Fade to Black Productions, Tom Ford (Producer, Director & Screenplay), 2010
Colin Firth, Julianne Moore, Nicholas Hoult, Matthew Goode;
David Scearce (Screenplay), Chris Weitz, Andrew Miano, Robert Salerno, Jason Alisharan (Producers); based on a novel by Christopher Isherwood
The Tom Ford film. “A Single Man” resembles an animated version of a Gucci catalogue. Every frame is like a page from one of those gentlemen’s magazines in which $2,000 shoes and $500 ties are laid out on a finely threaded throw while in the background, in soft focus, a slinky blonde reclines before a fireplace.
I have never seen a university English Department that resembles the first class lounge of Etihad Airways before, but no doubt they do in Ford's world.
I quite enjoyed the film as it is certainly makes a unique contribution to cinema because of its eccentric obsession with the form of the frame rather than what is actually going on inside it. I also enjoyed some of the effects of the script, such as the implication that the character of the boy played by Nicholas Hoult may be more than a mere student significant in the metaphysial schemeof things. While the script certainly does its bit, this implication is most strongly conveyed by the use of a deliciously fine, off-white boat necked mohair sweater, with just a hint of the texture of feathers about it.
Afterwards I read the reviews to see what the movie industry made of it. Most were sycophantic, pusillanimous paeans of praise. Even “Variety” glossed over a serious review and simply said Tom Ford was a genius.
I had no idea he had such power but it is clear that Hollywood is terrified of upsetting him. The New York Times, which doesn't give a damn, simply dismissed the film, saying it was pretty and dull. It was more than that, as it effectively conveys something of the emotion of significant loss. It may even be great art, as original fashion and design can be, but it is not a great film.
Listen to a National Public Radio interview with Tom Ford about "A Single Man."
Watch the trailer :
Colin Firth, Julianne Moore, Nicholas Hoult, Matthew Goode;
David Scearce (Screenplay), Chris Weitz, Andrew Miano, Robert Salerno, Jason Alisharan (Producers); based on a novel by Christopher Isherwood
I have never seen a university English Department that resembles the first class lounge of Etihad Airways before, but no doubt they do in Ford's world.
I quite enjoyed the film as it is certainly makes a unique contribution to cinema because of its eccentric obsession with the form of the frame rather than what is actually going on inside it. I also enjoyed some of the effects of the script, such as the implication that the character of the boy played by Nicholas Hoult may be more than a mere student significant in the metaphysial schemeof things. While the script certainly does its bit, this implication is most strongly conveyed by the use of a deliciously fine, off-white boat necked mohair sweater, with just a hint of the texture of feathers about it.
Afterwards I read the reviews to see what the movie industry made of it. Most were sycophantic, pusillanimous paeans of praise. Even “Variety” glossed over a serious review and simply said Tom Ford was a genius.
I had no idea he had such power but it is clear that Hollywood is terrified of upsetting him. The New York Times, which doesn't give a damn, simply dismissed the film, saying it was pretty and dull. It was more than that, as it effectively conveys something of the emotion of significant loss. It may even be great art, as original fashion and design can be, but it is not a great film.
Listen to a National Public Radio interview with Tom Ford about "A Single Man."
Watch the trailer :
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