The Weinstein Company | USA | 99 min
Warning: This review includes major spoilers.
A Single Man is a brilliant, beautiful and moving debut from fashion mogul Tom Ford, who both wrote and directed this small gem. It’s a look inside a grieving man’s final day. This is a deeply profound message on death, relationships and identity. It also happens to be Colin Firth‘s best performance yet.
It’s 1962 and George Falconer (Colin Firth) is living the last day of his life. He’s a prolific English professor whose life has become empty ever since his boyfriend Joe (Matthew Goode) tragically died in a car accident. George is at a loss and is having trouble coping. The only one he has to comfort him is the oblivious Charley (Julianne Moore). She’s in love with him, but he doesn’t love her. George finally finds beauty and a sense of happiness in Kenny (Nicholas Hoult), a student who is now courting him.
This isn’t exactly a plot-driven film, but rather a character study that revolves around grief, death and love. George is an educated man who’s lost without someone to love. He’s lost and looking for beauty and people to connect with. When he gazes and gets lost in the eyes of others, he is looking to connect with someone, anyone. Which is purely understandable since he is an outsider. When he wakes up in the morning and puts on his clothes, he’s doing what people expect George to do and be. He stands out, but tries to blend in. Without Jim it’s as if a part of him has died. His friend Charley doesn’t understand him; no one does except Kenny.
The relationship formed between Kenny and George could have been creepy and off-putting in the wrong hands, but Ford handles the relationship with care. Kenny, in many ways, is a guardian for George. He’s the only one who recognizes George for what he is: different, hurt and downright wonderful. The same goes for George’s outlook on Kenny. Kenny stands out to him for the same reasons. The second half of the film develops this relationship further. It never enters the realm of romance or pure sexual tension, but it’s more so a view on the understanding they have for each other.
As for the ending, it couldn’t have left on a more heartfelt and saddening note. In the final moments George has an epiphany. The whole film death has been shown as nothing but a horrific event that leads to a long line of grief. This changes when Ford reveals the true beautiful part of death. When George is laying on the floor coming to terms of his forthcoming death, Jim appears. This of course is showing how death leads to beauty. Jim returns to George; you’re reuniting with your loved ones after passing.
Ford delivers a harrowing debut with every frame coming off as a eye-popping photograph. There are shots and sequences fantastically composed to match George’s emotions. To do this, Ford contrasts light and dark colors against Abel Korzeniowski’s wonderful score. When George is able to connect with someone bright colors flourish and a upbeat brisk score kicks in. When times become depressing a mundane and saturated look develops. It’s not exactly subtle, but it never comes across as heavy handed.
Firth’s performance stands on its own merit. All one needs to know is that he’s as grand as everyone has been claiming and that he is the true heart of A Single Man. The same goes for the rest of the cast, who couldn’t have been any better. This is a remarkable film.