Forty years of Film Noir and fifty years of Science Fiction met to form a new genre (Cyperpunk). The streets were just as gritty, but those streets were filled with hover-cars. Blade Runner is a film about what it means to live—to be human—and it presents that theme with androids, blasters, chases, fights, and romance.
Directed by: Ridley Scott
Written by: Hampton Fancher, David Peoples
Produced by: Michael Deeley
Music by: Vangelis
The Ladd Company/Blade Runner Partnership, 1982
Runtime: 117 min
Cast: Harrison Ford (Rick Deckard), Sean Young (Rachael), Rutger Hauer (Roy Batty), Daryl Hannah (Pris), Brion James (Leon), Joanna Cassidy (Zhora), Edward James Olmos (Gaff), M. Emmet Walsh (Bryant), William Sanderson (J.F. Sebastian), Joe Turkel (Tyrell), James Hong (Chew)
A Few Thoughts
Who would have thought in 1941, when The Maltese Falcon created a genre, that it would lead here, to a film so different yet so similar. A film that also created a genre (poorly named Cyberpunk). While Blade Runner is well known among Science Fiction fans, unfortunately, it is relatively unknown in Film Noir circles. So, I’ll keep this article spoiler-light and fill in the circles when I critique it for my Science Fiction list.
But is this Film Noir?
Replicant androids stealing space shuttles. Blaster pistols. Hovering cars. It doesn’t sound like Film Noir, but it is. It is a film of uncertain morality in a dark world, but that’s a bit vague. Taking the Noir attributes one at a time:
- A flawed anti-hero in a threatening environment. In this case, the trench coat wearing ex-police assassin, Rick Deckard. He was a clever detective, the best of his kind, but he quit due to the questionable morality of his job—the assassin part. That’s a good start for the flawed and troubled protagonist of a Noir film, however, his moral ambiguity goes further. He feels what he did was wrong, but doesn’t put a lot of thought into how, and when he is threatened, he returns to it. No matter that the threat is vague; the captain snaps at him that if he isn’t with them, then he is a “little” person. Deckard’s strength in his convictions is startlingly low. After returning to his job, with all his doubts intact, he is willing to hunt down and shoot his four assignments; willing is very different that able.
- A wretched population. For all his faults, Deckard is still better than the rest of the citizenry as no one else even sees an ethical difficulty. The city is peopled with racist and corrupt police, lowlife bar owners, dwarf gangs, a megalomaniac corporate CEO, a beautiful but cold woman, and violent (if somewhat justified) killers. It is the standard population of the Noir world. OK, so maybe Deckard isn’t a step above all of them, but that is for the film to show.
- Darkly lit scenes and expressive camera work. It always rains. The streets are cloaked in night, with a hope-dampening drizzle. Indoor lighting streams though half open blinds or by the blades of slowly turning fans before getting stuck in the omnipresent haze. Even the film’s detractors admit that the look of the city is amazing, a combination of advertising nightmare, ancient edifices, art-deco ruins, and decay. It is beautiful and depressing simultaneously. Color contrast is high, with greens winning out. Portrait shots, often angled up, are used to reveal power and strong emotion. You have to go back 40 years in the genre to find lighting and cinematography that’s as interesting, but none is as immersive.
- A voice-over narration. Well, in a way. Blade Runner went through the usual tweaks before it ended up in front of a test audience who found it confusing, depressing, and ambiguous. I’ll ignore for the moment that only parts are depressing, and that is a good thing. As for confusing, these are the people that reality shows were made for. Certainly it is a complex and layered movie, but there’s nothing tricky to follow. What would that audience have thought of The Big Sleep? Studios are not fond of movies that test poorly, so a voice over narration was added to make the plot more obvious (thus making it more like a typical Noir) and a Hollywood happy ending was tacked on to clear up the ambiguity (thus making it less like a typical Noir). Over the years, Blade Runner’s status has risen, as well as its money making ability in the home video/disk market. So, ten years after its initial release, the narration was stripped off and the added ending was removed. This “director’s cut” is now the only version available. I remember watching the original version back in ’82 and it hit me as no other movie has. I enjoyed all of it, including the narration and the ending, but even then, I thought that those two elements really didn’t fit. I was amused later to find just how observant I was. So, for now, there’s no narration.
- Memorable dialog. This isn’t the light world of Laura. The lines that have stayed with me are not part of witty banter, but poetic expressions of the theme. Sure, there are a few that are meant to provoke a smile, such as when Deckard has hit Roy Batty with a metal rod, doing no real damage, Roy says, “That was irrational of you… not to mention unsportsmanlike.” But the best are about life and death and what it means to be human. My favorites:
“Quite an experience to live in fear, isn’t it? That’s what it is to be a slave.”
“It’s too bad she won’t live. But then again, who does?”
“I’ve seen things you people wouldn’t believe. Attack ships on fire off the shoulder of Orion. I watched C-beams glitter in the dark near the Tannhauser gate. All those moments will be lost in time, like tears in rain.”
- A cynical philosophy. Well, it’s not all bleak. Not quite. Like The Maltese Falcon, in Blade Runner there is some good in life, some things worth having and fighting for, though they are often hard to see; but also like it, you better enjoy what you can now as there is no future in dreams.
- A plot in the style of the Film Noir masters. Deckard, an expert detective, finds himself on a case where he must find those responsible for a murder; it looks straightforward at first, but contains a mystery. He meets, and falls for, a mysterious woman at the heart of the mystery who comes to him for aid. As he investigates, he finds that the “criminals” are after a great prize, and while the prize is as elusive as a dream, it does point out what is important in life. Written this generally, it’s the same plot as The Maltese Falcon. The particulars are far different, but then this isn’t a remake.
As a final touch, Blade Runner pays homage to The Big Sleep. When Deckard enters a stripper’s dressing room to question her. He does his best imitation of Bogart’s bookshop nerd.
So, this is Film Noir, but of a new type. Deckard is a “cop” in 2019, not the 1940s. His assignment isn’t to find human murderers, but to catch and kill four renegade replicants—android slaves used for “off-world” labor. The newest model has been developing emotional responses which can be disruptive to work, so the Tyrell corporation installed memories and a four year life span.
And this is where Blade Runner become more then a detective thriller. We are left with a lot of important questions. What makes a memory real? What makes someone human? In a world with so few answers, how should one live one’s life? Does anyone really live? Are the events of our lives lost when we die? This isn’t a simple film. You can enjoy it the first time for the artistic design, for the chases and fights, for the haunting music, and for the disturbing romance. Then watch again and look at the next layer. Then the next.
It was a failure when it first hit screens, but things have changed. Sometimes it takes time for a film to be appreciated. In this case, about ten years. It changed Science Fiction and took Film Noir in a very different direction.