WISH WE WERE FAMOUS

 

A Single Man, fashion designer Tom Ford’s directorial debut, is a masterpiece pure and simple.  After all the hype surrounding Ford’s inspired endeavor into filmmaking, I was kind of secretly hoping the movie would suck.  Of course I knew it would be beautiful, but some part of me was hoping it would be as shallow and superficial as the world of fashion is to me.  Don’t get me wrong, I love clothes and using fashion as self-expression.  What I hate though is the high fashion world that allows creepy old men to unanimously decide what’s “in” and dress up malnourished 16 year olds in bizarre outfits, while shoveling cocaine into their faces.  ANYWAY…

 Cinematography and mise-en-scene are probably the most important aspects of what makes a great film to me, and Ford, as someone well-versed in visual language, mastered both of those aspects effortlessly.

 See what I’m talking about?  Freaking gorgeous right?

The film, based on a novel of the same name by Christopher Isherwood, is about a gay British professor named George living in Los Angeles who has just lost his partner of 16 years in a car accident.  He is trying to go about his day, but is clearly depressed, not only about his loss, but about life in general.  Along the way he encounters strange, beautiful people who challenge his perceptions about the world and about himself.

 I don’t think I’ve ever identified more with a character in film, and it’s funny that it’s with a gay man.  I guess me and George do have a similar taste in men (beautiful, blue eyed, super gay), but the similarities run much deeper.  Throughout the film, George seems surprised that people are drawn to him.  He is awkward and sensitive and can’t for the life of him see just how fabulous he is.  He has kind of a beautiful sadness about him; the one thing he said that I really understood was about how he wakes up in the morning with a sense of melancholy, and how it takes him a few hours to become himself, or at least the version of himself that he projects to the world.

 Colin Firth’s performance as George was, in my opinion, his best yet.  Usually I think he comes off grumpy and kinda creepy, with a vague psycho killer vibe.  But in this film his performance was low key, and realistic, but also extremely compelling and powerful.  Watching his face in the scene where he gets the phone call informing him about his lover’s death is the most heartbreaking thing ever.

 Doesn’t this look like a commercial or something?  DAMN Tom Ford, damn.

Visually, the shots are interesting to look at, without distracting from the story.  There are a lot of colors and symbols repeated over and over again to imply significance, as well as a heavy emphasis on people’s faces.  The actors have nowhere to hide when their entire faces fill the screen, but Ford trusts his actors and doesn’t shy away from long close-ups.

 Another thing I loved about this film was the way it handled George’s relationships.  Sometimes in films when there’s a relationship between a college age student and an older man, it can seem a bit sleazy, but George’s fragile state of mind make him sweet and sympathetic, like a sad little puppy.  It seems natural that the other men gravitate towards him, because he seems like someone who just needs a friend to talk to. 

Bottom line: This movie is straight beautiful and will make you appreciate the beauty in life, but also make you cry.  I feel like it starts out really fucking sad, but then gets happier as it goes on, but that might just be because I’m depressed too.  

 BONUS: lots of eye candy in the form of hot guy from Chasing Liberty, hot guy from Skins, hot guy who looks like a Spanish James Dean.  Yum.

 Oh whoops I forgot to talk about Julianne Moore who plays George’s drunken fag hag friend.  She’s amazing, as per usual.  Love you girl.