Review of A Single Man (2009) by Matthew D — 05 Aug 2018

Pain has never looked so good!

Colin Firth's best performance is captured with the beautiful elegance and totally sincerity in Tom Ford's exquisite film-making. A Single Man is the harrowing tale of modern realism set in 1962 LA. Firth plays a homosexual man who is recently single. He must decide on how to deal with his depression. Will he fall into the depths of those painful waters or swim to the shores of liberating hopefulness? He struggles with this in knowledge, coming to terms with his emotions, coping with loss, and trying to reacquaint himself with new and old friends alike. It's a gorgeous drama with such a complex series of romances.

Tom Ford's direction is immaculate, which is incredible considering this is his first film. I'd also recommend Nocturnal Animals, his second film, as it is dope too. His cinematography is gorgeous. His outfits are, of course, tailor made, and fitted to each character based on their personalities. The tones are filled with sweet oranges, browns, and yellows for the color palette. When Colin Firth is talking to a man that interests him the faded grey tones turn to warm oranges. Ford even zooms in on women's eyes that do not attract Firth, then men's eyes that are more dilated and full. It's brilliant artistry in film.

Abel Korzeniowski made one of the most melancholic and lovely scores to any film I've ever heard. Watch A Single Man.