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About that line from Blade Runner...
Oct. 6th, 2012 06:22 pmFrom time to time, I run across the Russian translation of Griff's famous line to Deckard that the latter recalls in the last moments of Ridley Scott's Blade Runner:
That said, I am convinced that this line cannot be properly understood—or translated—without understanding an underlying cultrual "gotcha" that affects (at least) English-speakers.
Consider a scene were a surgeon comes out of an operating room and approaches an anxious parent. Before the doctor can say anything, the parent asks "Will she live?" To which the doctor replies "Yes." Or consider a fireman who walks out of a flaming building cradling an infant. He will be credited with "saving the baby's life."
In both cases, what nobody wants to make a point of mentioning (nor would it be proper to do so) is that both the girl's and baby's lives have not been saved in any absolute sense, but merely prolonged until, at some time in the future—and hopefully a long time in the future—they will, nevertheless, eventually die. And it seems to me that this awareness of mortality is particularly acute among people who often brush shoulders with violence and death (presumably, both Deckard and Griff qualify).
So I think that what's going on with Griff is this. He has decided not to hunt down and kill Rebecca because maybe he owes Deckard and because in the end, it won't matter, because of the limited life replicants are programmed with. So as he leaves, he yells to Deckard:
There are many ways of interpreting the overall meaning. In sort of a left-handed way, I think it is Griff's way of telling Deckard to carpe diem.
"It’s too bad she won’t live. But then again, who does?»"It seems to me this is too literal a translation, but Russian is not my native language.
«Жаль, ей не дано пожить. А впрочем, кто живёт?»
That said, I am convinced that this line cannot be properly understood—or translated—without understanding an underlying cultrual "gotcha" that affects (at least) English-speakers.
Consider a scene were a surgeon comes out of an operating room and approaches an anxious parent. Before the doctor can say anything, the parent asks "Will she live?" To which the doctor replies "Yes." Or consider a fireman who walks out of a flaming building cradling an infant. He will be credited with "saving the baby's life."
In both cases, what nobody wants to make a point of mentioning (nor would it be proper to do so) is that both the girl's and baby's lives have not been saved in any absolute sense, but merely prolonged until, at some time in the future—and hopefully a long time in the future—they will, nevertheless, eventually die. And it seems to me that this awareness of mortality is particularly acute among people who often brush shoulders with violence and death (presumably, both Deckard and Griff qualify).
So I think that what's going on with Griff is this. He has decided not to hunt down and kill Rebecca because maybe he owes Deckard and because in the end, it won't matter, because of the limited life replicants are programmed with. So as he leaves, he yells to Deckard:
It's too bad she won't live.And then it occurs to him that none of us are going to live forever—and that thought occurs to him using exacxtly those words: "nobody lives forever"—so he adds, almost as an afterthought:
But then again, who does?What is implied and not said in Griff's two-sentence utterance is the word "forever." But I am convinced it is there, languishing in the back of Griff's mind. (Try this: Add "forever" as the last word of the first sentence. Suddenly, the meaning of the lines is crystal clear, isn't it?)
There are many ways of interpreting the overall meaning. In sort of a left-handed way, I think it is Griff's way of telling Deckard to carpe diem.
