Monday, October 13, 2008

Out of the Past--Investigating Film Noir: Ridley Scott's Bladerunner

Episode #6: Ridley Scott's Bladerunner
Out of the Past--Investigating Film Noir
Hosts: Shannon Clute and John Edwards



Out of the past and straight into the future, Ridley Scott blends film noir and science fiction in "Blade Runner." Richard and Shannon query this unusual mix, and ask how a style that is often as outlandishly unrealistic as noir could be used to make science fiction feel more grounded and approachable. They consider why, aside from strong performances by Harrison Ford, Rutger Hauer, and Daryl Hannah, this film achieved such renown, and came to be considered the epitome of neo-noir. Like the DNA of the humanoid Replicants in the movie, the filmic code Scott created in "Blade Runner" has proved to be as ineluctable as it is generative.

To Listen to the Conversation

2 comments:

Susannity said...

I recently watched the director's cut of this movie but I didn't particularly like it better than the original. Surprised me.

Hauer is amazing in this film.

Michael said...

The major difference that I remember is that Harrison Ford's voiceover that was in the studio cut was removed (Ridley Scott resisted it, the studio thought audiences were too stupid to understand the film without it, and Harrison Ford supposedly tried to make it really bad so they wouldn't use it).

Also, the inclusion of more of the dreams of unicorns in a later cut was helpful.

Rutger Hauer really tapped into something primal in the film and he creates a very powerful, yet childlike, creature... his portrayal increased my sense of the replicants as human and probably influences my interpretation of Deckard as also being a replicant...