The significance of the Unicorn and the Chess game.

[Dave]

WHAT IS THE SIGNIFICANCE OF THE UNICORN AND THE CHESS GAME?

THE UNICORN

From Blade Runner FAQ website

When Deckard leaves his apartment with Rachael at the end of the film, she knocks over an origami unicorn. The unicorn is the last of a series of origami figures that Gaff uses to taunt Deckard. In Bryant's office when Deckard insists he's retired, Gaff folds a chicken: "You're afraid to do it".

Later he makes a man with an erection: "You're attracted to her". And finally, the unicorn: "You're dreaming, you can run away with her, but she won't live" (he says basically the same thing to Deckard on the rooftop). One interpretation is that the unicorn was simply a message to Deckard to say "I know you've got Rachael, but I'll let her live." Another interpretation (based on the script) is that the unicorn is Gaff's gauntlet and he will hunt them both down.

A unicorn has long been the symbol of virginity and purity (being white), which ties in with Rachael's status. Legend states that only a virgin could capture a unicorn. Unicorns are extinct, and Gaff may think the same of Rachael, as she definitely has a limited lifespan.

A unicorn was used in Tennessee Williams' "The Glass Menagerie" to symbolize that the girl was "different to other horses". The horn on this unicorn represented her physical handicap, which prevented her from meeting people. When she finally did meet a man, they danced and knocked over the unicorn, breaking its horn off. "It's just like all the other horses now," she said, which symbolizes that she has overcome her shyness and lost her virginity.

The unicorn may also symbolize:

- Rachael is (and always will be) a replicant among humans, and will be different, like a unicorn among horses, because of her termination date. (In the tacked-on ending, Deckard says that she doesn't have a termination date)

- Rachael leaving and knocking over the unicorn symbolizes her escape from the Tyrell Corporation, which only looked upon her as a replicant. Deckard fell in love with her as a human, and by doing so, she became human.

- "The silver unicorn... is a made thing, a piece of human handiwork, beautiful and fragile and glittering, yet perceived as waste, thrown down and trodden upon, easily destroyed. Also, it is in the form of an animal, albeit a mythical one, and in the BR future, the beasts of the earth and fowls of the air are all be extinct, except in replicant form."

Source: Rebecca Warner in "Retrofitting Bladerunner"


‘Blade Runner Directors Cut’, however, includes a scene not in the original release. It is a dream sequence, showing Deckard's dream of a white unicorn. One can now argue Gaff knew that Deckard had dreamt of a unicorn. If Gaff knew what Deckard was dreaming, then we can assume that Deckard was a replicant himself, and Gaff knew he would be dreaming of a unicorn just the way Deckard knew about the spider outside Rachael's window.

From "The Blade Cuts", Starburst (UK) no. 51, November 1982.

Scott: ...did you see the version [of the script] with the unicorn?

McKenzie: No...

Scott: I think the idea of the unicorn was a terrific idea...

McKenzie: The obvious inference is that Deckard is a replicant himself.

Scott: Sure. To me it's entirely logical, particularly when you are doing a film noire, you may as well go right through with that theme, and the central character could in fact be what he is chasing...

McKenzie: Did you actually shoot the sequence in the glade with the unicorn?

Scott: Absolutely. It was cut into the picture, and I think it worked wonderfully. Deckard was sitting, playing the piano rather badly because he was drunk, and there's a moment where he gets absorbed and goes off a little at a tangent and we went into the shot of the unicorn plunging out of the forest. It's not subliminal, but it's a brief shot. Cut back to Deckard and there's absolutely no reaction to that, and he just carries on with the scene. That's where the whole idea of the character of Gaff with his origami figures -- the chicken and the little stick-figure man, so the origami figure of the unicorn tells you that Gaff has been there. One of the layers of the film has been talking about private thoughts and memories, so how would Gaff have known that a private thought of Deckard was of a unicorn? That's why Deckard shook his head like that [referring to Deckard nodding his head after picking up the paper unicorn]."

