How the future is presented in Bladerunner

of these non-humans and Harrison Ford’s character. When one thinks of a futuristic movie that takes place in New York pictures of flying cars and strange cloths pop into the mind. These are in fact used. In addition to these items however, the city itself is portrayed in a very gloomy light. The very first scene of the movie is an aerial shot of the city at night. The audience can see noting but the outline of buildings and pinpricks of light that are the widows in these buildings. When we get down to street level we see other sources of light such as a digital billboard on the side of a building, car headlights, and light from nearby restaurants, but the overall feel is still dark and dismal. The buildings are all metal and it is constantly raining throughout the movie. Other things used to portray this dingy, dismal feel are open fires and trash in the streets. This feel of the city is contrasted when we go to the office of the man who created these non-humans. The sun is shinning so that we are blinded by it. One almost gets the feel that we are in Egypt because of the sun as well as the fact that the building is open having pillars rather than walls. We also see pyramid like buildings outside. But even this impression is temporary as the creator soon draws down a shade so that the Bladerunner can run his test on the girl. Another interesting portrayal of a building in this movie is the last one where the final battle is fought. It appears to be an abandoned department store as there are many floors and mannequins everywhere. It is literally falling apart, as we see when Harrison Ford crawls through a hole in the ceiling to get to another floor and when the non-human leader punches his head through the wall. While this is a futuristic film, it does predict a better city in the future, but rather a more dilapidated one. One filled with darkness, fog, metal, and humanity all shoved into one small space. Yet, even in this city there is one place that is beautiful because it has, in a sense, reverted to the past. From this portrayal, one can infer that the director finds the past, rather than the future, a more graceful, dignified, and charming place.