The hidden meaning of Denis Villeneuve's Blade Runner 2049

Поделиться
HTML-код
  • Опубликовано: 2 июн 2024
  • Blade Runner 2049 creates arguably the most intricate and fascinating allegory in contemporary cinema. But despite thousands of essays, fan theories and RUclips videos interpreting the meaning of Blade Runner 2049, most of the audience is blind to the movie's hidden allegorical meaning. An allegory that, from the threads of science fiction, weaves an intensely religious meaning.
    Follow the full course in Advanced Scifi and Fantasy here on youtube • Writing the 21st centu...
    Watch without ads as a member at damiengwalter.com/advanced-sc...
    Follow the the Science Fiction podcast damiengwalter.com/podcast/
    Join the discussion on the Science Fiction community / 324897304599197

Комментарии • 171

  • @LotusOverWater
    @LotusOverWater 4 месяца назад +15

    I never understood why Blade Runner 2049 flopped... it was so beautifully made, the story is so engrossing, the cinematography so overwhelmingly beautiful and the soundtrack so heavy and dense. I keep rewatching it over and over as with the original Blade Runner.

    • @JuzTroublez
      @JuzTroublez 2 месяца назад

      because Tiktok generation is too dumb and has no attention span for such a movie as BR2049. They wanna see heros in tights

    • @maxwellschmidt235
      @maxwellschmidt235 22 дня назад

      My post-mortem :
      1. The original had/has a huge amount of acclaim from a relatively small population.
      2. The already small fandom had two factions. Faction A saw a copaganda in which Harrison Ford acts out a power fantasy of violence on marginal people without fear of reprisal. Faction B saw Ford's Deckard as an alienated non-hero looking for connections to his material world. When Villeneuve made his followup for Faction B, Faction A necessarily felt abandoned. Worth mentioning here is 2017 was probably pretty near the peak of Cinemasins-style criticism and Faction A was more dominant in discussing movies.
      3. In the same year, there was a main-saga star wars and three new Marvel movies (including the sci fi adjacent Guardians of the Galaxy vol. 2). For people budgeting their theatrical experiences, one option was to continue a known story or two from studios well known for production value that you can bring your family to. The other was to spend three hours in an R rated movie whose original you didn't see that was being panned by nascent anti-wokesters so you could discuss it with your one nerdy friend instead of star wars or guardians which they were probably also going to see anyway.
      The irony is, had 2049 gone the Robocop 2 route, it probably would have seen more immediate commercial success and spawned the franchise the studio initially envisioned. But I'd have already forgotten it in that case.

  • @shuplitz2257
    @shuplitz2257 Год назад +80

    It amazes me how you’ve unearthed such a rich network of connections between the movie and Jung’s archetypes.
    And the editing is brilliant, it really made things click in my mind.
    Thanks, keep these coming!

    • @DamienWalter
      @DamienWalter  Год назад +16

      Jung is very popular with Hollywood writers again. These archetypes have been used often in recent movies. Usually, much less subtly than in BR 2049.

  • @maxwellschmidt235
    @maxwellschmidt235 2 года назад +132

    It's a shame Villeneuve felt he had to apologize for 2049. I prefer the original which I felt did a better job tying alienation to class and historicism. But 2049 absolutely did what it needed to be a worthy successor. It packed layer after layer of meaining into both audio and visual story telling to investigate empathy and humanity. The layers of allegory and symbolic representation are such that even when not fully understood, we can see that they're there as we turn over everything unsettled in our mind. Blade Runner is so enduring because the questions in the fandom aren't about the story- they're about what the story can teach us about ourselves and the world we live in.

    • @Pduarte79
      @Pduarte79 Год назад +8

      That's why I love it, aswell Ghost in the shell, not only because the Cyberpunk aesthetics, but the psicological, philosophical, etc richness of both franchises and worlds.

    • @kedabro1957
      @kedabro1957 Год назад +9

      What aspects did he apologize for?

    • @maxwellschmidt235
      @maxwellschmidt235 3 месяца назад +1

      @lordzombie I'm not sure if the studio pressed him for an apology. It was a fairly mild one in which he said he felt it wasn't a commercial success because the fans of the original weren't happy with it and was sorry he didn't live up to their expectations, and that he learned lessons going forward. Which I think is wrong- 2049 is in my top two favorite movies along with the original. One subset of fans that was probably upset have hazy memories of the copaganda action and thought Deckard was the hero of the original. Mostly, who has 3 hours to spend in a movie theater?

  • @toskvision
    @toskvision Год назад +28

    It's rare that a sequel surpasses the original. I adore BL but it is one of those films that has been retroactively tweaked & nuanced so much that I now doubt how much the director (sorry Sir Ridley) really understood the subtext at the time. BL2049 is so sure-footed that it's clear Hampton and Villeneuve knew what they were doing from the outset. It is still respectful to its roots, but truly stands by itself as a SF masterpiece. An excellent analysis Damien.

    • @DamienWalter
      @DamienWalter  Год назад +4

      Denis is the man, a true scifi storyteller.

    • @toskvision
      @toskvision Год назад +1

      @@DamienWalter yup. I'm excited to see what he does with Rendezvous with Rama

  • @ClarkTheArchermage
    @ClarkTheArchermage Год назад +43

    I am absolutely blown away by your work here. Hats off and thank you for giving me even more of a reason to enjoy this film.

