Blå

Blå is a music venue and nightclub at Brenneriveien 9C beside the Akerselva river in Oslo, Norway. The club opened on 28 February 1998 in a former industrial building originally constructed for Nordisk Tekstil A/S in 1913 and designed by architect Petter Thane. The building was renovated in 1982 and converted for arts and cultural use during 1997 and 1998. Blå was established on the initiative of Kjell Einar Karlsen and Martin Revheim and became particularly associated with contemporary jazz, although its programme has also included electronic music, hip-hop, rock, pop and other genres. The venue occupies part of the former industrial district along Akerselva and faces the short passage popularly known as Ingens gate, with an outdoor area beside the river and exterior walls that have become closely associated with the surrounding street-art environment.

Blå has appeared in Elling (2001), Oslo, August 31st (2011) and Jo Nesbø’s Detective Hole (2026). The venue has been used as itself in productions spanning more than twenty years, with its industrial interior, nightlife setting and distinctive graffiti-covered surroundings beside Akerselva all appearing on screen.

In Elling (2001), Blå is the nightclub where Elling attends a poetry evening and first meets Alfons Jørgensen. After becoming increasingly interested in writing poetry, Elling ventures into Oslo alone and walks down the narrow passage leading towards Blå. The entrance looked different at the time of filming: the door was painted blue, with a round window and the name “Blå” written directly on it, a design that has since been replaced. This was also before the area became covered with graffiti and street art. Elling arrives far too early for the event, allowing the film to show an unusually empty version of the venue before the club has opened and before the audience has arrived. He sits inside the otherwise largely bare nightclub waiting for the poetry evening to begin and later listens with growing irritation to performances that he considers pretentious and vulgar. After leaving Blå, Elling encounters Alfons Jørgensen outside. The two stop for a brief conversation beside the corner of the building, with the exterior of Blå and the passage beside it clearly visible behind them. Alfons, a former poet played by Per Christensen, subsequently becomes one of the most important new people in Elling’s life. The sequence therefore uses several distinct parts of the real location: the passage approaching the club, the former blue entrance door, the empty interior before opening, the poetry event itself and the exterior corner where Elling and Alfons first speak.

In Oslo, August 31st (2011), originally released as Oslo, 31. august, Blå appears during the final night Anders spends moving through Oslo before returning to his childhood home. After leaving a birthday party, buying heroin from his former dealer and meeting Calle and two younger women, Anders continues drinking with the group at Robinet before they move on to Blå for a night of dancing and techno music. The sequence was filmed inside the real nightclub, with the crowded dance floor, industrial interior and loud music becoming part of the increasingly disorienting final hours of Anders’ journey through the city. Anders drinks, dances and spends time with the two women while remaining emotionally detached from the people around him. After leaving Blå, the group continues through Oslo into the early morning and eventually breaks into Frognerbadet for a swim. Blå was deliberately chosen as one of the recognisable Oslo locations written into the film, with production designer Jørgen Stangebye Larsen later identifying it alongside Vigeland Park as a place familiar to people living in the city.

In Jo Nesbø’s Detective Hole (2026), Blå appears during a scene involving Harry Hole and his police colleague Ellen Gjelten. Harry drives Ellen to a band rehearsal and stops his car directly outside the venue, beside the distinctive graffiti-covered wall at Blå. Ellen gets out to join the rehearsal while Harry remains with the car. The production makes clear use of the recognisable Brenneriveien surroundings and street art rather than disguising the location as a conventional police or commercial building. Blå is one of numerous real Oslo locations used throughout the series, which was filmed extensively across the city and follows Harry’s investigation of a series of murders while his conflict with corrupt detective Tom Waaler develops alongside the case.

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