Blue

By the time of his 1993 film Blue, Jarman was losing his sight and dying of AIDS-related complications. Blue consists of a single shot of saturated blue colour filling the screen, as background to a soundtrack composed by Simon Fisher Turner, and featuring original music by Coil and other artists, in which Jarman describes his life and vision. When it was shown on British television, Channel 4 carried the image whilst the soundtrack was broadcast simultaneously on BBC Radio 3, a collaborative project unique for its time.

Jarman's work broke new ground in creating and expanding the fledgling form of 'the pop video' in England, and in gay rights activism. Several volumes of his diaries have been published.

We watched only part of this film as a class. At first I was slightly confused, even with knowing the background information. The soundscape and the dialogue in the background is slightly disorientating as it forces you to rely on senses that we often take for granted. It is an interesting insight into the perspective of Jarman in his last days. I love how immersive it is, it's a way of bringing the audience into the film and really showing them what it is like to live through the film's main character, in this case, Jarman himself. Also, it's very hypnotic and ambient, and quite soothing in a way. The noises and the consistent monologue is something I could perhaps sleep to, in a good way. Though the fills me with a sense of unease that it has that effect, it gets me to question the world around me and see it in a different light. It's a very interesting insight into the life of someone else, and presented in a very memorable way.