Review of “A Single Man”
As elegant and stylish as a 1960’s advertisement for exclusive menswear, A Single Man is more of a showpiece for style than an emotional journey, with fashion-designer turned film director Tom Ford overwhelming Colin Firth’s performance of a bereft man with scene after scene of impeccably beautiful but detached imagery.
Already clutching a prize for Best Actor from the British Film and Television Awards for this role (and up for an Oscar in a week’s time), Firth plays George, a gay professor of English Literature who is dealing with the death of his lover Jim, a younger man who he has been living with for 16 years. It’s 1962 Los Angeles and the always well-dressed English ex-pat George is unable to show any public grief for what is clearly a tragic and sudden loss. The film follows George for a day as he goes through the quiet motions of his life – watching the neighbours from one of the many windows of his architect-designed house, tidying his elegant academic office, lecturing to a gathering of gorgeous young things and then off to dinner (in his spotless Mercedes coupe) with old friend Charlotte (Julianne Moore). Formal and genteel from the soles of his carefully polished shoes to the top of his immaculately groomed hair, George aches on the inside, and it seems that it will only be a matter of time before he must burst.
Based on a novel by Christopher Isherwood, Ford’s background as creative director of Gucci and Yves Saint-Laurent is always present in this telling of the story. The film is a stunning series of postcards – each frame carefully designed and controlled (there are a couple of astonishing shots early in the film when the next door neighbour’s daughter Jennifer appears frozen in George’s gaze) and whilst Firth is indeed extraordinary, there is little air for him or anyone else to breathe. Julianne Moore nearly breaks through the cool surface of Ford’s world in her extended scene with Firth – in which these two ex-lovers from London wallow in a sad reminiscence - but she too is pulled back from the brink of realism and the narrative restored to its formal chic. Real life this certainly ain’t, but Firth (who had intended to turn the role down) is such a strong actor that he makes Ford’s indulgent meditation on bereavement an elegant and caring affair.
Rating:
Without a doubt my personal estimation ScreenWize » Review of “A Single Man” could be described as a carefully constructed write-up. Definately seriously worth mentioning and as a result genuinely talking about http://www.screenwize.com/archives/567 as a result. Good luck, Elanor Wolfenbarger
on March 10th, 2010 at 2:30 pm |