Blue (1993 film)

Blue
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Derek Jarman
Produced by	James Mackay Takashi Asai
Written by	Derek Jarman
Narrated by	Derek Jarman Tilda Swinton Nigel Terry John Quentin
Music by	Simon Fisher Turner John Balance Momus Peter Christopherson Karol Szymanowski Erik Satie Brian Eno
Production company	Channel Four Films BBC Radio 3 Arts Council of Great Britain
Distributed by	Zeitgeist Films (USA) Basilisk Communications Ltd
Release dates	Venice Biennale, June 1993, Edinburgh International Film Festival, August 1993, 3 October 1993 (New York Film Festival)
Running time	79 min.
Country	United Kingdom
Language	English

Blue is the twelfth and final feature film by director Derek Jarman, 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.

The film was his last testament as a film-maker, and consists of a single shot of saturated blue colour filling the screen, as background to a soundtrack where Jarman's and some of his favourite actors' narration describes his life and vision.

On its premiere, on 19 September 1993, Channel 4 and BBC Radio 3 collaborated on a simultaneous broadcast so viewers could enjoy a stereo soundtrack. Radio 3 subsequently broadcast the soundtrack separately as a radio play and it was later released as a CD.

File:Blue (film).jpg

A blue field like that in the film.

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."

See also

• List of avant-garde films of the 1990s

External links

• A review of Blue
• Blue DVD page
• Blue at IMDb
• Blue at AllMovie