''Blue'' is a 1993

drama film In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. Drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular super-g ...

directed by

Derek Jarman Michael Derek Elworthy Jarman (31 January 1942 – 19 February 1994) was an English artist, film maker, costume designer, stage designer, writer, gardener and gay rights activist. Biography Jarman was born at the Royal Victoria Nursing Home ...

. It is his final feature film, released four months before his death from

AIDS Human immunodeficiency virus infection and acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (HIV/AIDS) is a spectrum of conditions caused by infection with the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), a retrovirus. Following initial infection an individual m ...

-related complications. Such complications had already rendered him partially blind at the time of the film's release, only being able to see in shades of blue. The film was his last testament as a

film-maker Filmmaking (film production) is the process by which a motion picture is produced. Filmmaking involves a number of complex and discrete stages, starting with an initial story, idea, or commission. It then continues through screenwriting, castin ...

, and consists of a single shot of saturated

blue Blue is one of the three primary colours in the RYB colour model (traditional colour theory), as well as in the RGB (additive) colour model. It lies between violet and cyan on the spectrum of visible light. The eye perceives blue when obs ...

colour - specifically

International Klein Blue International Klein Blue (IKB) is a deep blue hue first mixed by the French artist Yves Klein. IKB's visual impact comes from its heavy reliance on ultramarine, as well as Klein's often thick and textured application of paint to canvas. Histo ...

(

RGB The RGB color model is an additive color model in which the red, green and blue primary colors of light are added together in various ways to reproduce a broad array of colors. The name of the model comes from the initials of the three addi ...

0, 47, 167,

CMYK The CMYK color model (also known as process color, or four color) is a subtractive color model, based on the CMY color model, used in color printing, and is also used to describe the printing process itself. The abbreviation ''CMYK'' refers ...

100, 72, 0, 35). This fills the screen, as background to a soundtrack where Jarman's and some of his long-time collaborators' narration describes his life and vision.

Structure

The film is split into two halves, with differing strands of narration. The first story, intercut with the second, tells the adventures of Blue, as a character and color. Blue is described as getting into fights with other colors, "Yellowbelly scorches the earth with its accursed breath...", to adventures, "Marco Polio stumbles across the blue mountains...". The other story features the day-to-day life of Derek Jarman, as a gay man living in 1990s London, and the complications of living with AIDS. Some of the events mentioned are realistic and true, such as visiting a café with friends, discussing the war in Sarajevo, and having difficulty with day-to-day life, such as putting clothes on backwards. Others feel more dreamlike, such as when Jarman wonders what is beyond the sky. This contrasts with thoughts of his health and how long he has left until he dies, the weakening of his body, and eventual downfall of his eyesight. There are also a handful of sections in which Jarman daydreams. The narration makes mention of walking across the sky, and to wondering what an astronaut may be like. The film's final moments consist of a set of names, being repeated. "John. Daniel. Howard. Graham. Terry. Paul". These names are all former lovers and friends of Jarman who had died of AIDS. Jarman himself would succumb to AIDS on 19 February 1994 at the age of 52, just months after the film's premiere.

Cast

All narrators: *

John Quentin John is a common English name and surname: * John (given name) * John (surname) John may also refer to: New Testament Works * Gospel of John, a title often shortened to John * First Epistle of John, often shortened to 1 John * Second ...

Nigel Terry Peter Nigel Terry (15 August 1945 – 30 April 2015) was an English stage, film, and television actor, typically in historical and period roles. He played Prince John in Anthony Harvey's film '' The Lion in Winter'' (1968) and King Arthur in ...

Tilda Swinton Katherine Matilda Swinton (born 5 November 1960) is a British actress. Known for her roles in independent films and blockbusters, she has received various accolades, including an Academy Award and a British Academy Film Award, in addition to ...

Release and premiere

On its premiere, on 19 September 1993,

Channel 4 Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network operated by the state-owned enterprise, state-owned Channel Four Television Corporation. It began its transmission on 2 November 1982 and was established to provide a four ...

and

BBC Radio 3 BBC Radio 3 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It replaced the BBC Third Programme in 1967 and broadcasts classical music and opera, with jazz, world music, Radio drama, drama, High culture, culture and the arts ...

collaborated on a simultaneous broadcast so viewers could enjoy a

stereo Stereophonic sound, or more commonly stereo, is a method of sound reproduction that recreates a multi-directional, 3-dimensional audible perspective. This is usually achieved by using two independent audio channels through a configuration ...

soundtrack. Radio 3 subsequently broadcast the soundtrack separately as a radio

play Play most commonly refers to: * Play (activity), an activity done for enjoyment * Play (theatre), a work of drama Play may refer also to: Computers and technology * Google Play, a digital content service * Play Framework, a Java framework * Pla ...

and it was later released as a CD. The film has been released on DVD in Germany and in Italy. On 23 July 2007 British distributor 'Artificial Eye' released DVD tying ''Blue'' together with ''Glitterbug'', a collage of Jarman's Super 8 footage. Cinematographer Christopher Doyle has called ''Blue'' one of his favourite films, calling it "one of the most intimate films I've ever seen."Johnston, Sheila (19 April 2005
''Film-makers on film: Christopher Doyle''
telegraph.co.uk

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Blue (1993 Film) 1993 films 1993 drama films Gay-related films British LGBT-related films 1993 LGBT-related films British avant-garde and experimental films 1990s avant-garde and experimental films LGBT-related drama films HIV/AIDS in British films Non-narrative films Films about blind people Film4 Productions films Films directed by Derek Jarman 1990s English-language films 1990s British films

Structure

Cast

Release and premiere

See also

References

External links