Blade Runner (1982)
Dir. Ridley Scott
Written by Hampton Fancher and David Webb Peoples. Based on the short story “Do Androids dream of Electric Sheep?” by Philip K. Dick
Produced by “The Ladd Company” in association with “Run Run Shaw” and the “Shaw Brothers”. Distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures
Genre: Science Fiction / Thriller / Neo-Noir
Blade Runner is set in the future where space colonies have been built and android slave labour is used to support mankind. The most advanced of these androids are the replicants, which have rebelled from their owners and are therefore banned from Earth. However, in order to counter them, they are given a very short life span. In order to fight escaped replicants, a special police force was created: the Blade Runners. The film follows a retired Blade Runner, Rick Deckard (Harrison Ford) who re-enters the force to find and terminate (“retire”) six escaped replicants. These androids have traveled to Earth to find their maker in order to demand a longer life span. Rick finds and kills the replicants one by one. However, he also meets Zhora (Joanna Cassidy), a replicant who was unaware of her non-human status. After Deckard makes this clear to her, she escapes to avoid termination, but also begins a love affair with the Blade Runner. After the leader of the escaped replicants, Roy Batty (Rutger Hauer) kills the creator of the androids; Deckard and him face each other. Batty’s superhuman strength comes close to killing Deckard. However, it is the replicant’s flaw that kills him: his life span comes to an end. The film leaves place for considering the hypothesis of Deckard being a replicant himself.
Blade Runner relies greatly on the elements of film noir to tell its story. Very claustrophobic external and internal shots are used to portray a dystopic future and the horrible fate of mankind in addition to Deckard’s own grim past and job. This is closely related to the use of film noir techniques. Film Noir started in a time of moral decay after World War II, similar to the fall of society portrayed by Blade Runner. In order to portray both the claustrophobic feeling and the Film Noir elements, most shots have smoke in them (from cigarettes, sewers, etc.) and are very dark and somber. Lighting is very scarce in this film and it is entirely artificial (with the exception of a dream sequence which shows mankind’s dreams), relying heavily on colour neon lights. This is related to Scott’s view on the destruction of the natural world and the takeover of technology. The costume design for the film is a futuristic approach to eighties punk fashion, a movement that started at the time Blade Runner was made, and whose ideals relate to the darkness of the film. The exterior shots of the film are framed in such a way that they look as if they were filmed inside, enhancing the idea of the destruction of the natural world. Casting choices in the film are also important aesthetically, with the actors cast as replicants (in general) being much more attractive than the humans. Close-ups of the characters are not used often, relying more in long shots, to show the entire mise-en-scene and enhance the sentiment of a foreign, apocalyptic world, and prevent the audience from relating to the character of Deckard, who is more of an anti-hero. (This is another clue of Deckard really being a replicant, as the audience is prevented from relating to the replicants who commit cold-blooded murders, even if Ridley Scott poses the question of: Aren’t Deckard’s retirements as bad as the replicants’?). The mise-en-scene is very important in this film. Murky settings convey the horrible fate of the planet, while an excess of advertisings in several languages show a globalized society and a critique to the consumist state of the world which have led the world to demise.
This is an excellent film and one of the pillars of science fiction. The lack of a “happy ending” (in the Director’s Cut, at least) makes this an excellent contrast to recent dystopic films, such as Children of Men (Cuarón, 2006) and Blindness (Meirelles, 2008). Another interesting comparison could be made with films in which androids gain the empathy of the audience such as A.I. Artificial Intelligence (Spielberg, 2001). This film is also an excellent introduction to Film Noir and Neo-Noir.
Blade Runner relies greatly on the elements of film noir to tell its story. Very claustrophobic external and internal shots are used to portray a dystopic future and the horrible fate of mankind in addition to Deckard’s own grim past and job. This is closely related to the use of film noir techniques. Film Noir started in a time of moral decay after World War II, similar to the fall of society portrayed by Blade Runner. In order to portray both the claustrophobic feeling and the Film Noir elements, most shots have smoke in them (from cigarettes, sewers, etc.) and are very dark and somber. Lighting is very scarce in this film and it is entirely artificial (with the exception of a dream sequence which shows mankind’s dreams), relying heavily on colour neon lights. This is related to Scott’s view on the destruction of the natural world and the takeover of technology. The costume design for the film is a futuristic approach to eighties punk fashion, a movement that started at the time Blade Runner was made, and whose ideals relate to the darkness of the film. The exterior shots of the film are framed in such a way that they look as if they were filmed inside, enhancing the idea of the destruction of the natural world. Casting choices in the film are also important aesthetically, with the actors cast as replicants (in general) being much more attractive than the humans. Close-ups of the characters are not used often, relying more in long shots, to show the entire mise-en-scene and enhance the sentiment of a foreign, apocalyptic world, and prevent the audience from relating to the character of Deckard, who is more of an anti-hero. (This is another clue of Deckard really being a replicant, as the audience is prevented from relating to the replicants who commit cold-blooded murders, even if Ridley Scott poses the question of: Aren’t Deckard’s retirements as bad as the replicants’?). The mise-en-scene is very important in this film. Murky settings convey the horrible fate of the planet, while an excess of advertisings in several languages show a globalized society and a critique to the consumist state of the world which have led the world to demise.
This is an excellent film and one of the pillars of science fiction. The lack of a “happy ending” (in the Director’s Cut, at least) makes this an excellent contrast to recent dystopic films, such as Children of Men (Cuarón, 2006) and Blindness (Meirelles, 2008). Another interesting comparison could be made with films in which androids gain the empathy of the audience such as A.I. Artificial Intelligence (Spielberg, 2001). This film is also an excellent introduction to Film Noir and Neo-Noir.
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