A Single Man by Tom Ford

Debut films are always exciting prospects, but typically they come from within the industry or from an indie filmmaker trying to make his way, but not here. Here we have fashion tycoon Tom Ford debuting as auteur. And what a debut it is. A Single Man traces one day in the life of a gay man whose lover of 16 years died in a car crash months prior, and this man's intent to kill himself at day's end. The plot is a pretty simple one, what is not simple is, basically, everything else. Colin Firth plays George Falconer, the single man, with such an intensity that he blows all other performances this year out of the water. George is a man of porcelain, he spends each morning putting on his facade, putting on the person he shows to the world. Inside George is aching and lonely, he searches for life and purpose. The only thing he has is his best friend Charlotte. Charlie, as he calls her, is an alcoholic ex-wife of some man, she lives from drink to drink in the same sadness as George, and desires him more than anything else. Julianne Moore slips into the role of Charlie in a way reminiscent of her gold digging wife in Magnolia, in the same way as then she reaches down into her soul to find the despair that rests inside of Charlie's eyes. George, who is a professor of literature, also has a young man in his class who sees him as a kindred spirit and wants George as more than just a teacher. This young man is play by Nicholas Hoult with such a grace and charm that saves this character from slipping into what could easily be a creepy role. So in many ways A Single Man is an actors film, it is certainly Firth's career best, but it is also Ford's film. Each frame is filled with such lush detail, such exquisite design, each character so fashionable and beautiful it hardly seems to be reality. While some critics have faulted the design of the film, I view it as a great credit to the film, after all art is meant to be a heightened reality, if it all looked and felt exactly as we see it then seeing movies would be more chore than joy. A Single Man is filled with so much pure visual beauty I don't understand how you could fault it for that. But forget the detailed design, the virtuoso cinematography, the moving score, and it all comes back to story and character. This film is a sad one, perhaps this year's best tragedy, but it is such a moving tragedy. It is a film full of ache and yet relief, so full of pain, and yet pleasure, the whole film is about finding those moments of joy inside a lifetime of sadness, a lesson we all could learn.

(Currently Song: Mescaline by Abel Korzeniowski)