James Christopher
Film Critic, The Times
James Christopher is currently the chief film critic of The Times.
Q1 Which one film would you wish to share with future generations?
Blade Runner
USA 1982
A world-weary detective searches for replicants amidst a Los Angeles of the future.
It's not my favourite film, or indeed a flawless piece of art, but Blade Runner is magnificent cinema. It's a big and broody sci-fi thriller that is impossible to swallow in one gulp. The extraordinary shots of a toxic neon city where the sun refuses to shine harp back to vintage masterpieces like Metropolis, and yet they are glistening visions of a bleak and potentially real future. Therein lies the films timeless grip. Ridley Scott has famously spent 25 years tinkering with this shattered thriller, yet its mysteries are as elusive as ever. Does Harrison Ford dream of electric sheep? The troubling story about glamorous, seemingly indestructible, renegade robots who want what we have - the right to determine their destiny - fingers elemental and topical fears. This is a film that will forever challenge the status quo.
Q2 What excites you about the future of the moving image?
What exites me about the future of the moving image is the simple fact that it is the only truly global language that works. It is Pandora's Box. It gives astonishing life to the ridiculous panoply of dreams that divide us all.