In 1993, a quirky film called Blue was released at art houses in selected cities. Directed by Derek Jarman, the whole film consisted of nothing more that a blue screen as a visual with a whole cornucopia of sounds playing, including music, spoken voice, and other assorted sound effects.

Blue was meant to be a portrait of the director's experience of living with AIDS and facing up to his impending death. The soundscape looks to convey his feelings about his sexuality, his shattered hopes and dreams, and his greatest fears about what's to come. With haunting music by Brian Eno among others, the 78-minute film can test the patience of the average filmgoer but some people may find a really powerful and ultimately moving story of a doomed man behind the lack of visuals.

To be honest, I had a hard time watching the film the first time because...well, I was pretty stoned at the time. However, when I was in a more lucid state, I popped the tape in again and found that the cold blue screen actually kept me more concentrated on the sounds and voices. Far too many movies rely on complicated visual wizardry and many viewers have a hard time keeping up with the marriage of the crazy action on screen and the actual dialogue (if any). With Blue, it goes to the other extreme - there really is only one thing you can do and it's to listen to the mind of a dying man.

So it begs the inevitable question - why bother with a film when it can be done as a CD? That's when the real kicker comes in...the colour blue was the last colour that the director could see before complications from AIDS made him go blind. Hence, you really are in his mind with the last memory of a colour that he visualized. The film also touches on the many meanings of the colour blue.

Jarman died in 1994, a year after the film was released. He was 52 years old.