Blade Runner is a 1982 sci-fi dystopian film directed by Ridley Scott. The film encompasses several genres such as cyberpunk and neo-noir.
The film starts with an establishing shot of a futuristic, dystopian city which we find out later is not Earth.
It’s an unconventional start, as it does not specify its meaning right from the beginning. One of the first shots is very curious: an extreme close up of an eye, reflecting the action taking place in the scene. This image contains a lot of meaning as we progress through the film and analyse its themes.
Blade Runner explores the thematic of life and mortality in a very symbolic and subtle way. Humans have been engineering genetics and creating “replicants”, biorobotic androids that present all the characteristics of a human being, but with superior physical abilities and inferior emotional and empathic maturity. The story follows Deckard, a blade runner, whose job is to track down illegal replicants who have escaped to Earth. Four model Nexus-6 replicants have successfully arrived on Earth and Deckard must hunt and terminate them, as told by his superior officer.
The mortality theme enters as we find out the Nexus-6 models have more limited life-spans than humans, living only up to 4 years. The film progresses by exploring the relationship between mortals and a superior entity, such a Creator, and what constitutes being a human being.
In this case study I will explore some of the technical and creative elements of the film, such as lighting, framing, composition, texture and the meaning of the visual elements and how these were used for the purpose of storytelling.
Blade Runner presents several characteristics of the film noir, which have been executed to a high standard of quality. These characteristic include harsh shadows; a great contrast between light and darkness; venetian blind shadows casted on subjects; actor’s faces half swallowed in shadows and the narrative themes surrounding a morally dubious main character and dark elements such as death and tragedy.
The Venetian blind shadows on these last still evoke the dark elements of the film noir, whilst creating the mood for a tragic romance. The scene is rich in its composition and framing. Notice the variety of shots for this romantic (but tense) moment, and how they start with a proximity between the audience and the subjects, through the use of tight over-the-shoulder shots, and then finishes with a different angle that is being taken from the other side of the window, distancing the audience to the status of a mere spectator.
The film is notable for its interesting and uncommon lighting style. Most of the interior lighting is sourced from the windows that emanate a very intense and bright light. This adds to the film in several ways, namely the setting: futuristic city with a high amount of neon lights on the streets; to its several genres: neon-noir (harsh lights and shadows), cyberpunk (neon, blue lights); and the visual aesthetics of composition.
Of all the characters, Deckard is the one with less lighting exposure. He remains hidden in the dark throughout most of the film. The scenes in his apartment are particularly dark, until Rachael comes along. With her presence in the apartment, we get more light than in the other scenes where she’s not present. This aims to represent Deckard’s character himself. He is a cold, and seemingly emotionless man whose job requires him to dwell in morally complicated situations.
Rachael (the femme fatale), we find out, is a replicant and Deckard finds himself in an emotional conflict on whether to terminate her or not.
The film debates the humanity of the replicants, comparing them to the other characters. Throughout most of the film, the replicants are seen “in better light” and are usually easier for the audiences to relate to, rather than the human characters.
Rachael is a replicant, however she is always lit in an almost angelical way, showing her innocence and emphasizing the contrast between her gentleness and Deckard’s dark life.
Throughout the entirety of the film, smoke, fog, rain and shadows are omnipresent features. These add layers of texture and meaning to the film.
The frame is sometimes closed by these elements, as we can see in this still:
Deckard is in a bar and the replicant he is hunting down is about to perform. We know from the dialogue it is going to be a disturbing event, and the frame closes itself with the smoke and bright light that direct the attention to Deckard and hide the action on stage.
In other circumstances, smoke and fog are used to add depth to the frame and to separate the background from the foreground. This adds to the three-dimensional image the DoP wanted to convey.
The Eyes
Roy and Leon (replicants) are on a journey to find their makers and find a way to extend their longevity. Interestingly, the first person they visit is the eye manufacturer. The replicants approach him and ask him how to reach their maker.
This scene is filled with shots of incubated eyes and at some point, Leon intimidates the manufacturer by placing eyeballs on his shoulder.
Throughout the entire film, we get more and more representations of eyes, as well as photographs. Just like the eyes, the photographs add to the thematic of “visual proof of memories”. The replicants have their memories implanted from other human beings. It’s a way to make them efficient in their daily lives as slaves, as it gives them emotional balance. The replicant characters seem to have an obsession with proving their existence to themselves, and distinguishing real memories from their fake ones.
What I find truly fascinating about this film, is that none of this is told through dialogue or narrative exposition. The story is told through a process of brilliant visual clues that let the audience figure out the motives of the characters, by nothing less than the cinematography itself.
These are a few examples of the several references to eyes and visual memories that we can find throughout the film. Notice how both female characters have their eyes highlighted by dark make up. Deckard follows Leon, the replicant, following a trail of photographs that he left behind. The owl at the “Maker’s” house, being a biorobot itself, has a camera in its eye. Roy grabs a pair of goggly eyes and brings them to his face. And more interestingly, when trying to kill Deckard, Leon reaches for his eyes.
What makes us human and how does mortality define our relationship with god? The film raises these questions using barely any dialogue, which is very scarce throughout the film.
One of the most symbolic scenes of the film takes place when Deckard finally comfronts his maker. The whole scene is choreographed into excelence, with layers of meaning in every single element of the frame.
The scene starts with an engineer taking Roy to the Maker’s house. He tricks the Maker into letting them in by bringing an end to their on-going game of chess. This is extremely symbolic, as it represents humanity’s (and replicants’) struggle against the inevitability of death imposed by god. Another example of this thematic being explored in film through the use of chess is Ingmar Bergman’s The Seventh Seal.
As the scene progresses, Roy approaches his Maker who is standing in a higher platform than Roy. In this over-the-shoulder shot we look down on Roy from the Maker’s perspective, representing Roy’s inferior status in the presence of his god. Note also how well the frame is composed. Foreground, middle ground and background are so well separated. The three characters strategically take their ranks in the frame, with the Maker in the Foreground, the Replicant in the middle and the human being taking so little space in the background. The candles bring out Roy from the background, serving as a back light, but F.J Sebastian (the human being in the background) is dissolving into the darkness, as he is but a spectator of two other greater beings.
Roy asks the Maker to extend his life span, but is confronted with the facts that the company has been trying to do so, but is simply incapable of it. The Maker enumerates all the reasons it would be impossible to give Roy what he wants, and as he does so, Roy becomes increasingly angry and starts climbing up the steps, reaching up to his Maker’s level and taller.
As Roy finally accepts his mortality, he reaches and kisses his Maker, symbolizing his surrendering to the cruel fate that was imposed on him.
However, in the same climatic moment, he crushes his Maker’s skull, and kills him by inserting his fingers in the Maker’s eyes. The eyes, which mean so much to the replicants. Roy is rising above the tragedy of his fate and confronts his god, killing him and giving meaning to his own life.
As we can see in this still, Roy looks down on his dying creator, symbolizing his ascent to free-will.
Meanwhile, the other human being in the room watches the entire scene, powerless and frightened. The frame enclosures him behind the candles, that separate him from the ground where the action took place.
In this beautiful low angle close up shot, we look up on Roy who stands out from the darkness with a bright light. His eyes are fully visible, no shadows on his face. He has risen above his own insecurities, and has accepted his mortality. He has accepted his life for what it is, and stands proud of the things he has seen and lived. Imposing himself as the master of his own fate.
To be continued