By Eric J. McEntee
AFI FEST Daily News

“Try to think of a minority that could go by unnoticed, and then you have something that could really cause fear . . . ” to paraphrase a statement by George Falconer, played by Colin Firth in A SINGLE MAN. He’s speaking of some of the many paralyzing tropes of psychology that plagued the era of the 1960s—nuclear war, materialism, politics—while assessing some of the rigid polarizations of humanity that have occurred throughout history. The film is set in Los Angeles in the early-’60s, when George—an English transplant who has lost love and direction in life after the tragic death of his lover—is at the end of his analytical container, ready to end his life and all of its pain, its knowledge and desire.

Like the remark above, the film is a thoughtful and personal statement by the film’s director, Tom Ford, of fashion renown. The film follows George’s reflections on life, and with them the camera evokes his imaginary states of being. These passages in the film—dream sequences of sorts—at times border on conventional staging, but the film as a whole is visually delicate. Based on Christopher Isherwood’s 1964 novel, the writing is genuine, with the characters connecting through the conversations Ford chooses to emphasize, often around issues of identity.

Most of the film takes place in a day, when George goes through his routines in near-desperation, almost completely unnoticed by the outside world; yet a curious student named Kenny (Nicholas Hoult) is zealous about the matters that weigh on George’s mind.

There is a solidly comedic aspect to Ford’s sensibility expressed by Firth’s interactions with Charley (Julianne Moore) as well as a somewhat grotesque side to the pristine aesthetic evoked by the orderly beams of his home–an ideal of ’60s modern architecture–as well as his elegantly tailored costumes. This is an interesting irony, also suggested by the way George (who so readily quotes literary artists) reads on the toilet, and it’s the basis for humor he and Charley recall in their drinking revelries.

A SINGLE MAN is also a film that makes a poignant illustration of the climate of cinema at the moment. It is a work by a leading figure of an industry whose imprint transfers into the medium of cinema almost naturally. It seems that fashion campaigns exhibit much of the same visual standards and public influence that cinema exhibits. Apart from the writing and the performances, Ford’s visual sense has emotional tonality in it as well as form, which for its photography alone should invite viewers.

Eric J. McEntee writes at Coupé Cinema.