Blue (1993 film)

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This article is about the 1993 film. For other articles, please see Blue (disambiguation).

Blue is the last film of director Derek Jarman (1942-1994). At the time when he made the film, he was blind and dying of AIDS.

The film is 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 describes his life and vision.

Channel 4 broadcast the film in letterbox format - i. e., with black bands above and below the blue. On its television premiere, Channel 4 and BBC Radio 3 collaborated on a simultaneous broadcast so that viewers could enjoy a stereo soundtrack. Radio 3 subsequently broadcast the soundtrack separately as a radio play and it was also later released as a CD.

The soundtrack ends with the words:

In time,
No one will remember our work
Our life will pass like the traces of a cloud
And be scattered like
Mist that is chased by the
Rays of the sun
For our time is the passing of a shadow
And our lives will run like
Sparks through the stubble.
I place a delphinium, Blue, upon your grave

The film has been released on DVD in Germany and in Italy.