Scott goes on to talk about how he decided to make the photograph of the little girl with her mother come alive for a second, then later in the interview we have:

McKenzie: Are you disappointed that the references to Deckard being a replicant are no longer there?

Scott: The innuendo is still there. The French get it immediately! I think it's interesting that he could be.

Scott intended the unicorn scene to be in the 1982 theatrical release, but the producers vetoed the idea as "too arty".

Hmmm! Could you make a film any more arty?

THE CHESS GAME

The chess game between Tyrell and Sebastian uses the conclusion of a game played between Anderssen and Kieseritzky, in London in 1851. It is considered one of the most brilliant games ever played, and is universally known as "The Immortal Game".

The Immortal Game, in algebraic notation, was as follows:

Anderssen - Kieseritzky (London 1851):

1 e4 e5 2 f4 exf4 3 Bc4 Qh4+ 4 Kf1 b5 5 Bxb5 Nf6 6 Nf3 Qh6 7 d3 Nh5 8 Nh4 Qg5 9 Nf5 c6 10 Rg1 cxb5 11 g4 Nf6 12 h4 Qg6 13 h5 Qg5 14 Qf3 Ng8 15 Bxf4 Qf6 16 Nc3 Bc5 17 Nd5 Qxb2 18 Bd6 Qxa1+ 19 Ke2 Bxg1 20 e5 Na6 21 Nxg7+ Kd8 22 Qf6+ Nxf6 23 Be7 Checkmate.

The chess boards in the film are not arranged exactly as they would in be the Immortal Game, and Sebastian's board does not match Tyrell's.

The concept of immortality has obvious associations in the ensuing confrontation between Tyrell and Batty. On one level, the chess games represents the struggle of the replicants against the humans: the humans consider the replicants pawns, to be removed one by one. The individual replicants (pawns) are attempting to become immortal (a queen). At another level, the game between Tyrell and Sebastian represents Batty stalking Tyrell. Tyrell makes a fatal mistake in the chess game, and another fatal mistake trying to reason with Batty.

 

[warhammer]

I agree with the "Gaff knew about Deckard's dreams" interpretation... I think it makes perfect sense when you compare it to the spider story.

 

[tyche]

You might also be able to take it that Gaff is referencing that Deckard is only fooling himself by thinking that he can truly love a replicant. While Deckard might believe he can truly be happy with Rachel, it's actually only the dream of happiness that he has, since her expiration is predetermined.

 

[nedergras]

I always had the impression that the origami's represent Gaff's knowledge of Deckard's file of memories and personal experiences, just like Deckard had limited knowledge of Rachel's memories and experiences. The Unicorn dream sequence represents that Deckard is indeed a replicant, although as to why Tyrell would have included a memory of a unicorn in a replicant is beyond me but then again Deckard and Rachel are merely experiments.

The chess game at Tyrell's gave me the impression that Roy Batty not only has outsmarted his predecessor, creator/maker, or what could be intreperted as God... Replicants replace humans in the evolution chain, the downfall of Tyrell, humananity. In the movie, Tyrell seems Godlike with his massive pyramids, technologies, and knowledge, and Roy is the turning point where he destroys Tyrell and Replicants eventually replace humans.

 

[witchfynder]

I think the idea was simply to show that all of the Bladerunners were in fact replicants and that the weird colleague (I forget his name) left the unicorn to show him he had been at the apartment and that he would let him go.

 

[Rodders]

I thought there was a certain amount of power play between the two. Gaff was a competent Blade Runner yet Deckard was brought out of "Retirement" to track down the combat squad. This would've put Gaff's nose out of joint a little. The Unicorn was just a way of Gaff letting Deckard know that he knows.

 

[Highlander]

I always wondered if the chess game was a real game or not - thanks for finding the moves. Have played it over but must have a closer look at it.

Seems from Wiki that the last few moves weren't actually played - as black had resigned at move 20 as there was no way out at that point.