A Single Man • in.Movies
December 8, 2009
______________________________________________________________
Colin Firth as a Single Gay Man
Quiet. That is the first thing that speaks in this internally charged love story starring Colin Firth. Directed by Tom Ford, A Single Man is a measured cinematic work that follows an uncommon day in the life of college professor George Falconer, played with equal reserve by Firth. Adapted for the screen by Tom Ford and David Scearce from the 1964 novel by Christopher Isherwood, the film is another testament to novels laying the groundwork for fully realized, if not altogether harrowing, characters.
As a man tormented by the loss of his partner, Firth jettisons his Hollywood hunk image and lets his character swim just above the surface, barely breathing while willfully reminiscing. What's at stake is the here and now, embodied in the radiant, charming, well-toned and ridiculously young Kenny (Nicholas Hoult), who wishes his dear professor would snap out of it—with his help.
Hoult, who made another adorable turn as a young boy in About a Boy, trades in a pat, boy toy performance for some depth. As the professor's newfound lifeline, he's ready for endless rebuffs, which happen instantaneously, consistently and relentlessly. We actually begin to believe that Kenny is truly selfless, wants nothing and is genuinely concerned for his distraught Mr. Falconer. But with a door opening ever so slightly, Kenny presses and delivers the kind of friction that pulls the audience deeper and deeper into a single man's well.
Less about plot and more about ambience and mood, A Single Man lets go of the reins when Julianne Moore appears. A slushy firecracker hardened by a life of pain and rejection, Charley sees no reason to hold back a drop of emotion. The cracks in her face are there to be seen and she wants the professor to see them. As the story unfolds and as the professor becomes the object of everyone's desires, Charley explodes while Kenny handles himself like the only grownup in the room.
But the professor is suspended in his single world between Tom Ford's vibrant colors, stylized on film by cinematographer Eduard Grau in gorgeously composed and utterly sumptuous shots, and Ford's muted angst, flushed out in desaturated sadness. Gliding between the feel of a one-man show on Broadway and a Merchant Ivory production in its handling of period, so much stifled love recalls the despair of Remains of the Day and the exquisiteness of A Room with a View. But A Single Man emerges more alone, more desperate, more single and more adrift, his heart anchored in troubled waters, reminding us that some loves are irreplaceable.
A Single Man Credits
Tom Ford Director/Writer/Producer
David Scearce Writer
Christopher Isherwood (Novel)
Abel Korzeniowski Composer
Colin Firth George Falconer
Julianne Moore Charley
Nicholas Hoult Kenny
Matthew Goode Jim
Ginnifer Goodwin Mrs. Strunk
NewsSip
Photo Credit: Movie Night - Fernando de Sousa, Cinema, Victoria, Australia
