"I wanted this not to be a gay story or a straight story but to be a human story." --Tom Ford
As anyone who knows me can tell you, I don’t really care much about fashion. It’s just not one of those things I find to be interesting or important. I hear the word “Prada” and the first thing I think of is Meryl Streep. But despite my complete and utter ignorance about this element of Western culture, I wasn’t surprised to learn that A Single Man director Tom Ford is the former creative director of Gucci and now runs his own fashion label. Who else would be able to combine framing, color and design into such memorable imagery?
Indeed, even if you walk away from Ford’s directorial debut feeling let down by the overall product, it can’t be denied that the man has a gift for the aesthetic. The film is set in the early 1960s and follows George Falconer (Colin Firth), a gay university professor struggling to cope with the death of his partner Jim (Matthew Goode). It’s been eight months since the fatal car crash, and George has decided that he can’t take the grief anymore. Today will be his last day before committing suicide. It’s a bleak premise, and the cinematography acts as a visual representation of George’s spirit.