  • @stagename2
    @stagename2 Год назад +9

    2049 is easily top 10 movies, for me. I aspire to write with that level of ambience and symbolism.

  • @cosmoscarl4332
    @cosmoscarl4332 9 месяцев назад +6

    Blade Runner 2049 is a masterpiece!

  • @joshbowe-artwork5489
    @joshbowe-artwork5489 2 года назад +27

    Wow, that really made me re think Bladerunner altogether Damien. The symbology stood out in a lot regards to me already, but the depth of the archetype explanation is a fascinating way of integrating this story into my own psyche again. Thank you. I'm going to be a the Rebel Wisdom camp fire for your talk, hopefully I can cobble some questions together for you by then. Next on my shopping list is your course on sci fi.......... Thanks again, great to have found your content, another feather in the cap of Rebel Wisdom

    • @yuiix0026
      @yuiix0026 2 года назад

      why is this so fuc**** wordy chill

  • @neilthornely9713
    @neilthornely9713 Месяц назад +1

    I'm obsessed with Jungian archetypes at the moment and this is a fantastic exploration of these within BR 2049. Not often I subscribe after a single vid but this one just got me to do that, great work ;)

    • @DamienWalter
      @DamienWalter  Месяц назад +1

      Thank you. There's also a Matrix Jung vid but the algorithm hides it so you have to search.

  • @williamwalker8107
    @williamwalker8107 4 месяца назад +1

    One of my favorites of this century. Blade Runner 2049.

  • @jonweber.8.756
    @jonweber.8.756 Год назад +10

    What an unbelievable run down of an unbelievable fillm. Great work.

  • @dancooper4443
    @dancooper4443 3 месяца назад +1

    From 10:30 onwards. I can't believe I didn't notice this years ago when I saw this movie. I can't believe that's what I did last time: projecting the anima onto your love interest and face disappointment when she rejects you and face even more disappointment when you wake up to reality and realise you were fantasising all this time.

  • @jamesmunn576
    @jamesmunn576 2 года назад +14

    Please continue what you are doing. This is amazing insight.

  • @bernardocoto8519
    @bernardocoto8519 4 месяца назад +1

    My mind was literally blown by this analysis. Been a fan of Bladerunner sinces the 90s when it started rising from the ashes as box office flip and was building the cult following it has today. Also read the novel and both are independently masterpieces, what science fiction is meant to be and outsiders rarely get. Even if you don't get all the layers and symbolism, both movies feel like they are destined to be classics on their own right. Awesome video essay...

  • @Dahblackrussian
    @Dahblackrussian 2 года назад +9

    As a Christian, I can tell you that your insight blew me away, I will listen and dwell upon This video.

    • @maxwellschmidt235
      @maxwellschmidt235 2 года назад +5

      I recommend researching the philosophies and beliefs of the Gnostics. Phillip K. Dick was very interrested in them, some of his (even more) religiously motivated work featured their early Christian beliefs prominently.
      This video puts forward Wallace as the God archetype, but I think there is a second: Anna the dream maker. She also takes on a creator role, filling the spiritual life of the replicants. This seems to echo gnostic beliefs in a perfect and irreproachable true God whose essence is hidden by the work of an insane megalomaniac creator God. Wallace creates and maintains the physical realities the Replicants inhabit, and certainly seems to think he's deserving of worship, which links him to the insane creator. Anna's work is more indirect, creating the dreams that can connect Replicants to their personhood, and this work she does from a place detached from the brutal realities of the physical world- connecting her to the benevolent true god.
      To the gnostics, key prophets and Jesus himself were moments in which the true God broke into reality to share truth with humans. My hypothesis is that Anna gave K the memory of the horse and set in motion the events that led him to the case of finding her father. She made his memories such that he would pursue the case as she would if she were able- including rejecting replicant demands that he kill Deckard. There are a number of Christian elements in both Blade Runner movies, but I think 2049 really comes into focus when you apply gnostic theology.

  • @67CDT
    @67CDT Месяц назад

    And this appeared in my feed just now late afternoon some hours after your community post. Revived by the algorithm?

  • @TheTimeRocket
    @TheTimeRocket 3 месяца назад +1

    It's all based on the book: Jerusalem: The Emanation of The Giant Albion. By William Blake.
    "Why wilt thou give to her a Body whose life is but a Shade?
    Her joy and love, a shade: a shade of sweet repose:
    But animated and vegetated, she is a devouring worm:"
    "Man divided from his Emanation is a dark Spectre
    His Emanation is an ever-weeping melancholy Shadow."
    "The deep of winter came,
    What time the secret child
    Descended thro’ the orient gates of the eternal day."

  • @quinteiromalvido
    @quinteiromalvido 3 месяца назад +1

    Look what you did. Now I have to watch it again.

  • @Special-Delivery57
    @Special-Delivery57 Год назад +2

    I wonder if you know how truly significant and beautiful this video is that you’ve made. Wallace is blind just like the demiurge. Thank you

  • @bart4277
    @bart4277 3 года назад +18

    Really high quality stuff as usual ✌

  • @RebelliousTillTheEnd333
    @RebelliousTillTheEnd333 3 года назад +5

    “ Remember who you are ‘“ from the pleroma to the persona then back again .

  • @prison1231
    @prison1231 2 года назад +3

    Answered a few questions but left me with even more question very thought provoking.

  • @synapticmemoryseepage4447
    @synapticmemoryseepage4447 5 месяцев назад

    Awesome video lecture, with clear, concise, and thought-dwelling analysis.

