Recent Release Reviewed: A Single Man

There's a moment about halfway through A Single Man where George Falconer (Colin Firth) discusses his past relationships with his love Jim (Matthew Goode). As he discusses his previous affairs with women, George becomes increasingly flabbergasted about Jim's persistence that he always knew his own sexuality. George then says You know, that was the first thing that I noticed about you was how sure of yourself you were. Although the line represents the beginnings of change in society, it is also analogous to a description of the film's director, Tom Ford.

A Single Man, based on the novel of the same name by Christopher Isherwood, is the directorial début of Mr Ford, a man who, until recently, was more famous for his work in designer fashion. Outcries of 'vanity project' were made frequently when the film was announced. If there is one thing this film does well, it is in quashing these declarations. Mr Ford shows himself to be a very competent director as he and his cast recreate the looks of the early 60s in this tragic tale of lost love.

The film revolves around the plight of George Falconer after losing the love of his life, Jim, in a car crash. The narrative occurs eight months after the event. Apart from the odd flashback, the story is contained in one 24 hour period - at the end of which, George plans to commit suicide. Depending on how talky/action-packed you like your films, this already sounds like an intriguing or dull premise. This is not a film containing a lot of twists or plot devices. There are no cliffhanger moments, yet I was riveted throughout its running time. Why? Simply because I have not seen a film with such artistic and visual creativity play in a big business multiplex cinema for an incredibly long time.

First things first, many viewers and critics have focused on, as expected given the director's previous career, the wardrobe and sets of the film. Some have heralded the perfect and pristine nature of the costumes as, although beautiful, someone distracting. There is in fact one scene especially that hammers home this criticism which involves Colin Firth still looking perfectly and pristinely dressed whilst on the toilet. I appreciate this comments, but feel that they are secondary to some of the more serious criticisms against this film. Also, saying Mr Ford does not allow his characters to scruff up their clothes is silly. It just happens that his characters believe it important to be well dressed. My complaints with the wardrobe tie in with my complaints with the direction. Although it is wonderfully creativity, it is at times heavy handed. This is perfectly exemplified by the appearance of rent boy dressed exactly like James Dean. Not similarly, but exactly. He then tells George that people say he looks like James Dean. One or the other, the costume or the line, both is insulting to the audience in a manner similar to James Cameron's Avatar.


It is these sort of problems that plague A Single Man and, at times, threaten to consume it. Mr Ford has a stunning sense of composition, an enviable quality that I wish more directors possessed. Watching this film purely as a visual art is incredible. Within the opening 20 minutes, there are more elaborate and beautiful shots and visual motifs then I am likely to see in mainstream cinema for the remainder of the year. However, unfortunately, despite such a precise and nuanced start, the visual symbolism becomes increasingly heavy handed to an annoying degree. Even tricks that appeared subtle at the start of the film are rehashed, but all the grace is taken out. It is almost as if, at least in regards to cinematography, there were two directors supervising. One example of this is the everchanging temperature of the film. This is a simple trick utilised to display George's inner moods. When he is feeling despaired, the temperature of the film is lowered, which reduces the saturation. In contrast, when he is feeling renewed and human again, the warm tones of the picture return. Like I said, this is a blunt and obvious technique, however, at first, it is performed with the utmost subtlety, in an almost blink-and-miss-it fashion. As the film progresses, this becomes more and more pronounced which left me feeling insulted. I don't know whether Mr Ford was attempting to highlight the exaggerated fractious temperament of George, but if so, there are better and more varied methods to present this. If there is one complement for this technique, it always it utilised with the confidence alluded to in the dialogue of the first paragraph. Mr Ford may be annoying us with the brash handling of this symbolism, but he seems fully in control of the picture.

Despite this, things are not all doom and gloom. Not only does Mr Ford present more visual ideas in one film than Michael Bay is likely to show in his lifetime, but he shows himself as being quite apt in directing actors. This is no doubt helped by the calibre of performers in this film (believe me, Colin Firth deserved the Oscar nomination at the very least). Aside from the sublime lead performance, the three main supporting roles are all filled by three highly talented professionals. Julianne Moore again highlights why she is such a revered actress playing George's ex-lover and long term friend, Charley, a hip but deeply wounded and distressed woman. Likewise Matthew Goode presents possibly the best performance of his film career so far. Hopefully he will continue to work on projects like this - he plays American very well, unfortunately the same cannot be for his Irish and pseudo-Germanic. Even on paper, Nicholas Hoult is the weak link in the leading players, however, looking at the talent on hand, there is no shame in this. Fortunately for him, he presents a fine performance, one that, if rumours are to be believed, may have improved had he had further time to prepare. Giving him the benefit of the doubt, his performance ranges from adequate to good. His earlier scenes are unfortunately a bit flat, however, the intimacy he brings to the final section of the film provides a wonderful contrast to the restrained George.


Final thoughts: A visual tour-de-force for the first 20 minutes, but even though the images falter, the acting is enough to keep one fully entrenched in the quiet story unfolding about one man's grief. I look forward to Mr Ford's follow up feature, whatever it may be.

7/10