An analysis of blade runner's final monolog. Tears in the rain.

I thought about many other film clips in this analysis but none of the other clips had the same intensity or magnitude as this clip.

The shot types are utilized to show the power hierarchy in the movie, we see the first clip with Deckard clinging to a metal beam on the edge of a building about to slip off in the rain. Batty is looking down at him and clearly has more power, this is why we see him from a very low angle and see Deckard from a very high one.

Furthermore the power separation is further demonstrated through the extreme close up shot on batty’s bloody rain swept face after he emerges into the shot, in particular the contrast between his cold blue eyes and the blood. This magnifies the danger of this character and his power.

However batty saves Deckard and shows this power by lifting him with only one hand. We see again the close up on his face only now he is trembling with exertion, he is risking his life too. After the monolog about slavery this scene has more power and significance since the slave is saving the slaver and murderer in an act of mercy, and the dove becomes a true symbol of his peace and forgiveness.

Deckard scrambles to the wall and we see half of batty’s body, only his legs in the shot, this shows his power because he is standing over him and makes him less human because we can't see his expression or guess what he is feeling. We might have the impression that in this scene batty could do anything, we are tensed and ready for batty to kill Deckard but he simply kneels down and gets on his level, sitting in the rain with him then starts the monolog.

As the monolog starts ‘i've seen things you people wouldn't believe’ we get a profile of batty’s face. Lighting is used to excellent effect in this scene casting his face in partial shadow until he dies and the darkness becomes complete, indicating his death. It is at this point the dove flies away and this symbolises both the passing of his spirit and the death of an innocent.

We are left with this shot for a while as Deckard takes in his death and the experience, the music frames the moment in beautiful clarity as the audience is left to admire the shot and think about batty’s death. It is as though we are watching a minute of respectful silence.