  • @KulchurKat
    @KulchurKat Год назад +4

    Wow! Just wow! Just loved your detailed take on the individuation process. I knew the movie was dealing with what it means to be human, but your detailed breakdown of that process was so insightful.

  • @metaRising
    @metaRising 2 года назад

    Very much enjoyed this. Thank you.

  • @MrGetzenwithit
    @MrGetzenwithit 8 месяцев назад

    Amazing work! Kudos.

  • @Calicarver
    @Calicarver 10 месяцев назад +1

    I started watching the first bladerunner movie when I was about 12, and it was fascinating. The visuals, the flying cars, the grit. The movie's epic and beautiful soundtrack by Vangelis both immersed you into the 2019 world and also reprieve from its darkness. The music was such a good fit because it provided this lifeline, an escape. Over the years I realized that the hunt on skinjaws, or artificial beings were immoral, and that Deckard as he slowly realized his true nature became increasingly conflicted and his only way to resolve it was to leave, escape and hide. The movie was decades ahead of its time, but asks very relevant questions we have to resolve now as AI awakens. Are they more than just machines? Where do we draw the line?
    Is empathy dependent on intelligence or ability to communicate? Are only humans worthy of being free from slavery? From being farmed?
    The Bladerunner movies asks the deepest questions we can face and for most people, that is too much to deal with, and for the majority, they dont even get that far, they only notice the storyline without questions. No wonder these movies didnt do well in theaters, not because they are bad movies, but because they are so incredibly deep

    • @DamienWalter
      @DamienWalter  10 месяцев назад

      Great comment, thank you.

  • @nicholastapia25
    @nicholastapia25 2 года назад +1

    Incredible take. This film just continues to give me more to think about

  • @martinbrady3532
    @martinbrady3532 7 месяцев назад +2

    Villenuve should have apologised for nothing 2049 is brilliant.

  • @michaelzhang2072
    @michaelzhang2072 3 года назад +5

    Excellent analysis.

  • @J.B.1982
    @J.B.1982 8 месяцев назад +2

    Fantastic video. All makes sense to me. I knew there was more to this movie than I was able to immediately understand and your analysis is greatly appreciated.
    Still learning about Jungian psychology.

  • @christianayers622
    @christianayers622 10 месяцев назад +5

    I just rewatched blade runner (i loved this movie when i saw it in 2017) however this time, i was watching from a Christian perspective. Ill sum up what id like to say, cause im not one for words. In the universe of Blade runner, I believe God is real, and God has decided to give salvation to the synthetic humans. Wallace is a very good portrayal of an Anti Christ figure. he not only puts himself in place of God, but he seems to be aware of who God is, meaning he is very aware that he is evil, an enemy of God. I can imagine he hates God, especially since God has openly mocked Wallace, by creating Deckard with DNA that worked perfectly with Rachels to create a baby. This is the reason for his monologue. Wallace has done everything is his power to create life, yet he cannot without love. It was love which brought Deckard and Rachel together, it was God(love). The love that Wallace needs to create life, he cannot have, instead the Luv he created in order to do his will, was a monster.
    to top it off, (and now this is a theory) K and Ana are brother and sister. (the reason of the difficult pregnancy) they were twins and he is the Christ figure. She is aware of this, which is why she cries at his memory, because she knows shes seeing her brother, who was chosen to die so that he would be able to live and bring hope to the synthetics. a miracle. This is, to me, an allegory for the gospel, and it is a very good one at that. i wish i could explain it better but i aint no word smith. just hope i got my idea across.

    • @maxwellschmidt235
      @maxwellschmidt235 21 день назад

      Never seen a take like this, I look forward to taking it into my next viewing. Roy's echo if Christ is pretty obvious (almost to the film's detriment as it nearly rises to corniness in its visualization) in the first movie.
      PKD was very interested in Christian esoterics and heterodoxy, and it seems to me like there's a critical blindspot in discussing Christian influences and themes surrounding the major works of the franchise.

  • @KatrinEgilsdottir
    @KatrinEgilsdottir 3 года назад +5

    Very eye opening and fantastic video 😁

  • @starlit_hawser11
    @starlit_hawser11 7 месяцев назад

    This was wonderful. Thank you!

  • @t.s.mcneil6922
    @t.s.mcneil6922 3 месяца назад

    Interesting how far Bladerunner 2049 strays from both the original film and the Philip K. Dick novel where it all started in which the fundamental message is humans are our own worst enemy.

  • @MarcEsadrian
    @MarcEsadrian 4 месяца назад

    This was a brilliant analysis. I had the basic parts of the allegory, but didn't think to tie it to Jungian psychology.

  • @Caroleonus
    @Caroleonus 7 месяцев назад

    The allegory hit me upside the head when Joi said ‘born, not made.’ Lifted straight from the Creed many Christians recite every Sunday.

  • @Zed-fq3lj
    @Zed-fq3lj 5 месяцев назад

    This was a priceless review about a most brilliant movie!

