10. The Close Up Of The Eye Represents Orwellian Big Brother Surveillance
The opening shot of Blade Runner, depicting the industrial cityscape of the future as balls of fire eject into the sky, is one of the most striking and memorable opening shots in movie history. It immediately establishes the futuristic world in which the story is set - a vast, sprawling and endless city stretching as far as the eye can see. And the eye indeed does see - in the following shot the city is seen again reflected in the close up of a huge, unblinking eye. Many have speculated who this eye belongs to, with some suggesting it is Deckard and others Tyrell, watching over his empire. But Ridley Scott offers another explanation which gives the eye a broader meaning. Scott's interpretation is that the eye is a metaphor for the total surveillance of the State - an Orwellian, Big Brother motif suggesting that the world in which we're about to enter is a totalitarian state - a corporate oligarchy controlled by a handful of business elites. It certainly creates the impression of an omnipresent form watching over a dystopian future.
