Blade Runner is a feast of image, color, vibe, thought, pace, film past, film future.
Directed by Ridley Scott, written by Hampton Fancher and David Webb Peoples (screenplay), based on a novel by Philip K. Dick.
I wouldn't call it a neo noir. I'd call it a detective film. Our main character is a hero by Raymond Chandler's standards. There is hope. There is also darkness.
All this is carved, painted, and captured visually so well by Scott and DP Jordan Cronenweth (Deakins crrrushed it on the sequel).
What do we have? A throwback style, red lips, high hair, smoke thick as can be, Venetian blinds, rain, clues, backlight, high contrast. Detective. A visual language agreed upon by filmmakers and audiences for decades. But this is a neo detective story, a sci-fi, a futuristic world.
Add neon signs. Lots of neon signs. Throw in a few glowing umbrella handles and flying cars. Throw in even more rain to underscore industrial devastation, and you've got it. Scott established the perfect visual tone for the story he was telling. It is all a reflection of itself, of one thing, of the timeless detective, this time found in Los Angeles 2019 swimming in an existential wave.
Be well.
