Blue (1993/I)

User Rating:

7.0/10   

Director:

Derek Jarman

Writer:

Derek Jarman (writer)

Release Date:

3 December 1993 (USA)

Genre:

Biography | Drama

Plot:

Against a plain, unchanging blue screen, a densely interwoven soundtrack of voices, sound effects and...

Plot Keywords:

AIDS | Terminal Illness | Color In Title | One Word Title | Writer Director

Awards:

2 wins & 1 nomination

Cast

John Quentin	...	(voice)
Nigel Terry	...	(voice)
Derek Jarman	...	(voice)
Tilda Swinton	...	(voice)

Directed by
Derek Jarman

Writing credits (in alphabetical order)
Derek Jarman		writer

Produced by
Takashi Asai	....	producer
David Lewis	....	associate producer
James Mackay	....	producer

Original Music by
Simon Fisher-Turner
Momus

Sound Department
Marvin Black	....	sound designer
Markus Dravius	....	sound recordist
Paul Hamblin	....	sound re-recordist
Steve Hancock	....	sound camera operator (uncredited)

Music Department
John Balance	....	composer: additional music
Peter Christopherson	....	composer: additional music

Other crew
Angela Connealy	....	production coordinator
Phyll	....	unspecified assistant

Production Companies

• Basilisk Communications
• Uplink Co.
• Arts Council of Great Britain
• Channel Four Films
• BBC Radio (Radio 3)
• Opal

Distributors

• Zeitgeist Films (1993) (USA) (theatrical)
• Artificial Eye
• Kino Video (USA) (VHS)

Also Known As:

Derek Jarman's Blue (UK) (complete title)

Runtime:

USA:79 min

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby SR

Certification:

Singapore:NC-16 | Hong Kong:IIA

Company:

Basilisk Communications

Trivia:

The lines "Our name will be forgotten in time, no-one will remember our work [etcetera]", and "our lives will run like sparks through the stubble" are adapted from the book in the Biblical Apocrypha "The Wisdom of Solomon", Chapters two and three respectively.

Quotes:

Terry, Nigel: You say to the boy "Open your eyes". When he opens his eyes and sees the light, you make him cry out, saying "Oh, Blue, come forth! Oh, Blue, arise! Oh, Blue, ascend! Oh, Blue, come in!"

Movie Connections:

Spoofed in "The Adam and Joe Show: (#2.2)" (1997)

Soundtrack:

Coil

True Blue, baby I love you

Jarman's masterpiece was always going to attract a lazy criticism from the mainstream mindset: pretentious, trendy, self-indulgent etc.

But to dismiss it out of hand as no better than a first year art student's project is to fail to appreciate the rich narrative.

The coldness of the blue focusses the mind on what Jarman has to tell us, perhaps far better than any other colour would've done. We cannot help but listen, and take in one very gifted man's grim yet positive perspective on gay life, and a slow death through AIDS.

Brian Eno's musical score is stark and haunting, with passages of female vocal harmony that are strongly influenced by contempory sacred music from Eastern Europe.

Watch this film with an open mind: Force yourself to keep staring into the blue yonder, and it will empower you with a new level of vision and perspective.