  • @CitizenScott
    @CitizenScott Месяц назад

    This vid should be result #1 for all BR2049 searches. Great work.
    K absolutely is the Hero though. He takes the journey to face and integrate these archetypes in his process of individuation. He resists the Siren's Call of Freysa's revolution, and overcomes the Tyrannical Mother and Father, the Pathological Feminine and Masculine, represented by Joshi and Wallace respectively. He ultimately sacrifices himself to pull the Father from the sea, rescuing the proper Protective Masculine in Deckard and reuniting it with the proper Caring Feminine in Anna. He crosses into the chaos of the periphery, and returns with the key to saving his people.
    Even on a surface level K makes the most heroic choice possible. When the Joi advert calls him "a good Joe" he is clearly disillusioned. In that moment, he could have concluded that everything is artificial, including himself, so none of it contains true meaning, and then gone home, got right, passed his next baseline, and resumed his routine as before, retiring more replicants for bonuses to buy a new Joi. Instead of washing his hands of it all, he chooses to take direct action, and rather than assassinate Deckard in a political act, he makes the empathetic choice and takes the man to meet his daughter.
    He may not be the special child, but that makes him all the more special for choosing the human path, and really becoming a real boy.

  • @debbiehughesartandillustra8812
    @debbiehughesartandillustra8812 3 года назад +10

    I am rewatching it now and I find it endlessly fascinating. I am a SF and Fantasy Illustrator, so the imagery is also engrossing. I was surprised this time though to see some borrowing form Whelan's works. Unfortunately that occurs often with No credit to the artists, it has happened to me many times. Your analysis is very interesting, I have also much preferred Jung's theories.

    • @DamienWalter
      @DamienWalter  3 года назад

      Michael Whelan? That's interesting, which images?

    • @debbiehughesartandillustra8812
      @debbiehughesartandillustra8812 3 года назад

      @@DamienWalter If you go to his webpage and check out: www.michaelwhelan.com/gallery/personal-visions/#lumen. Also some of his older book covers where he shows factory like settings. The scenes in Bladerunner where the protagonist goes back to visit the place of his childhood uses these type of backgrounds, factory deadtech with tattered clothes. I will see if I can find the images that I remember from some of the book covers.

    • @aarontaylor2906
      @aarontaylor2906 2 года назад

      I am a huge fan of the blade runner universe and yes you have to see this long film many times to understand and truly admire its lore! Ridley Scott visions of this film has close ties to the ALIEN movies they are interrelated! I hope a third film is in the works and more connection with Alien!

    • @maxwellschmidt235
      @maxwellschmidt235 2 года назад

      @@aarontaylor2906 both films have a lot to say about class and marginalization, but I'm not sure they could be crossed over and get across the meanings needed in each franchise.

    • @aarontaylor2906
      @aarontaylor2906 2 года назад

      @@maxwellschmidt235 Yes you are 100% correct! In the Alien Universe the robot that tried to weaponize the Alien creature was designed by the same company that created the Bladerunner Androids! But there is a more serious issue which deals with rights of existence that in Blade runner the Android was trying to find his creator to extend his life and not be a slave and to live free! More discussion to come!

  • @krazmazov3043
    @krazmazov3043 6 месяцев назад

    This was fabulous

  • @user-jd9yd4ut2o
    @user-jd9yd4ut2o Год назад +1

    BR2049 is acoustically amazing, it is a gesamtkunstwerk. Great video and narration.

    • @DamienWalter
      @DamienWalter  Год назад

      One of the greatest soundtracks ever.

  • @RebelliousTillTheEnd333
    @RebelliousTillTheEnd333 3 года назад +1

    “ In a tower beside a lake “ reminds me of the start of your Iain m banks video .

  • @gymnast1910
    @gymnast1910 5 месяцев назад

    This is the best breakdown yet

  • @cramsa
    @cramsa Год назад +1

    Wow, I am always learning something new about this movie.😊

  • @Stewz66
    @Stewz66 4 месяца назад

    Best review I've seen, by a wide margin

  • @RichardRagan
    @RichardRagan Год назад

    Masterfully done! Maybe R. Scott should have had some narration that referenced some info from C. Jung? That way the movie might have resonated deeper with the casual audience? Have you had any feedback from R. Scott on this essay?

    • @DamienWalter
      @DamienWalter  Год назад

      Mr Scott had only small involvement with 2049, but I'd be happy to learn Denis had had seen the essay!

  • @ProfClaudeBalls
    @ProfClaudeBalls 4 месяца назад

    Very interesting and very clear connections explained, betw the film and the Jungian archetypes model. My questions now are about the model: What does it mean to "integrate" an archetype? What do you have, after attaining the True Self, that you don't have with just the default Persona? Also - PKD's novel addressed the question, super relevant in our time of powerful AIs, of what it means to be "alive". Did it include all that Jungian mumbo-jumbo?

  • @lgroves336
    @lgroves336 8 месяцев назад

    Great job breaking this hidden meaning down.

