Blue (Live)

The final film by Derek Jarman, a towering figure of 20th-century British art, Blue (1993) stands as one of the most radical and singular works in cinema history: a feature-length film in which the screen is filled entirely with a single, unchanging color—International Klein Blue.

The film will be presented as a unique live performance, as its composer Simon Fisher Turner arrives in Oulu to perform an updated version of the score. Built from piano, ambient textures, and field recordings, the immersive soundscape unfolds alongside Jarman's confessional monologue, originally voiced by performers including Tilda Swinton. In this performance, the text is delivered live by Niko Hallikainen, an acclaimed Finnish writer and performance poet known for his magnetic stage presence.

Blue is a magical meditation on AIDS, mortality, love, and the color blue, moving between the mundane and the fantastical. In lyrical, hypnotic prose, Jarman reflects on his struggle with illness, as his sight gradually failed; by the time the film was completed, he could see only in shades of blue. Without a single cut or movement, the film immerses the viewer in a trance that is both overwhelming and purifying. Jarman's final testament is a masterpiece of experimental cinema—esoteric like the paintings of Yves Klein, and as political as the queer counterculture of Thatcher-era Britain.

Simon Fisher Turner has previously performed Blue in various configurations at venues including Tate Modern, the Pinault Collection, and the Austrian Film Museum in Vienna. The version performed with Hallikainen marks its Finnish and Nordic premiere.

Blue (Live) is a collaboration between OMVF and Cultural Centre Valve, and is part of the Oulu2026 programme.