A Single Man: An ode to a life past
I am a faithful follower of Tom Ford's artistic ventures, from his fashion designer days to his (guest) magazine editing gig and now, his directorial debut. I appreciate his attention to detail in his art, every last details were loaded with intent to create an overall mood and theme. This meticulousness served him well during his fashion designer days - he single-handedly revived the then rundown house of Gucci, which under him became one of the most sought-after fashion houses known for its slick design and suggestive ad campaign.
Yet, as A Single Man showed, said meticulousness is best taken at small doses lest the audience would be distracted by the context and placed the narrative in a secondary role. And distracted the audience would be, by the beautiful people and striking postcard-esque frames and quaint little cars. Really. One would think the film is an extended cut of the '67 World Expo commercial.
As Kate Hudson's character in Nine said: "Every frame [of your films] is like a postcard" and that is EXACTLY the problem of A Single Man. One cannot help but have an overdose of the visual and artistic direction. Of course, when used masterfully, these manipulation could add to the narration of the film, yet the attempts by Tom Ford, from the stark contrast in hue/lighting between George and the rest of the world, to the mosaics, to the sequences of the blinking eyes, were all but drove one up the walls. It was an voyeuristic effort of a film, yet the inconsistency brought by the need to display stunning and powerful images leaves the narration much to be desired. The pacing was off, the sequences felt like mere transition from one elaborate image to another and lacks emotional depth and development.
The film was exhausting and felt contrived, lacking genuine storytelling. In focusing on the form, Tom Ford failed at injecting substance into the film - which discounted the actor/actresses effort. Case in point: when George received the phone call bearing news of Jim's death, the prolonged shot of him, stoic with stock and overcome with sadness, failed to impress. For sure, Colin Firth did a great job, yet the deliberate effort made by the director to point out "hey, here's an acting moment and look at me!" cheapened the sequence. Examples like this were everywhere in this film, from the Bardot-esque Lois (model Aline Weber) chain-smoking, to Charley's reflection in the mirror, to the immaculate layout of George's belongings, and don't even get me started on the under water sequence.
I saw two visually stunning films in a day - The White Ribbon and A Single Man, and the latter fail to be intellectually stimulating, it felt spoonfed, choke-full of beautiful images.
Le sigh, I tried hard to enjoy and like this film, but in Tom Ford's failure to deliver an intriguing film, I failed to appreciate the film in most if not all aspects.
Yet, as A Single Man showed, said meticulousness is best taken at small doses lest the audience would be distracted by the context and placed the narrative in a secondary role. And distracted the audience would be, by the beautiful people and striking postcard-esque frames and quaint little cars. Really. One would think the film is an extended cut of the '67 World Expo commercial.
As Kate Hudson's character in Nine said: "Every frame [of your films] is like a postcard" and that is EXACTLY the problem of A Single Man. One cannot help but have an overdose of the visual and artistic direction. Of course, when used masterfully, these manipulation could add to the narration of the film, yet the attempts by Tom Ford, from the stark contrast in hue/lighting between George and the rest of the world, to the mosaics, to the sequences of the blinking eyes, were all but drove one up the walls. It was an voyeuristic effort of a film, yet the inconsistency brought by the need to display stunning and powerful images leaves the narration much to be desired. The pacing was off, the sequences felt like mere transition from one elaborate image to another and lacks emotional depth and development.
The film was exhausting and felt contrived, lacking genuine storytelling. In focusing on the form, Tom Ford failed at injecting substance into the film - which discounted the actor/actresses effort. Case in point: when George received the phone call bearing news of Jim's death, the prolonged shot of him, stoic with stock and overcome with sadness, failed to impress. For sure, Colin Firth did a great job, yet the deliberate effort made by the director to point out "hey, here's an acting moment and look at me!" cheapened the sequence. Examples like this were everywhere in this film, from the Bardot-esque Lois (model Aline Weber) chain-smoking, to Charley's reflection in the mirror, to the immaculate layout of George's belongings, and don't even get me started on the under water sequence.
I saw two visually stunning films in a day - The White Ribbon and A Single Man, and the latter fail to be intellectually stimulating, it felt spoonfed, choke-full of beautiful images.
Le sigh, I tried hard to enjoy and like this film, but in Tom Ford's failure to deliver an intriguing film, I failed to appreciate the film in most if not all aspects.