Why
is Blade Runner postmodern?
Ridley Scott’s 1982 Blade Runner is
highly postmodern in all aspects. It has a combined genre of science fiction
and film noir. The films 2019 future setting makes the sci-fi aspect clear from
the outset. The transformation of Los Angeles in the dystopian city with it is
with flying cars and towering sky scrapers is evident with parts of Fritz Langs
‘Metropolis’. Which is intertextuality and pastiche as the Scott is mimicking
that of another artists work. Jean Baudrillard's theory of hyper reality is in
play here creating post modernism with the altering of any possibly reality
specific to present time.
Through the use of mise-en-scene and
cinematography the director was able to foreshadow events as well as to portray
the dark and rather morbid aspects this future hyper reality holds. The opening
scene starts out by panning slowly over the dark and foggy city with fire being
shot up into the air. The use of light, in this scene, helps to set the feeling
for the entire movie. The city is dark and foggy like the Nexus characters in
the way there is no emotion shown at all.
A key feature that makes this movie
highly postmodern is the portrayal of technology. Although set in the future we
as an audience are presented with a mix of old and future technology. In the
scene where Decard is inspecting the photo he is using an old television
however it is all voice operated and the technology blowing up the photo is
ahead of that available at the time of the tv.
