A POSTMODERN ANALYSIS

What is ‘Blade Runner’?• Loosely based upon Phillip K. Dick’s

best selling novel ‘Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?’, ‘Blade Runner’ is a 1982 Science Fiction Thriller directed by Ridley Scott, most famously known for his 1979 film ‘Alien’.

• It follows the story of Deckard, a blade runner, who has been given the task of tracking down and terminating 4 Nexus 6 replicants who have returned to Earth, from the Off World Colony, in an attempt to meet their maker.

Why is it Postmodern?Pastiche- ‘Blade Runner’ seems to borrow from a lot of different film genres and film movements; aesthetically and narratively. For example, most science fiction before Blade Runner were influenced visually by Stanley Kubrick’s ‘2001: A Space Odyssey ‘ (1968) where as Scott decided to look back to Fritz Lang’s German Expressionist film ‘Metropolis’ (1927) to create a futuristic Los Angeles skyline.

Why is it Postmodern?In terms of the films narrative, it has clearly been influenced by the 40’s cinema movement Film Noir. The lighting and camera techniques used in ‘Blade Runner’ are undoubtedly influenced by those used in Film Noir; and the films protagonist, Rick Deckard, not only dresses like a New York detective, but also narrates the film using the same style of hard-boiled dialogue (in the original, uncut version) which all film noir movies contain. Scott even used sets that were used for the Film Noir films ‘The Maltese Falcon’ and ‘The Big Sleep’ for ‘Blade Runner’, just with a futuristic make over.

Why is it Postmodern?The films narrative seems to be influenced by Howard Hawk's ‘The Big Sleep’, adapted from Raymond Chandler's novel, in particular. Not only are the two films set in Los Angeles, the future LA depicted in ‘Blade Runner’ pays homage to the rainy, dark scenes in ‘The Big Sleep.’ ‘The Big Sleep’ is about a jaded private eye, Phillip Marlowe, who's drawn into a murder mystery that gets increasingly more complex, and is never really resolved. For example the reader is never openly told who killed the characters Owen Chadwick and Sean Regan. Similarly, In ‘Blade Runner,’ Rick Deckard, a jaded former cop is drawn into a murder mystery that becomes increasingly more complex and is never really solved.

For example, the audience never finds out if Deckard is a Replicant or not. Each film has six central characters, eight minor characters and five murders’ although these could be coincidence.

Why is it Postmodern?Parody- There are clear religious and philosophical aspects of the film which seem to parody the story of John Milton’s ‘Paradise Lost’. Roy and his followers: Pris, Zora and Leon are Milton’s fallen angels. Roy is the symbol of mankind. He was created by Tyrell (God) and was separated by his maker, when he was sent off world (expelled from heaven). And like Lucifer, sets about on a course of destruction. Roy cannot approach Tyrell directly. He has to go through Sebastian (Jesus Christ) as his link to meet Tyrell. The Bible teaches that God can only be approached through Jesus.

Why is it Postmodern?Sebastian is the composite of both man and replicant as Jesus is a composite of God and man. Just as Jesus Christ lived among men, Sebastian lived among the replicants. In the scriptures, Jesus Christ attempted to bring humanity to God and was killed by those he tried to save. The same thing happened to Sebastian. He brought Roy (man) to his creator and was killed for his trouble. Sebastian was Tyrell’s subordinate just as Jesus was God’s. But whereas the Bible says that the score between Lucifer and Christ is yet to be settled, Ridley Scott decides to settle it there and then. He does not wait for the prophecies of the Book of Revelations and the final battle. Instead he has Satan kill God there and then.

Why is it Postmodern?Hyperreality- Baudrillard stated that: “One of the key themes of the film is the ‘blurring’ of the differences between the real and the artificial, between the humans and the replicants. Increasingly it is no longer possible to be clear about what it means to be ‘human’”. The main theme that exists throughout the film is humanity. Rachel, Deckard's love interest, is upset when Deckard tells her that she’s a replicant as she believes that she is a human; she has memories of her childhood, but Deckard claims that they’re implants taken from the mind of Tyrell’s niece. The audience, and Rick Deckard himself, begin to question whether or not he is human or a replicant when Rachel asks him “Did you ever take that test yourself? “ if it is so easy for replicant to believe that they are human.