A Single Man (Tom Ford, 2009): USA

Reviewed by Nicole Muhlethaler. Viewed at the Santa Barbara International Film Festival.

A Single Man is a the directorial debut of the famous fashion designer Tom Ford. Hauntingly beautiful, artistic, and stylish, each frame looks more like a fashion catalogue than a scene from a movie. Not only are the set designs and costumes stunningly stylish, but the mostly dramatic classical score and accomplished actors come together to create a highly emotional undertone. Even when there is no dialogue, volumes of information and emotion are given to create a truly artistic viewing experience.

The movie starts underwater, as George (Colin Firth), swims in a dreamlike sequence. We are jolted to an upside-down car in the snow, George’s partner Jim dead on the ground. George lies beside him, kneeling down to kiss him. George, a stoic, yet deeply depressed professor, awakens to another day of depression, another day feeling as though he is drowning; sinking without his deceased lover Jim. Mechanical and methodical, we follow him as he goes about his day; the movie takes place in a 24-hour time frame.

We quickly learn that after Jim’s death, his family refused to notify George or invite him to the funeral. They wouldn’t recognize their son’s longtime partner as family. We also learn that George is suicidal, and his plan is to commit suicide in the evening, after a last dinner and cocktail date with his long-time friend and old lover Charley (Julianne Moore). We also meet an underwear model-looking young man Kenny (Nicholas Hunt), a young college student of George’s who appears to be enamored with him. Despite all that he has going for him, George’s life is painful, his grief buried deep inside as he goes about the motions of his day.

The use of color in the film is one obvious way Ford tries to clue us in to George’s emotional state. When George is unhappy, the colors are dreary and dull. When he is reminded of happier times, the colors become eerily bright, neon even, as attractive young male students are given bright blue eyes and pink lips, a neighbor girl’s dress becomes a vivid blue, her hair bright gold. Ford also employs the use of close-ups to focus not only on George’s emotional states, but the coldness that lies beneath. He is a broken, empty, man, even as so many people throw themselves at him, nearly begging for opportunities to connect with him.

The themes of isolation and fear are brought out to reflect on the state of the homosexual man in 1962. George delivers a beautiful speech in class about the fear of the invisible minority – the fear that lives inside us all. The more invisible the minority; the more difficult to detect, the greater people will fear. During his dinner date with Charley she admits she never took his sixteen-year relationship with Jim seriously; to her it wasn’t real. George also not being invited to Jim’s funeral is another example of the way homosexuals were regarded during that time (and also obviously commenting on these same issues today). George and his young student’s romantic relationship also seem to portray the stereotyped father-son homosexual relationship of that time. As they get to know each other better, George confesses he sees Kenny as modern and sure of himself by having never slept with a woman. In the sixties, not pretending one was straight was not much of an option.

For a directorial debut, Tom Ford’s film was artful, highly emotional, and well done. The story was visual and creative, and the acting was phenomenal. It has garnered many awards and is one of the most critically acclaimed films of 2009. After watching it, one can only look forward to what Ford will come out with next.