Tom Ford must make more films. It’s his calling. Though he is best known for his long and illustrious career in the fashion industry, his 2009 movie A Single Man makes it clear that should he continue with filmmaking, he stands to make his mark as a great auteur. Not only is it a stylistic masterpiece, it also features stunning performances from its all-star cast.
Set in 1962 and based on Christopher Isherwood’s novel, the film stars Colin Firth as “George Falconer,” a British professor of English at a California college who has found himself quite lost after the death of his longtime partner, “Jim” (Matthew Goode). In fact, he is so broken that he has decided to end his life – that is, until a series of events, including the intervention of a student (Nicholas Hoult), offer him glimpses of the beauty of his existence.
Ford is, of course, a master of visual composition. Each shot is perfectly arranged, each image made to look just so, but with such a keen focus on storytelling that it never feels over the top or fussy.
Firth won his Oscar for The King’s Speech, but I would argue that this film is the one for which he really deserved the award. There’s so much depth to George, so much inner contradiction, that a lesser actor would have floundered in the role, but Firth handles the character beautifully, playing all his sadness and passion with deftness and clarity. As for the rest of the actors, they shine. Hoult is delicately sensitive as the student who sees through George’s facade, and Julianne Moore turns in a brilliantly unhinged performance as “Charlie,” George’s dearest friend.
Whether or not you’re familiar with Ford in any capacity, you will be astounded by what he has done with A Single Man. Fans of period pieces will especially enjoy it.
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