A Single Man (2009, USA)

Tom Ford's adaptation of Christopher Isherwood's novel, A Single Man, is quite obviously a labor of love. All of the tiny visual details resonate, from the elaborate female hairstyles of the early '60s, to the precise cut of the main character's suit, to the light shining off a bare torso or faintly illuminating the downy hair on a young girl's legs. It is sometimes these things, Ford seems to say, the small moments that catch the eye and stop the heart a beat, that are as important to life as the deeper connections people make between one another.

In another, more emphatic, actor's hands, I think the main role of George Falconer would have easily tipped over into melodrama. Ford might be precise, but he's also a novice director, and it takes someone as quiet and contained as Colin Firth to help keep things under control. And this is another one of Ford's triumphs - he's wise enough to step back and let Firth do his thing without hinderance. The scene where George gets the phone call informing him that his partner has been killed in a car crash is a perfect case in point - Ford keeps the camera utterly still, letting Firth do all the heavy lifting.

And it is heavy lifting. Nearly a year after his partner's death, George Falconer is still lost, deciding one day that his life is no longer worth living. A Single Man is the chronicle of that day, cataloguing George's movements through it, from humble to inspired, that reflect not only on his final decision but also on the kind of man he is, and the kind of life he's led. It's a good life, one perhaps to be proud of, but George's grief can't quite let him realize this. As such, it's a film imbued with a startling amount of tension - particularly for a period piece about an aging English professor - as Firth and Ford draw the audience into George's semi-conscious search for something that will spark a sense of hope again.

On a somewhat random note - maybe it was the glasses, but in some shots, Firth reminded me a bit of Michael Douglas. This is not a good thing.