a single man

 The Oscar push starts here. Once again I embark on my utterly trivial exercise to see as many of the Oscar nominated films as possible prior to the ceremony in early March, at least this time I’ve got time on my hands to kill. I’ve managed to source a couple of the documentaries on-line – VJ Day and Food Inc. – both of which are pretty good but shouldn’t beat The Cove to the statuette. The Most Dangerous Man in America was on BBC4 a couple of days ago, that was a very good piece of work on a figure I’m surprised to have never heard of before, I’ve also managed to track down 80% of the best animated shorts and a couple of other odds and ends, take a look back at my updated Oscars post if you’re so inclined and follow the links. It looks as if Crazy Heart has had its release moved up which is welcome, after a recent Jonathan Ross interview with Bridges which revealed an ending spoiler I have to say I’ll be watching the movie through gritted, annoyed teeth but at least it’s not Invictus which I point blank refuse to see at the movie house. When I first read the attached review – and BEWARE spoilers in the first paragraph which is a synopsis of the whole film as per Sight & Sounds remit – the second paragraph almost made me punch the air in glee as finally someone agreed with my apparently sacrilegious opinion of Eastwood’s Autumnal work. The Changling was awful, I actually thought Gran Torino was some sort of meta-joke, complete with Korean gangbangers that looked as if they have had been teleported in from a TJ Hooker episode circa 1984, and the Second World War dyad was over-wrought and essentially boring. I liked Mystic River but Million Dollar Baby was manipulative, nonsensical dross. As for Invictus I loathe sports, the final result of that contest is in the public record and whilst there is a great film about Mandela waiting to be made this sure doesn’t look like it. Anyway, I suppose I’d best actually take a look at the film I’m actually posting about eh?

 Against the backdrop of the Cuban missile crisis George (Colin Firth), a middle-aged, LA based English professor is spending a final 24 hours meticulously settling his affairs before a planned suicide. George is wracked with grief at the death of his partner Jim (played in flashback by Matthew Goode who you may recognise as Ozymandias from Watchmen) who has died in a car accident, he finds himself denied attendance to the funeral of his spouse due to the families disgust at their gay lifestyle despite their 16 year relationship. Living a closeted, remote life Georges only friend and confidant is Charley (Julianne Moore), a similarly damaged and lonely spinster who mirrors his emotionally neutered pain, only the prospect of a relationship with one of his students seems to offer George a new beginning and possible respite to the despair that is driving him to perform one final act of annihilation. No, it’s not exactly what I’ll call a comedy.

 Regardless of sexual orientation – not that it matters of course – I was not really in the mood to watch someone pine for their departed loved one for a couple of hours, nevertheless this was a fairly engaging and moving piece of work, due mostly to the fine performances that first time director Tom Ford has coaxed from his excellent cast. It’s an assured debut which may be a little too slight and manipulative at points but the central performance of Colin Firth, a very internalized and thus movie-friendly portrayal of overwhelming grief  is worth the price of admission alone, besides Julianne Moore is always worth watching in my book . Ford displays a masterful use of colour, (the film is very evocative of a Sirk movie on a number of levels) shooting George in muted, washed out greys and blacks until moments of beauty or desire are rekindled when the colour palette is manipulated and the image either saturated or desaturated in order to indicate an emotional status, much of his final day is punctuated with flashbacks to his happier times with Jim that juxtapose subconsciously with the imagery of his intended final hours. I was not surprised to read that many of the fine design and costume technicians from the superlative Mad Men HBO series were drafted in to evoke the 1960’s environment, as with that fantastic series the period and settings are brilliantly realised. A Single Man is tempered, mature film-making which whilst a little sterile for some should find an audience searching for more stylised, redolent fare. Next up, The Lovely Bones. I’m not holding my breath…