Four years since Brokeback Mountain glimpsed on the story of homosexuals, “A Single Man” emerges to tell a chronicle of love and loss, life and death experienced through the eyes of a homosexual. Based on Christopher Isherwood’s 1964 novel of the same name, this film marks fashion designer Tom Ford’s screenwriting and directing debut.
The movie opens in Los Angeles 1962 at the height of the Cuban Missile Crisis where college literature professor George Falconer (Colin Firth) grieves the loss of his lover, Jim (Matthew Goode) from a car accident eight months earlier. They had met at the end of WWII and since then had lived happily together for 16 years. Overly depressed and unable to find any reason and purpose to go on with his life without Jim, George comes to a conclusion to end his life. “A Single Man” follows George’s journey in what is supposedly his last day before he dies.
In the opening sequence, Jim’s bloody dead body is featured lying on pure snow next to his car as a victim of a fatal accident caused by extreme weather. Then we see George begin his day with a lecture about minorities fear in society. As the afternoon progresses, he encounters hot Spanish hustler Carlos (Jon Kortajarena) outside the liquor store. For dinner, he proceeds to accompany old friend and confidante Charley (Julianne Moore), dressed in London’s 1960s style for a drinking session in her home. Before the day ends, he chances an encounter with his flirtatious young student Kenny (Nicholas Hoult) at the same beachfront bar where he first met Jim.
Though Ford remained true to the spirit of the original novel, he also created deviations on the film such as adding new characters and changing existing ones to create a more interesting plot. Together with co-writer David Scearce, they have added the most crucial deviation not found in Isherwood’s book where George decides to commit suicide even before the day ends.
As a fashion designer, Ford’s eye for detail is evident throughout the film from the creative colour scheme used to the authentically detailed period props, cars, set pieces, and one-of-a-kind costumes. Though the film contains some sexual innuendos and nudity, Ford presents them in an artistic way appropriate for the film’s rating and the viewer’s eye.
Cinematography by Eduard Grau and production design by Dan Bishop is top-notch as memories from George’s past are inserted in an imaginative and unpredictable yet effective manner. Flashbacks take audience through the couple’s joint life, their first meeting at a party, and reading books in front of the fireplace together. Every frame in this film is perfection with Ford’s innate ability to capture the settings and characters at their best.
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