movies analyzed. A possible element of Villeneuve‟s mise-en-scène was identified and named isolation. Isolation happens at specific times and plays an important role in the development of the narrative. After these experiences of isolation, the characters make a sovereign decision that transforms them. The three decisions the characters made after the experience of isolation are related to the theme of parenthood. In Blade Runner 2049, this theme appears in the tension related to the demands of the so-called blockbuster high concept. To avoid translating the possible identified theme as an abstraction not connected to reality, it is analyzed from the perspective of capitalist realism (FISHER 2018; SCHUDSON, 2013) with references of ideological analysis (ŽIŽEK, 2011). In this way, the theme of parenthood is interpreted as an ideological family operation.