Ridley Scott revealed that The New Yorker writer Pauline Kael’s review of ‘Blade Runner’ devastated him so much that he framed it in his office.
Speaking to Entertainment Weekly about his latest film ‘Gladiator II’, Scott cited Kael’s reviewwhile discussingg the very high expectations for the sequel to 2000’s Best Picture winner ‘Gladiator.’
“Well, you may not agree, but at the end of the day, as a director, my state [and] age level, I haven’t honestly read press since Pauline Kael destroyed me on ‘Blade Runner,'” he says from a conference room in his LA office. “Pauline Kael destroyed ‘Blade Runner.’ That’s 42 years ago to the extent I was so dismayed, I think is the word, I framed the four pages [of the review] in The New Yorker. It’s in my office now, which reminds me to never believe your own press, good or bad. So I don’t read it.”
Kael had numerous criticisms of the 1982 sci-fi film in her review. Though she praised its distinctive vision, she ultimately concluded harshly: “‘Blade Runner’ has nothing to give the audience — not even a second of sorrow for Sebastian. It hasn’t been thought out in human terms. If anybody comes around with a test to detect humanoids, maybe Ridley Scott and his associates should hide. With all the smoke in this movie, you feel as if everyone connected with it needs to have his flue cleaned.”
‘Blade Runner’ would later come to be considered one of Scott’s best films. In the years since, he has been nominated for four Academy Awards.