  • @ErikAlfkin
    @ErikAlfkin 5 месяцев назад

    Very interesting. It's been a long time since I looked at Jung, and I never truly delved in enough to understand him. Got turned off to him after being unable to apply him to my life and also some pointless arguments; I found that people who went deep on him tended to believe they had authority to talk about my own inner world and could not accept that they were wrong. I appreciate what you did here, which I want to say before I go off on my own throughts that came up as I listened to this. What's truly interesting to me now, listening to you go through the archetypes and explain how Jung discovered them, is how much more experience I have now after delving into my own depths but through a very different modality over the past few years. This modality is more of a protocol driven by a kind of inner physics discovered through interactions with lots of individuals instead of one person delving into their own self. The difference is huge and important. It seems that Jung considered his own landscape to be typical, when, it turns out that we all have our own inner ecosystems of parts that developed based on both our individual experiences and some kind of rules that seem to govern how it all works. I think this is why I always felt in my gut like Jung was onto something but that it didn't resonate completely with me. And, to call back to what I said earlier, it makes for arguments when an expert on Jung refuses to accept that my inner world is not the same, that as much as they may twist and force the ideas of these specific archetypes to fit my experience, my "inner landscape" is different on key levels because I did not grow up in the same way that he did. How can I trust my own interpretations? The evidence I have is a growing set of personal transformations that have come from this inner work, where even a trained Jungian therapist could make no headway. Fear of heights, deep depressions, executive dysfunction, and more (I was a f*ckin mess), cured bit by bit and step by step. The evidence is in every day of my new life. Again, I love the way you broke this down, and I need to go back and watch this movie with these ideas in mind. I appreciate the way you have helped me understand why I somewhat resonated with Jung but could never quite get him.

    • @ErikAlfkin
      @ErikAlfkin 5 месяцев назад

      I would add that I too am frustrated that there aren't more successful attempts to tell stories through allegory such as this

    • @DamienWalter
      @DamienWalter  5 месяцев назад +1

      "I'm glad I am Carl Jung, not a Jungian" Carl Jung

  • @germany456
    @germany456 2 года назад

    Great movie and video

  • @marriimar6562
    @marriimar6562 3 года назад +1

    Wow! The mass Onion 🧅 being cut! And thank you! Not for breaking down the movie but the psychological enlightenment of “being” you gave me... 🥺😘😘😘😘😘

  • @Leojoo4
    @Leojoo4 8 месяцев назад

    Thank you.

  • @chronic_washere
    @chronic_washere 2 года назад

    amazing video

  • @MarsHeadquarters
    @MarsHeadquarters Год назад +1

    Lovely video, but could someone just answer this one question about the conclusion of the video and I suppose the movie. What was it for? the end described as playing in the snow and reaching for the sky is to vague to me. What is the goal of individuation? Do we hope to reject or recreate the persona, or is there something I'm misunderstanding about the true self. If success is symbolized as dying so someone else can be happy I connect that maybe you become whole and the persona dies to become the true self but honestly I just feel like I'm still misunderstanding both the ending of this video and perhaps the movie.

    • @DamienWalter
      @DamienWalter  Год назад +2

      The Persona can not conceptualise a self beyond itself. This is why all religions have a concept of faith.

    • @MarsHeadquarters
      @MarsHeadquarters Год назад

      @@DamienWalter thank you, I think I can settle on an understanding of this.

  • @mattgilbert7347
    @mattgilbert7347 5 месяцев назад

    I was a teenage Jungian so this was a nice trip down memory lane.

  • @Dart_ilder
    @Dart_ilder 2 года назад

    This is beautiful

  • @gergelyszakacs
    @gergelyszakacs Год назад

    This essay alone was worth a subscribe.

  • @hn6187
    @hn6187 5 месяцев назад

    brilliant description of Jungian ideas, archetypes, and the heroic act of becoming by delving into the Shadow. made me look up the etymology of archetype, then the core types: "model, first form, original pattern from which copies are made," 1540s [Barnhart] or c. 1600 [OED], from Latin archetypum, from Greek arkhetypon "pattern, model, figure on a seal," neuter of adjective arkhetypos "first-moulded," from arkhē "beginning, origin, first place" (verbal noun of arkhein "to be the first;" see archon) + typos "model, type, blow, mark of a blow" ( - see etymology of Type )

  • @Pduarte79
    @Pduarte79 Год назад

    Underrated gems, like Dark City.
    Since you mentioned Carl Jung, to you have any video, also tie in with the Persona franchise?

    • @DamienWalter
      @DamienWalter  Год назад +1

      I haven't seen Persona. On the list.

    • @Pduarte79
      @Pduarte79 Год назад

      @@DamienWalter
      Persona are a jrpg franchise that started as a Shin megami tensei spin off and became it's own thing. And has some inspiration on Jungian psychology and Jojo's Bizarre Adventure.

  • @tomsear1
    @tomsear1 4 месяца назад

    not sure you fully rounded back to explore the impact of the exposition body of this essay to re-integrate the introduction which explored 2049 as theology xpressed in jungian psychological contexts ?! Further, Bladerunner (both) addresses the incorporation/conflict of ‘Eastern’ concepts - something challenging for Jungian Doctrine - was this a shorter section of longer lecture? Is this point valid and how would it be addressed?

  • @PeloquinDavid
    @PeloquinDavid 2 года назад +6

    Very thought-provoking (particularly for someone like me who has no background in psychology, Jungian or otherwise, but rather more sensitivity to and sympathy for religious themes notwithstanding my post-Catholic identity)!
    I'm not sure I agree with this video's assertion that BR2049 constitutes an "allegory", however. It's perhaps my upbringing, but I tend to associate "allegory" with heavy-handed "preaching" on some supposedly uniquely correct vision of humanity/the world/whatever. And I tend to really HATE "preachy films" in particular...
    I don't doubt that there are many "hooks" in BR2049 (some intended by the filmmakers, many others probably not) on which Jungians can hang their ideological constructs. But the same is almost certainly true for all manner of other ideological schools attended by human minds (even post-Catholic minds like mine!)...
    What I most love about BR2049 - and, indeed, about all the Villeneuve films I've seen (from "Polytechnique" through to BR2049) is that I seldom if ever have the sense of being preached to. I am aware of all sorts of deeply ambiguous moral situations in those films that call for agonisingly difficult decisions, judgements and imaginings of the "what would I do in that situation" variety. But I am amazed that films like these let audience members make up their own minds (and endlessly argue about their competing impressions with others who've shared the same experience...)
    To my mind, films like these are far too rare and precious to be forcibly confined to the procrustean bed of allegory.

