Tribute to GAFF(Happy 65th B-Day Eddie J. Olmos!)
"You've done a man's job, sir!"
In BLADE RUNNER(1982)...
Gaff, a mysterious character in the film, presents his compulsory invitation to Deckard in a street lingo called 'Cityspeak'(much of it invented by actor Edward James Olmos, parts of it are also in Hungarian) which Deckard pretends not to understand. As a fellow cop, he is quickly identified as being very different from Deckard through the ways he dresses and behaves. Making subtle observations about Deckard as a commentary, He tends to make little Origami figures.
He walks with a cane and a noticeable limp.
We know very little about Gaff. Is he a Blade Runner, like Deckard and Holden? Perhaps, although his physical condition leaves little opportunity to do any "running". Gaff is an enigma. We have many questions regarding who he is and his exact role. Is he the lower cop who just fetches Deckard and drives him around? Or is he a master Replicant manager? Perhaps he is ambitious and therefore just jealous of Deckard being called back? Maybe Gaff has some other function within the police department, some sort of supervisor, assigned to keeping an eye on Deckard.
But, who really knows.........what his function is?
Edward James Olmos talks about 'Gaff' in BLADE RUNNER
"It's too bad she won't live. But then again, who does?"
Gaff is there with Deckard at the beginning of the investigation, but appearing on the Replicant death scenes only afterwards. Finally, letting Deckard escape with Rachael. He could have killed Rachael, but didn't. Why? Did he wish them happiness together, for the short time he expected them to have? Or did he just want Deckard to leave town?
Throughout the movie, Gaff creates 3 tiny figures which relate to the themes of the plot and in reference to the character Rick Deckard - a paper chicken, a matchstick man(w/ an erection), and a silver foil paper unicorn.
What exactly do they mean? One can only speculate and interpret for themself...
CHICKEN
Deckard is 'chicken', he is reluctant to take the job.
MATCHSTICK MAN
Deckard may be getting *too* involved(in respect to Rachael, most likely). It might also be Gaff's way of asking "Are you man enough to finish the job?"
UNICORN
The origami unicorn can have mean TWO entirely different things, depending on which version of the film you watch.
In the original theatrical cut, it could simply be a way of saying "Gaff was here!" Basically, it was a calling card.
In the other versions of the film, taking the unicorn sequences that have been added into account, there is an extra layer to it. It strongly implies that the Blade Runner Deckard, a replicant hunter, could possibly be a replicant himself.
1:1 Scale Prop Replicas - Unicorn, Matchstick and Chicken
2:1 Scale Prop Replicas - Chicken and Unicorn
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In the sequel novelization BLADE RUNNER 2: THE EDGE OF HUMAN by K.W. Jeter, it mentions that Gaff is killed while on assignment in the line of duty. At the beginning of the novel, Bryant has just returned from the funeral and expresses his distaste for the 'Cityspeak' written on Gaff's headstone.
Sad
Thanks for reading!
You mean the original Philip K. Dick novel the movie is based on? No, actually I've not read it. I do not believe he is even in it, they made many changes in adapting it to film. Including adding certain characters.
I have added more to this BLOG, including some info at the tail end about the sequel novel which reveals what happened to Gaff after the film.
Yeah, I've always been interested in reading 'Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?' I'm curious to see the changes that they made for the film.
Which version of the film do you prefer?
I'd have to say, the 'Director's Cut'. The 'Final Cut' is almost identical, but Scott added a few things like lines of dialogue that I didn't much care for.
Anything but the original theatrical version, with that atrociously God-awful cornball Deckard narration.
Great write up! I always took the meaning of the matchstick man differently. I looked at it as Gaff simply being bored at the thought of Deckard doing all of this actual "detective work" and was simply saying "dude, come on. Are you getting yourself excited with all of this crap? Is this really what gets you off?" I take it as a sign of jealousy because Gaff probably feels resentment towards Deckard when it comes to how highly Bryant thinks of him.
Nice read man! I posted a comment on your origami image before I saw this blog. Such an interesting and mysterious character. Have you read the novel? I'm interested to know if Gaff has a larger role in the book, or if he's even in the book at all.