Salon.com > A Single Man

Colin Firth: The elegant mourner

Thu, 25 Feb 2010 14:01:00 +0000

One of the movie posters for Tom Ford's "A Single Man" is a gauzy photo-illustration featuring a debonair-looking Colin Firth in the foreground -- deep in thought and wearing heavy-rimmed Michael Caine glasses -- as Julianne Moore, a '60s glam queen in a black sheath dress and dangly cocktail-party earrings, looks on with undisguised affection and possibly a shiver of lust. A soft-focus white rose blooms just behind Firth's right ear, a symbol of mourning, or rebirth, or something. It's a dreamy, aesthetically pleasing work of advertising, a respectful nod to the glory days of movie-poster artists like Bob Peak.

This is very elegant advertising for a movie about grief that, if Ford had chosen a different star, might also feel like advertising. Ford has worked as an art director and a fashion designer (for the houses of Yves Saint Laurent and Gucci), and in those fields, his aesthetic sense has proved to be extremely well-turned. But as a piece of moviemaking "A Single Man" -- based on the 1964 Christopher Isherwood novel in which a middle-aged literature professor mourns the death of his lover -- is static and sterile. Ford knows something about composition and lighting, perhaps a bit too much. If it weren't for Firth, its star, "A Single Man" wouldn't amount to much more than a series of meticulously art-directed stills, less a movie than a lavish 10-page promotional insert in Vogue.

Oscar reactions: Who was burned or spurned?

Tue, 02 Feb 2010 22:03:00 +0000

Like a faithful dog walking behind the heels of its owner, following the recently announced Oscar nominations come critiques from fans and critics alike. Here's what's happening around the Web:

Vadim Rizov of the Independent Eye has a list of foreign films that would have been given the nod if nominations were based on a film's box-office success in its home country.

Where's Julianne Moore? Some, like Erik Childress of Cinematical, are wondering why Moore's performance in "A Single Man" for best supporting actress seems to have been replaced by Maggie Gyllenhaal's in "Crazy Heart." Also, Childress speculates that the makeup category has something against the aliens in "District 9."

In equal confusion with Childress over the Gyllenhaal-over-Moore decision, Peter Knegt of indieWIRE has a list of 10 Oscar surprises, including "The Blind Side" even being in the running for best picture.

Box office report: “Avatar” hits $2 billion

Mon, 01 Feb 2010 06:32:00 +0000

"Avatar" won the box office derby for the seventh straight weekend, taking the record for the biggest seventh weekend gross ($30 million) from "Titanic" ($25 million). Dropping just 14 percent, the unstoppable monster has now grossed $594 million, meaning it will cross "Titanic's" $600 million gross in the next two or three days, perhaps on Tuesday, when the Oscar nominations are announced. Early last week, James Cameron's amazing hit surpassed "Titanic's" worldwide box office gross to become the world's highest-grossing movie. This weekend it crossed the seemingly unfathomable $2 billion mark worldwide. You can babble all you want about inflation, 3D and IMAX ticket prices, and what have you, but check out this little statistic: When "Avatar" reaches $2.239 billion, which it will in the next two or three weeks, it will have doubled the worldwide take of every other movie ever made except "Titanic." It will also soon have a $1 billion lead over any movie not directed by James Cameron. There's not much more to say at this point than "wow" and "don't make a sequel," so let's move on.

“A Single Man”: Tom Ford’s shallow but compelling debut

Thu, 10 Dec 2009 01:10:00 +0000

All movies are art-directed to one degree or another. But "A Single Man," un film de Tom Ford, is all art and no direction -- it's a picture made up of visual choices with almost no filmmaking sandwiched between. Set in California in 1962, the picture -- based, very loosely, on Christopher Isherwood's novel of the same name -- opens with an ending of sorts: College professor George Falconer (Colin Firth) tries to come to terms with the death of his lover of 16 years, Jim (played, in flashbacks, by Matthew Goode). George, a British expat, is a reserved sort who favors Michael Caine glasses and narrow, dark suits. He's not given to florid displays of emotion or even to nurturing close friendships: His dearest friend is Charley (Julianne Moore), a needy, boozy, melodramatic divorcee with whom, in his youth, he had a brief sexual relationship. George still adores Charley, though perhaps not quite as much as she adores him (she hints at one point that she still wishes they could "work" as a couple). And though she at least pretends she wants to help him, she exists far outside his suffering: He's lost to everyone, drifting along in a world that has been grayed out -- quite literally, in Ford's vision -- by his grief.