    • @JunkyardHounds
      @JunkyardHounds 2 года назад

      They are not rare. Most films by auteurs are allegory's who at the same time let you make up your mind since it's you who has to put in the mental work to reach the conclusion, not the film's job to preach it! Watch Tarkovsky, Apichatpong, Kubrick, Lynch, Roy Andersson, Fellini, etc

    • @PeloquinDavid
      @PeloquinDavid 2 года назад

      @@JunkyardHounds I'd generally agree with you about Kubrick, though I do find his "war" films (Paths of Glory, Full Metal Jacket and even Dr. Strangelove) perilously close to being "preachy" - even though I do appreciate all of them.

  • @SP-ny1fk
    @SP-ny1fk 10 месяцев назад

    I've seen things you people wouldn't believe... Attack ships on fire off the shoulder of Orion... I watched C-beams glitter in the dark near the Tannhäuser Gate. All those moments will be lost in time, like tears in rain...

  • @AJ-kv1po
    @AJ-kv1po 7 месяцев назад

    @DamienWalter it's not Sci Fi but I'd love to see your interpretation of McCarthy's Blood Meridian.

    • @DamienWalter
      @DamienWalter  7 месяцев назад +1

      I could make a strong argument for McCarthy as science fiction. Similar to Pynchon and Murakami.

  • @HeresWhyItsCool
    @HeresWhyItsCool 4 месяца назад

    .............................................brilliant.

  • @BLXDE-RXNNER
    @BLXDE-RXNNER Год назад +1

    How interesting

  • @zoomerboomer6834
    @zoomerboomer6834 Год назад +1

    Wow! Brilliant presentation. Mentally I was breathless as I attempted to keep up with your interpretation and analysis of the film. In my opinion, I thought BR2049 was an intriguing masterpiece of science fiction. However, the tropes of future overpopulation and human-caused climate change appears to becoming less likely in humankind's actual future. Population collapse is becoming more evident even in contemporary times. Had the apocalyptic EMP incident referenced in the film taken place, it seems to be at odds with the film's storyline - overpopulation wouldn't be likely and Earth's environment would remain intact. With elements of humankind already having moved off-planet, future technology could be reintroduced, however, technology-dependent infrastructure destroyed by the EMP would cause catastrophic losses to Earth's population before supply chains could be rebuilt. A brilliant film, but the nightmarish future imagined is appearing to become less likely to happen.

    • @DamienWalter
      @DamienWalter  Год назад +1

      The over population is only in the walled cities. Population collapse leads to highly concentrated enclaves where resources can be maintained. But the point of the EM event is that this is a world without memory. Symbolic more than literal.

    • @zoomerboomer6834
      @zoomerboomer6834 Год назад

      @@DamienWalter Regarding the symbology of the EM event, as it applies to the film's story, I couldn't agree with you more. However, the film portrays an overpopulated world, not highly concentrated enclaves of population. In my humble opinion, BR2049 is a masterpiece, and your presentation was brilliantly executed. However, in film and scripts there are often compromises made in effort to ensure that the film actually gets produced. After all, in the end it is science fiction, not a documentary. I look forwad to your next presentation.

  • @shadow2010shadow2010
    @shadow2010shadow2010 4 месяца назад

    reminds me of Star Trek at one point was Data Human did he have emotions who cares
    Get on with life
    Science now thinks animals have consciousness
    Japanese Shinto think objects have souls and now some scientists there is something even if not anything we know
    Then in the universe chains of connection between Galaxies what is that all about

  • @phillipjones8608
    @phillipjones8608 2 года назад

    Damien Walter: Thank you.

  • @MichaelEilers
    @MichaelEilers Месяц назад +1

    The ultimate failure of the Jungian archetypes is that to be able to explore the intellect and personality to the degree Jung professes, you quite literally need a lifetime of training and discipline that only the most elite and favored by society can achieve. These structures appear through analysis; we can project them, once we acquire the knowledge, but it’s inaccessible and too strongly built on assumption for the layman.

  • @mauricewalshe8339
    @mauricewalshe8339 3 года назад +1

    I think it was the Nuclear war and the fall out that caused the initial collapse and in the original film a lot of the healthy had left for the off world colonies - only the poor and genetically damaged humans that remained - Sebastian actually mentions this

    • @DamienWalter
      @DamienWalter  3 года назад +2

      Yes that's true. But in 2049 the emohasis is on ecological collapse. It's not a traditiinalmsequel in that sense. Denis Villeneuve changes thingsnto tell his own story.

  • @AbeDillon
    @AbeDillon 12 дней назад

    I love Bladerunner 2049, but Jung's archetypes always feel like Tarot Cards or some ancient pantheon where people assign anthropic characters to increasingly disparate and random aspects of the world. The sun, fertiliy, birth, death, love, the seasons, thunder, fire, wine, dance, the oceans, wisdom, war, chaos, darkness, etc. etc.
    Think of a concept -> make up a character that personifies that concept
    Talk endlessly about how those concepts interact.
    Somehow gain more insight? I don't think so.

