Blade Runner, directed by Ridley Scott and released in 1982, explores themes of identity, memory, and existentialism within a dystopian future, influenced by noir and science fiction. The film, initially poorly received, has gained a cult following and features a complex narrative with multiple cuts that reflect postmodernity. As a hybrid of genres, it critiques late capitalism and the meaning of humanity through its portrayal of replicants and the urban landscape of a repressive Los Angeles.

1. Blade Runner
Identity, Memory

2. Blade Runner• Released 1982
• Directed by Ridley Scott
• Based on the Philip K. Dick novel,
Do Androids Dream of Electric
Sheep?
• Stars Harrison Ford, Rutger Haur,
and Daryl Hannah
• Soundtrack by Vangelis, evocative
both classic noir and science
fiction
• Poor initial release, but has
become a cult classic and gone
through several changes (narrative
and endings)

3. Setting
• Urban landscapes
that are dark,
rainy, and crowded
• Claustrophobic;
lack of privacy-
leads to
postmodern
anxiety/ paranoia
• Portrays (white)
influx of “aliens”
to southern
california

4. Noir Influences
• Suggestion of
panopticon or the
feeling of always
being watched
• Conception of a
society that is
always watching
in effort to
socialize and
normalize applies
to the film
• Ex. of American
Consumerism

5. Narration
• Use of voice over in
theatrical release (taken out
in director cut)
• Faithful to noir but does not
work in this film
• Put in film to help audience
understand
• Indicative of how neo-noir can
create its own niche.

6. Noir Influences
• Deckard is both a detective
and hitman
• Tough guy and impotent male
• World weary and ambivalent to
stress
• Rachel is the femme fatale
(mysterious)- leads to
conflicts
• Smoke- interior mood setter
and environmental pollutants.
• Corruption pervades society
(another comment on late
capitalism being crushed
under it’s own weight.

7. Noir Influences Cont.
• Theatrical release: Happy
Ending
• Subsequently changed; added
voice over.
• Ending not necessarily bad,
but ambivalent
• Various cuts of the film
provide a metatext understand
the terms of postmodernity
(texts aren’t closed)

8. Genre Hybrid
• Indebted to film noir and
science fiction
• Could be part of the problem
of initial reception
• Takes elements from both
• The setting makes the cultural
commentary more palatable
because it is in the future
rather than the present
• LA as despotic (society in an
repressive and controlled
state)
• Predates William Gibson’s term
“cyberpunk” in Necromancer
(1984)

9. Memory
• City of L.A represents a
vastly different from the LA
we know; more like NY or Tokyo
• Plays with our memory or
concept of what L.A.
represents

10. Memory
• What is memory
• Memories of replicants are
implanted/artificial
• Real to the replicants who have those
memories
• Photos are reoccurring
• Photographs are mechanically reproduced
• Recycling and waste are important factors
• Waste used for initial purpose

11. Humanity
• What does it mean to be
human
• Existentialism, indebted
to classic noir
• Fatalism also present in
the built-in obsolescence
of the replicants
• How are humans and
replicants contrasted-
• How much influence does
noir have on the film?

12. Blade Runner
People, Landscapes, Influences

13. Influences
• Edward Hopper’s Nighthawks (1942)-Conveys mood
of the film
• Fritz Lanes “Metropolis”- set design, class
structure, lighting
• Jean Giraud “Moebius” (1938) Heavy Metal
• Phillip K. Dick- Do Androids Dream of Electric
sheep= Loose adaptation
• Use of Drugs and Mood Enhancers
• Visual Futurist- Syd mead tried to implement
“retrofitting”
• Heavy Asian influence

14. Location
• Release in Japan two weeks later July
1o, 1982
• Multiple Magazine Articles and Reviews
• Poor critical reception
• Japan’s Bubble Era (1980-1989) Late
capitalist consumerism
• Ranked 27th in Kineman Junpo’s Best
films (E.T #1)

15. People
Vertical Class Structure
Cops v. Little People

16. People
• Tyrell (Tyrell
Corporation)
• Tyrell Employees-
Fully immersed in
job
• Mismatched of
languages

17. Class
• Upper Class
• Wealthy Sector
• City People
(dressed someone
what dirty)
• Animoid Row

18. Replicants
• Interact with
everyone
• Trying to figure
out themselves

19. Vision of the Eye
• Appears through
out the film as
symbol of being
watched
constantly