Heartbreak was not made for movies. The silver screen may lament the death of a main character or cause audiences to weep en masse when the Nth “love of the century” ends in tragedy, but the real focus is enduring love. No matter what happens, they’ll live their lives and remember what they had. My heart will go on, I’ll never forget you, here’s looking at you kid.
Not everyone can sustain themselves on fading sentiment. Even fewer movies can document life after loss — filming a void is not only emotionally torturous, but it isn’t exactly the most exciting thing either.
“A Single Man” should be given accolades simply for diving into romantic limbo and treading water. But add to the fact that this movie’s fashion-designer-cum-director Tom Ford is making this his first motion picture venture, while also serving as writer and producer, and the exploration seems like a huge gamble. Fortunately, Ford’s self-chartered journey into desolation is so breathtakingly shot and starkly intimate that the risk does its part to illuminate and justify the human struggle.
Professor George Falconer (Colin Firth, “Bridget Jones’s Diary) serves as the movie’s defeated ferryman to the entrance of oblivion. Having lost his lover Jim (Matthew Goode, “Watchmen”) and dog to an unexpected car crash, Falconer struggles to urge himself through his own opening narration and life. The disinterest of his university students and the height of the Cuban Missile Crisis have him contemplating his own personal annihilation. However, Kenny (Nicholas Hoult, “Kidulthood”), an inquisitive student with a passion for Falconer’s teaching (and possibly Falconer himself) starts to draw out what little passion is left in him.
And Firth certainly hones what little life is left in George. While the erudite Englishman of every American housewife’s dreams doesn’t leave his charm at the door, he carries a gravitas throughout the film that makes every step of the film’s two-day span that much more compelling to follow — Firth isn’t merely mopey as Falconer, he’s nearly resigned to a life without purpose, only to be abruptly lifted up by the brief flashes of compassion and wide-eyed innocence he encounters throughout the movie.
Firth’s Academy Award nomination for the role may not be the strongest of the field, but he does do something few with the same storyline could do: making tragedy heartrending while also turning melodrama into a more “matter-of-fact” affair.
That brilliant performance is essential, since the casting choices are nearly indicative of the title: Julianne Moore (“Chloe”), as former lover Charley, appears at length in only one scene while Falconer’s doe-eyed pupil serves out most of his term in the movie’s last 15 minutes. They certainly play their characters well, but not well enough to steal any attention from Firth. But that’s probably to the movie’s benefit.
The film is driven by Firth, but it doesn’t rely solely on him. Ford’s rookie performance as director is no amateur hour; while the range of different framing and color effects make it seem as if Ford is playing in the cinematic sandbox, the techniques are not overly distracting. In fact, they’re nearly essential to George’s philosophical outlook: darting camera angles during his intimate talk with Charley, the subtle creep of color over the frame when George’s student invites him for drinks and the slow-motion crawl of the perfect family across the street all elaborate on his inner conflict with straddling life and death.
That’s not to say it doesn’t occasionally get in the way — one flashback with his lover Jim presents them both in an overexposed, black and white Obsession for Men commercial. Perhaps it was meant to invoke a picture taken of them both, or perhaps it was merely to freeze a moment in time. But given the inconsistency with other flashbacks, it seems designed to show off Ford’s artistic chops rather than enhance the emotional impact of the scene.
Despite the occasional hiccup, this ornately decorated short story remains surprisingly accessible. The symbolism doesn’t tread into ambiguity, but it doesn’t beat the viewer over the head with what it’s trying to say, either. And that’s essential since the message cannot be cheapened: Life’s worth is not embodied merely in a lover and may mean more when discovered alone. For every romance that Hollywood pumps out, there should be two films that match the level of self-discovery that “A Single Man” produces.
4 stars out of 5.