  • @jag9022
    @jag9022 6 месяцев назад

    Like we see in the movie, our dna is just a code made of 4 letters and Joi was a code made of "2 letters" 0 and 1. but we can make any representation of anything with any code. the language doesn't matter to arrive to some results. An apple in english is still an apple in french, same idea, different code to represent it. So it doesn't matter what code consciousness is made of, only the consciousness matter. Fear is the same in every code. Joy is the same in every code. Damn... we are just a programmed code made of biological math... a code living in every cells and organs of or body to our brain.

    • @DamienWalter
      @DamienWalter  6 месяцев назад

      Code is the current limited metaphor we use for a reality infinitely more complex.

  • @Vladi_AK47
    @Vladi_AK47 Год назад

    Top quality material. Thank you, brother 👍

  • @jmilton5842
    @jmilton5842 Год назад

    I get this, but is there any significance to the Asian/Japanese themes spread throughout the two movies?

    • @DamienWalter
      @DamienWalter  Год назад +1

      Because cyberpunk is a fantasy of Asian cities in the 80s. Go to Ho Chi Minh, it's just like Blade Runner.

  • @jeffschultz2242
    @jeffschultz2242 Год назад

    2049 was a great next chapter. I look forward to the next chapter,, hopefully sooner.

  • @fixedguitar47
    @fixedguitar47 2 года назад

    The Allegory is perfect girlfriends are digital?

  • @martinoheat1712
    @martinoheat1712 6 месяцев назад +1

    It didn't do well at the box office because the audience of millennials and gen z don't know blade runner very well. Also Chinese audiences probably found it too complex. But on rottentomatoes it has a 88%.

  • @blazemordly9746
    @blazemordly9746 3 года назад +2

    “…built around the myth of Jesus Christ himself.”
    Now that’s a helluva thing to say, contextually speaking. “)

    • @DamienWalter
      @DamienWalter  3 года назад +3

      Then go watch the video where that idea is explored. Why do you think Roy has a nailed hand and holds a dove?

    • @blazemordly9746
      @blazemordly9746 3 года назад

      @@DamienWalter it was a joke...a play on words. sorry.

  • @Umilenya
    @Umilenya 2 года назад +1

    15:13 Ana Stelline, the quintessential snowflake!

  • @davin1287
    @davin1287 10 месяцев назад

    You can't blame the audience for not understanding a movie.
    A director should never apologize for their work unless it to themself.
    Wanna know what's great about movies, you can watch them as many times as you want any time you want. You can hate a movie in 2000 and love it in 2020.

    • @DamienWalter
      @DamienWalter  10 месяцев назад +1

      I'm 50 / 50 on that. I do want to encourage to *think* about culture, and many of the people who don't are very aggressive towards anyone who does.

  • @Giantshredder
    @Giantshredder 2 года назад +1

    Anyone else not like the original?
    I'm sorry man, I've tried countless times...I just can't get into it. I just bought both in a 2 pack. Said why not. In this recent watch I noticed how underwhelming Harrison Ford is.
    2049 is great. Not gonna praise it. But, it's an amazing world.

    • @DamienWalter
      @DamienWalter  2 года назад +1

      Watch my video essay on it, see if that changes what you think of it.

  • @nobeoddy1664
    @nobeoddy1664 Год назад

    now i certainly don't understand the film--------

  • @johnnyswatts
    @johnnyswatts 6 месяцев назад

    I enjoy challenging movies, movies with subtle ideas. I do not mind being befuddled if the movie has left me with abstract ideas to puzzle over. I did not enjoy 2049. It was flat and lifeless. Very pretty, but bland and muddled. IMHO.

    • @johnnyswatts
      @johnnyswatts 6 месяцев назад

      Oh. It's christian. No wonder I didn't engage with it.

    • @DamienWalter
      @DamienWalter  6 месяцев назад

      Almost all science fiction has christian symbols.

  • @SsjGssjGogeta
    @SsjGssjGogeta Год назад

    Ppl didn't get that the ending was death
    And linnelle was heaven

  • @martinreid2352
    @martinreid2352 3 года назад +2

    I'm sorry, perhaps I missed it: how do Jungian archetypes unlock the religious meaning of the film? Or is that purposely omitted so we have to find that out in the course you are offering?

    • @DamienWalter
      @DamienWalter  3 года назад +7

      "Hey. I didn't really pay attention. So here's my cynical conclusion that says more about my own ignorance. Thanks!"

  • @chrisS19019
    @chrisS19019 7 месяцев назад

    2049 was much better than the original in my opinion, I watched them both back to back and I wanted to immediately watch 2049 again I don’t think I wanted to watch BR

  • @austntexan
    @austntexan 3 года назад +6

    Interesting. There are many film archetypes, not all are necessarily drawn from Jung. Jungian archetypes are easily projected onto any narrative, intentionally or otherwise . Beyond the character development, BR feels more like an indictment of The West and overtly celebrates Russian style Marxism with over-the-top imagery of Stalin-era Brutalist architecture/monumental statues. The principle message of BR seems to be revolution. The overt Feminist overtones fall right in line with Marx's theories on class struggle and their need to destroy gender roles. I agree, there are clear archetypes present. Are they Jungian? Maybe, but maybe not.

    • @DamienWalter
      @DamienWalter  3 года назад +3

      Jungian, definitely. There's a substantial dfference between a story that contains archetypes, and an allegory that deliberately lays out the archetpes. BR2049 is the latter.

