We all know Mr. Ford for his remarkable designs and former creative director for Gucci. His directorial debut, "A Single Man" has the qualities you'd expect from an excellent fashion designer point of view. On a superficial level, nearly every frame is highly styled to the point where it would not seem out of place of a Vogue magazine spread. His movie reminded me of a Julian Schnabel shot, shifting from the first peron viewpoint-through he returns to it for short streches and continues.
Beginning with a startlingly gorgeous dream sequence in which Colin Firth’s impeccably-suited George lies down in the snow to give his dead lover Jim (Matthew Goode) a kiss goodbye, “A Single Man” then jumps to a single day (Friday, November 30, 1962 to be precise) in George’s life without Jim. A silver-streaked English professor living in a Neutra-style glass house in Los Angeles, George goes through this day as we are to understand he’s gone through most in the eight months since the car accident that killed his companion of 16 years: in a contemplative daze, going through the motions at work and at dinner with his needy long time bestie Charlie (Julianne Moore), all the while drifting uncontrollably into painful reminiscences of his lost love. Except on this day, he packs a revolver next to the Huxley novel in his valise, and in between teaching class and falling intp long conversations with Charlie, a Spanish hustler and cute, unusually curious student, George makes arrangements for his own demise.
In his boldest visual choice, Ford manipulates the film’s palette to match the evolving emotional tone. George’s flashbacks are generally crayon-colored and his present desaturated and neutral, but in fleeting moments of pleasure –– a flirtation, a run-in with a precociously honest child, an opportunity to appreciate a sunset or a well-bred dog or any thing of pure beauty –– the color drains back into the image to various degrees.
This film to me, stands as a vivid portrait of life behind a veil, and Colin Firth certainly delivers one of his best performance. Bravo Tom Ford.
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