Review of A Single Man (2009) by A.d. O — 13 Mar 2011

A sorrowful beauty infuses every frame of this remarkable debut feature from fashion designer Tom Ford, adapting from Christopher Isherwood's 1964 novel of liberated love in a pre-liberated era. But the thing that really makes this film remarkable is the film's lead, Colin Firth. He is an intensely likable actor best known for BBC's production of "Pride and Prejudice" and "Bridget Jones' Diary," but on several occasions it feels like Colin Firth is playing Colin Firth: witty, diffident and a resignation hanging over his grimace. In "A Single Man," though, he achieves something extraordinary that few actors can accomplish; I felt like I was watching Colin Firth for the first time. Here he plays George, a 52-year-old homosexual that still grieves over the death of his lover. Watching him become addicted to his broken heart may break your heart as well.

Set in 1962 on a single day, "A Single Man" depicts how George, a man of his time but mournfully ahead of his time, looks at the world differently as he plans his suicide. Through voice-over narration we learn that Jim, his lover of 16 years (Matthew Goode of "The Lookout"), was killed in a car crash. To George, Jim is irreplaceable; his one and only love. The flashbacks showing the happy couple are depicted with a rich palette of colors while the colors of the present are muted, almost in black and white, as a reminder of what George has lost. As he puts on his armor of a clean suit to hide the chaos in his mind, George continues his day teaching English at a college in L.A., going to the bank, talking with people, notably the adoring student Kenny (Nicholas Hoult of "About a Boy," all grown up ), etc. he sees certain things in vivid colors, as if he is seeing them for the first time, and he understands that despite his emotions the little things you see every day has an important meaning for you.

After making plans for his death (laying out the suit he will wear, his personal positions) he commiserates with his only friend, Charley (the always marvelous Julianne Moore), a lonely lush who has had a fling with George many years ago and still holds romantic feelings for him. She offers sympathy she barely means and which he barely feels. Though she has a brief appearence, Moore's Charley conveys a real friendship she's had with George, a stylish woman ahead of the time, but is also coming apart. She has done everything that society has told her to do (marrying and having children) but she has lost it all and desperatly clings to George. Lying on the floor after dancing, she tells George that although his relationship with Jim was happy, it might have been "a substitute for something else." The fire George has kept hidden finally explodes as he tells her how there will be nothing else between them and that she needs to think about her future. "Living in the past is my future," she cries out. The same could be said for George because he sees nothing beyond this day. More events and encounters occur during the night for George, but I'll leave it as a suprise.

This exquisite film belongs to two people: Ford and Firth. For Colin Firth, uncanny at showing the heart crumbling under George's elegant exterior, he gives the performance of his career and should not be missed. Tom Ford was passionate about this story for decades, hitting him on an emotional and personal level as a man whose true feelings could only flower, exclusively and luxuriously, inside him. Since the book is semi-autobiographical to Christopher Isherwood, Ford does the same for his movie, putting in references of his own childhood, his lifestyle and his experiences. As his first feature film he has proven himself as a born filmmaker with a rapturous eye and a humanity that gives the story a ravishing, bruised grandeur.