Adapted from Christopher Isherwood’s novel and directed by Tom Ford, this is about a British college lecturer in America who’s grieving after the death of his partner. On the day the film is set, he decides he is going to take his own life.
The film is a delicate lament on age, beauty and love. The photography and colour, which intensifies when George is really feeling the power and joys of life, is arresting and stunningly beautiful. Some have accused the film of being self-indulgent or pretentious, but it actually avoids such crimes by concentrating on the character of George. It is also very apparent that this has been handcrafted by a fashion designer, but this is by no means a bad thing, and the director’s cool eye for staggering beauty enhances the film’s depth instead of drowning it in spectacle and fashionable clothes.
A Single Man (2009), directed by Tom Ford, is released on Blu-ray disc and DVD in the UK by Icon Home Entertainment, Certificate 12.