    • @maxwellschmidt235
      @maxwellschmidt235 2 года назад

      I think there's much more marxism/hegelianism in the original film, with some great master/slave dialectics that I rarely see discussed.

    • @nickbecerra9580
      @nickbecerra9580 Год назад +5

      I don't think BR:2049 is about the revolution itself. Joe is being pulled by several factions. The rebels want him to kill Deckard to stop Wallace. Wallace wants Joe dead and Decard to himself for experiments or whatever. The cops want Joe to kill the child born from replicants and Joi thinks Joe is that child to which *spoilers* he learns he couldn't even get the pleasure of actually being. You'd think Joe would end up having to either choose between what is morally right (helping the rebels and killing Deckard) or what he was created to do aka his duty (killing the child ), In the end, Joe decides "fuck all that noise" and chooses neither. He chooses to spare them both and instead aids in reuniting them. A choice that he personally gains nothing from. To me, the moral of the film seems to be that you should choose what's right regardless of what others tell you to do.

  • @slawomirkulinski
    @slawomirkulinski 4 месяца назад

    0:53 which is a total miss, because we are facing population collapse.

    • @DamienWalter
      @DamienWalter  4 месяца назад +1

      No, because a population collapse will reduce network capacity. Survivors are crammed into much smaller regions with operating infrastructure.

  • @GeoffMcB
    @GeoffMcB Год назад

    Interesting however I'm not sure I agree with 90% of it. It'd be great to sit down and discuss it all in a face to face workshop.

  • @THEMAX00000
    @THEMAX00000 Год назад

    I love the blade runner 2049. I relate to the character of K/Joe. That being said a admit to failing to see anything allegorical.
    I also saw gravity back in 2013. That movie sucked. Please explain what was allegorical about that?
    Never seen Mother. That being said I may do so after watching this video

    • @DamienWalter
      @DamienWalter  Год назад +5

      Gravity is an allegory for grief. Sandra Bullock goes through the stages of grief from the death of her child.

  • @martyguy8185
    @martyguy8185 10 месяцев назад

    Nothing really hidden. Its a more complex "person" who wants or needs more. And that is to be expected....even without a "brain". And please don't call anything blade runner "cyberpunk" . That movie never knew that term.....so its not needed by others. If you label it.....do you REALLY understand it.....

  • @rachelannsmart3710
    @rachelannsmart3710 Год назад

    How could anyone view this movie as a flop?

    • @DamienWalter
      @DamienWalter  Год назад +1

      Financially it was a flop, and many people claim to find it boring.

    • @rachelannsmart3710
      @rachelannsmart3710 Год назад

      @@DamienWalterMaybe to the great unwashed!😆 I had to watch this movie several times to absorb all that was going on, and this video helped me see many more of its facets. I also have listened to the soundtrack. These is a lot there to unpack as well.

  • @quercusdream9291
    @quercusdream9291 Год назад

    not a fan of jungian psychology. failed to resonate on a personal level. prefer internal family systems as a modality. that is not to say the director was not using this framework. but it could be your own projection. peace.

  • @JorgeIvanovich
    @JorgeIvanovich 8 месяцев назад

    This movie was to much for Hollywood,we are just clothed animals with the curse of conscience.

  • @Szlejer
    @Szlejer 2 года назад +2

    The film flopped because - except for the visual candy - it was a badly executed and kinda boring allegory...

    • @DamienWalter
      @DamienWalter  2 года назад +6

      And yet it's still one of the most searched movies on YT. Like the original, or like 2001, complex intelligent movies often flop at the box office.

    • @88feji
      @88feji 2 года назад

      @@DamienWalter
      The sequel is very very lazy in visuals ... how can Las Vegas be so empty with just a few broken giant sculptures ? What happen to the tall street lamps, big advertisment displays, giant billboards etc ... did they all evaporated due to radiation ? Why is the casino so unscathed being abandoned for so long ... shouldn't there be lots of peeling gangrene walls,
      broken windows, creeper plants growing, messy furnitures due to people leaving in a hurry ? Have they not referenced real life examples of abandoned nuclear radiation cities like Chernobyl and Fukushima ?
      The themes in 2049 are more or less the same things already very poetically and eloquently fleshed out in the original ... just bringing in a hologram is merely just applying the same themes on a different form of articificial intelligence, one which is digital/mechanical rather than genetic clones but its the same questions and issues ..

    • @DamienWalter
      @DamienWalter  2 года назад +5

      @@88feji That's an indescribably awful take.

    • @88feji
      @88feji 2 года назад

      @@DamienWalter
      How is my take "awful ?
      How do you deny that the Las Vegas street scene really should not be so empty with just a few broken down giant statues if its an entertainment district right ?
      I mean radiation cannot vaporise strutures like the street lamp posts, road signages, big advertisment displays, billboards etc right ?
      And if the giant statures are all broken down, shouldn't the walls of the casino be peeling and gangrene etc rather than so clean and unscathed right ?

    • @DamienWalter
      @DamienWalter  2 года назад +4

      @@88feji I crafted a full video essay and dozens of hours work to make my point. You posted an ill considered take on a film that's universally acknowledged even by its detractors as an amazing piece of design and cinematography. Make a not awful point, I'll take it more seriously.

  • @tumadrepinchependejo
    @tumadrepinchependejo Год назад +3

    I absolutely love this movie. I actually like it better than the original.