How Is Bladerunner Postmodern?

How is Bladerunner Postmodern?
Riddley Scotts Bladerunner (1982) is set in a dystopian future, and is said to be the most compelling and forbidding vision of the future since Fritz Langs Metropolis (1927). The film consequently has a post apocalyptic sense in its setting, and the sun doesnt shine on the overcrowded, neon-lit cold streets of Ls Angeles. Bladerunner is easily denoted as being a science fiction film as it includes features, which are only imaginable in our mind like flying cars, and this is a common feature of every science fiction film. Furthermore, sci-fi films commonly use present day issues and social fears in the films but generally suggest how they are going to change and this is done throughout Bladerunner which reflects how immigration, foreign culture and social classes are going to have an impact on Los Angeles. However, in terms of genre in Bladerunner film noir also plays a key role due to some of the film's key visual and narrative motifs. The down-beat voice-over narration of the original release, allowing Deckard to recall events that have already happened, is a device borrowed from film noir and one that closes down the options for a happy ending. Finally, the film noir influence can be denoted in the police station scene, where the officers are stereotypically drinking coffee, smoking and wearing large hats whilst sat in poor lighting. All of which are features of film noir and thus implies how the film is postmodern as the film is using conventions of a genre from the 1940s in a futuristic environment, and could therefore be interpreted as pastiche as it is masking the original concept of film noir and giving it a new appeal. In terms of narrative, the scene I picked out is pretty significant to the narrative structure of the whole film. Throughout the whole film, I saw some definite references to games. More specifically, the game or struggle between the replicants and the humans. The scene starts out with a dimly lit spacious bedroom that belongs to Tyrell. The candlelight suggests that even though Tyrell is the genius behind the making of the replicants, he still may be in the dark on some aspects of his creation. The room is cluttered with furniture, a bed, candles, and other things that we would see in a mansion. Tyrells movement toward the camera suggests that he is moving in to take a closer look at something. He is, in fact, taking a closer look at the chess game in front of him that is now, unannounced to him, being played between him and Roy. He switches on the light to shed some light on his situation and makes the move for Sebastian acting for Roy. The clink of the chess players being moved signifies the delicate game being played between the humans and the replicants. This ultimately reflects the postmodernity of the society in Bladerunner as it reflects a clear breakdown in the distinction between cultures, and in this case the cultures being between replicants and humans. However, simulacrum also plays a fundamental role in the narrative of this film as there are clear relations to other films. For example, there is
a clear link of the blood in the shower scene to Alfred Hitchcocks Psycho (1960). The greatest representational issue throughout Bladerunner is the representation of the human body and its importance in the entire narrative and scenes in the film. This idea is instantly denoted in the establishing shot of the film, which is a close up of an eye whilst someone is taking the replicant test. This does not only adhere to the representation of the human body in the film, but also the fact that the eye is a key feature and representational issue in most postmodern films and I believe that this is because postmodernity includes many ideas of the fact that we are only seeing what people want us to see and the idea of hyperreality where our lives are mediated by simulations of what is real. Ultimately, this iconic symbol could highlight the film as being postmodern as the film has many ideas on social and cultural changes, and could represent that the media and other larger, more powerful figures are blinding us. To conclude, the representation of the body is seen no clearer than when Deckard watches Roy die, even though his body is no more than wires and electrics. Deckard thinks, as Roy dies, that the android must love life too much for let him living, when killing him was in his hands. Roy's body is what he thinks it is, a medium for living. All replicants must cease when they reach the age of four. He wants to live more, to enjoy living, to learn. But there are too many interrogants in this ambiguity.

How Is Bladerunner Postmodern?

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