My Review of Blue (1993)

 

Written And Directed by Derek Jarman

Derek Jarman: "Hell on Earth is a waiting room."

I'm hoping to watch all of Jarman's filmography before this year ends but for Pride, I thought I'd take a look into his final film. Well, it's more or a documentary and a rather unconventional one to boot.

Towards the end of his life, Derek Jarman had HIV and passed away from it. This film meets documentary was a Frank discussion of the very topic of HIV and AIDS. There's a bold description of Jarman losing his sight, which also explained the chosen format for this movie.

Blue wasn't just the title of the movie. It was a character within the film itself. It's a character that fights with other colours like yellow for example. It's both character and colour throughout the movie.

It's also a look into Jarman's life (naturally) as it depicted how he would talk about the war in Sarajevo with friends while coming to grips with being a gay man living with AIDS in 1990s London. There's talk of the amount of tablets he needed to take per day and the taste of them. It's very frank in it's handling of the subject matter. Unapologetically so.

A recurring factor in the film was Jarman's discussion of certain men - David. Howard. Graham. Terry. Paul. They're friends and former lovers and men who profoundly impacted Jarman, hence the fact that they're mentioned so frequently throughout proceedings.

- Derek Jarman narrated this film but there was also narration from Tilda Swinton, John Quentin and Nigel Terry.

- The movie's entirely a blue screen. At this point, Jarman was physically and visually impaired.

- Standout music: The use of Tibetan bells are frequent but effective.

- Chronology: 1990s London of course.

Blue (1993) made for a poignant final film from Derek Jarman. It's shorter than some of his previous efforts and the use of a blue screen throughout certainly had the desire effect. It's frank take on the director's ending days definitely struck a chord. 

Rating: 8 out of 10