Post-modernism can be defined as a general and wide-ranging term which is applied to literature, art, philosophy, architecture, fiction and cultural and literary criticism, among others. It is largely a reaction to the assumed certainty of scientific, or objective, efforts to explain reality. It suggests that reality is not simply mirrored in human understanding of it, but rather, is constructed as the mind tries to understand its own particular and personal reality. Post-Modernism relies on concrete experience over abstract principles, knowing always that the outcome of one's own experience will necessarily be fallible and relative, rather than certain and universal.
The initial starting point for post-modernism and post-modernist ideas in film cannot be identified. Classic Hollywood is often regarded as modernist or realist cinema, with clearly defined genres, modernist authorial style and adherence to meta-narratives of the political spectrum, patriotism, good VS evil and a clear narrative structure. In early 1900s some German expressionists and surrealist film makers created films that paved the way for a more avante-garde cinema. Historic figures like Luis Bunuel and Dali's film 'Un Chien Andalou' (1928), Robert Wiene's 'The Cabinet Of Dr. Caligari' and Fritz Lang's 'Metropolis' further enables us to define a more clear start for post-modernism, furthermore, these films layed down the foundation for post-modern aesthetics. Blade Runner is a descendant of Lang's 'Metropolis', this is evident with the visual style and aesthetics of silence, robotics and the dystopian city. The influence of 'Metropolis' is also evident in Batman (Tim Burton, 1989).
Blade Runner (Ridley Scott,1982) is a good example of film that is both post-modern and about post-modernism. It demonstrates a great deal, if not all the concepts of post-modern theory. Scott's 'retro metropolis' Los Angeles of 2019 provides a concrete visualization of Jameson's concepts of pastiche and the recycling of signifiers and loss off historical sense or context, it is a hyper-reality. It incorporates high technology and garbage, British punks and Japanese sushi masters, neon signs for Atari alongside Mayan apartment decor, pop Egyptian grandeur mixed with Bonsai trees and artificial plants, the film vividly conveys the "degree zero" of eclecticism, described by Lyotard in the post-modern condition (1984).
The first iconic scene in Blade Runner begins with Deckard eating a meal of noodles, interrupted by an old colleague addressing him in the hybrid city idiolect; his investigation first takes him to Unterwasser street, then to the Urdu snake-maker; the elevator in his apartment building tells him "Danke" (Thank you). And upstairs he attempts a classical piano piece before venturing out to buy Japanese liquor from a bar playing an American 1940 style ballad. Blade Runner cleverly questions human identity and what it means to be human vs machine and nostalgia for the real.
Blade Runner can also be categorized as a classic post-modern text. It has gone through the process of borrowing and re-borrowing and regarded and experienced in new contexts. In this scenario, Blade Runner has been re-released several times with different features; a director's cut, new features added and more recently a final Blu ray directors cut. In total the film has been played with and re-released 7 times. this in turn adds to the debated the films narrative raises about first generations and simulations.
Star Wars: A New Hope (George Lucas, 1977), has also been subject to series of changes and transformation. It was such an iconic film that its self pastiche gained version status, and the fans regarded the re-releases as inferior.
Blade Runner Wordle
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