A still from the film
Derek Jarman’s Blue
Screening as part of Art of The Real Series at Lincoln Center
Derek Jarman by far is one of my favorite film directors — the fact that he was gay and a genius probably has something to do with it. His film Caravaggio caught my initial attention but it is his last film Blue that has totally captivated me. It is a movie consisting of audio narration and one continuos still shot of Yves Klein Blue. The loose narrative written and directed by Jarman tracks the somber and insightful descent into blindness Jarman endured as AIDS took hold of his sight. The color blue and its wide array of associations in life and death are explored in the 79 minutes of Blue made complete with an auspicious, and at times haunting, musical score by composer Simon Fisher Turner.
“My mind bright as a button but my body falling apart” notes Jarman in one touching moment as he is again at the hospital to receive an i.v. drip of medication. It is at once saddening and blue to the core. As the various passages unfolded I found myself oddly anticipating when the “blue” connections would arise and satiated once they did. As part of the Art of the Real: Documentary Redefined series at The Film Society of Lincoln Center, Blue is being screened at 9:15PM on April 25th. Don’t miss the chance to see Jarman’s last film, released four months before his death, it is one of the most intimate film’s I have ever seen.
$13, 9:15PM, ELEANOR BUNIN MONROE FILM CENTER, 144 W. 65th St. NY, NY.
