The other replicants are Batty played by Rutger Hauer and Pris played by Daryl Hannah, Batty is the criminal being chased down by the detective Deckard also Pris is a criminal a film noir feature here is how the detective peruses criminal and things start getting in the way for example Rachael being a distraction to Deckard when he’s trying to destroy Deckard and Pris.
The way Deckard dresses shows many different film noir techniques He wears a long coat and a hat which shadows his face this is a film noir technique which is used in many other film noir films you can see this by looking back at pictures of Humphrey Bogart when playing the hero in many film noir films, you can also see the resembles of Harrison Ford and Humphrey Bogart. Rachael is often shown as a silhouette and higher up than Deckard in a medium camera angle this may show that Rachael is more important than Deckard which leads back to film noir feature that the hero has no attachments and feel’s alienated.
A key feature in film noir films are the sets what are dark, bare and gloomy this is a factor in the “Blade Runner” because this was a low budget film so they used low key lighting to hide the cheap sets.
In this part of my essay I am going to look at film noir features and techniques in “The Matrix” the anti-hero in the matrix is Neo played by Keanu Reeves he is a anti-hero because he’s not what you would expect in a normal hero he is a computer hacker and a bit of a geek normally a hero would be popular and muscular. He starts to see that he is the one who can save the real world from the powerful machines that draw power from humans. The femme fatal in this film is Trinity played by Carrie Ann Moss she is a strong woman who is a big distraction to Neo as she gets into danger and Neo falls in love with trinity this is a big feature of film noir that the femme fatal causes a distraction to the anti-hero. The femme fatal betrays neo by saying that neo is not the one who can save earth from the machines this is a feature of some film noir films but she later takes this back when Trinity gets in to danger and Neo rescues her. Agent smith is the bad guy who wants to stop Neo from saving earth.
There are two roles reversed in the matrix from film noir films they are that that agent smith is the detective but in Film noir films the detective is the good guy because he has to find the bad guy. The other role reversed is that trinity saves neo by kissing him when it looks like Neo is about to die. This shows that there are film noir features in the matrix but the director does not choose to follow them to in every detail
Neo wears a long trench coat which most hero’s wears in most film noir films with dark sun glasses which shadows his face. “The Matrix does not use low key lighting to hide the set because the matrix was I high budget film as there was a lot of money in the entertainment business at the time the movie was released and the director was sure the film would be a blockbuster but the Matrix did use low key lighting to create the mise en scene of film noir films which is a dark, bloomey and bleak set.
This is the last part of my essay is were I will be comparing the different film noir features in both of the films and a conclusion to which film uses most film noir techniques. First of all why did the directors choose to use low key lighting? In “Blade runner” the director used low key lighting to hide the cheap set were as in “The Matrix” The director used low key lighting to create an film noir dark effect on the scene.
The characters in the matrix are not typical film noir as the roles are reversed because Neo is the anti-hero but not the detective because agent smith is this is not typical film noir unlike the blade runner were every one fits their role another role reversed is when Trinity saves Neo as the anti-hero is supposed to save the femme fatal if it follows the conduct of film noir but the director might of done this because Trinity is very strong and she has the power to save Neo. A difference in the two films is that the camera angle in “Blade Runner” shows Rachael is higher up in the shot than Deckard so Rachael is shown to be more important unlike “The Matrix” because he is the one who can beat agent smith so he is most important.
Overall I think that “Blade Runner” is more of a film noir film than “The Matrix” because in the matrix roles are reversed from typical film noir films. I still think this even though low key lighting in The Matrix is used to create an atmosphere of a film noir film unlike Blade Runner were the director used low key lighting to cover the cheap sets.
