“One Singular Sensation”
When I first heard that Tom Ford, the famous fashion designer and former creative director of Gucci, was directing his first film, I was skeptcial. But after seeing “A Single Man” I can now say that I hope more fashion designers will become filmmakers. Obviously, I’m joking. But the point is I shouldn’t have had such low expectations just because Ford hadn’t made a movie before. Cleary he has spent a significant amount of time producing fashion shows and working behind the camera to make his clothes and models look beautiful.
With that in mind, it should be easy to understand why Ford’s film of “A Single Man” is quite astonishingly stylistic and gorgeous-looking.
Colin Firth gives one of his strongest performances as a man who just lost his lover of 16 years in a car accident. But he is not considered to be a widower because the two were never married. And they were never married because they are gay. (The story is set in the early 1960s when homosexuality was still very much kept in the closet.) Firth tries to continue on with his life, but sees no future for himself and begins to meticulously plan his suicide.
Ford’s unique style employs the use of color changes to translate his character’s moods. In the post-death reality scenes, the film is a washed-out near black-and-white. But in flashbacks and in scenes where Firth finds himself in the company of people he loves, the screen blossoms into full color.It’s hard to tell if this is the idea of the relatively unknown cinematographer Eduard Grau, or the influence of Ford who also serves as the film’s producer. Considering Ford’s prior achievements in the fashion world, it’s easy to assume his fingerprints are all over every aspect of this fine film. I’d have hated to be in Arianne Phillips’ shoes as the costume designer of a Tom Ford film! The period look is detailed and authentic. Even composer Abel Korzeniowski offers up a Bernard Herrmann-like score keeping the period firmly in focus.
But the film truly belongs to Colin Firth who is in every scene. There are strong supporting performances from Julianne Moore and Nicholas Hoult (all grown up after playing the little boy in “About A Boy”).
“A Single Man” may be the most mainstream American movie involving gay men since “Brokeback Mountain”. But you wouldn’t know it by looking at the obscenely misleading poster art featuring Firth and Moore in bed together. Moore’s equal billing on the poster is also odd considering she is only in about 25% of the film.
DVD Double Feature: In 2002’s “Far From Heaven”, Julianne Moore plays the perfect 1950s suburban housewife, unaware that her husband, Dennis Quaid, is secretly gay. Todd Haynes’ drama received four Oscar nominations including one for Moore.
