Blue (1993)

Synopsis: Derek Jarman's final film is a musically embroiled reflection on his life and his rapidly deteriorating physical condition. While battling AIDS and his corresponding loss of sight, Jarman daringly... Derek Jarman's final film is a musically embroiled reflection on his life and his rapidly deteriorating physical condition. While battling AIDS and his corresponding loss of sight, Jarman daringly created a film like no other. Set against a pulsing and unwavering blue screen, BLUE is alternately a metaphor for physical and spiritual blindness and an homage to French painter Yves Klein. Jarman's memories, narrative sketches, and philosophies are read by himself and various artists in voice-overs set to a stirring score by Simon Fisher Turner. Void of visual imagery, Jarman plays with an over-developed sense of sound, highlighting the poetic lull of the spoken narrative--chimes and church bells ring, the washer and dryer at his home powerfully thump like monsters, painfully reminding the viewer that the narrator no longer perceives the visual world. Jarman's deeply visual sense of memory, peppered by darkly comic cynicism and dreamy romanticism, is left to linger over the rich blue screen. This final film serves as a pièce de résistance for the controversial maverick filmmaker whose work consistently confronted issues affecting the gay community with a uniquely stylish beauty and unwavering bravado. [More]

Starring: Derek Jarman, Nigel Terry, John Quentin, Tilda Swinton

Starring: Derek Jarman, Nigel Terry, John Quentin, Tilda Swinton

Director: Derek Jarman

Director: Derek Jarman
Composer: Simon Fisher Turner
Screenwriter: Derek Jarman
Producer: James Mackay

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