Blue is a 1993 experimental film directed by Derek Jarman. It is his final feature film, released four months before his death from AIDS-related complications. Such complications had already rendered him partially blind at the time of the film's release and he was only able to see in shades of blue.
The film was his last testament as a film-maker and consists of an unchanging entirely blue screen, to a soundtrack where Jarman's and some of his long-time collaborators' narration describes his life and vision.
Background
Jarman had been thinking of making Blue since at least 1987. Jarman stated that this was "the first feature film to embrace the intellectual imperative of abstraction".
- John Quentin
- Nigel Terry
- Derek Jarman
- Tilda Swinton
Release and premiere
On its premiere, on 19 September 1993, Channel 4 and BBC Radio 3 collaborated on a simultaneous broadcast so viewers could enjoy either the film or the stereo soundtrack. Radio 3 listeners were also able to send away for a blue postcard ahead of the broadcast, to look at during the radio broadcast.
Cinematographer Christopher Doyle has called Blue one of his favourite films, calling it "one of the most intimate films I've ever seen."
See also
- List of avant-garde films of the 1990s