The one with the gays, not the Jews

A SINGLE MAN. To be fair, I gave the Coen brothers' movie its turn, so now for Tom Ford's picture to make sure I don't appear homophobic. Although only set 5 years apart, these two films could not be in two more different worlds and, as such, are approached in a completely different way. One of the remarkable aspects of movies is when a director can use the cinematic and aesthetic style of a movie to enrich their subject and although the brothers Coen certainly do this, albeit in a somewhat subtle manner -- No Country for Old Men exhibited a more firm grasp of this concept, using sparse filmmaking to tell a sparse story -- Ford truly nails it in his directorial debut.

You again give a more than adequate synopsis in your earlier post, so for brevity's sake I will be lazy and just link to that for those who might want to know more of what the movie is about. I shall add, though, that I might not be a fashion expert, but I will have to play Bunk to your McNulty and say Ralph Lauren is not exactly the style of this movie -- something more clean and simple like Gucci or Prada or Dior. Watching the movie I found it to be a bit too polished at times with a house that looked impeccable and the wardrobe out of 1962's GQ. You could tell it was by a fashion designer and occasional magazine editor. But the more I thought about it the more I saw that this movie was truly being seen through the eyes of George Falconer (Colin Firth) who gets up every morning and creates a self that is not real and what we see is his interpretation of what is trying to create -- a world that is perfectly ordered and beautiful. The changing of the color saturation and the overall stylized cinematography further create this sense of unreality and polish that truly use the art of film as part of, not simply the medium for, an interpretation of Christopher Isherwood's novel. Plus as someone who also enjoys striking visuals in movies, I found the composition Ford and his director of photography, Eduard Grau, create to be quite the accomplishment from an artistic and technical standpoint.

I also cannot finish this without mentioning the work of Firth in this movie. If someone could win an Oscar for best performance in a scene, he would win hands down for the one in this movie when he receives a phone call (only partial clip) about his partner's death. So much of the acting that gets recognized is, well, the type of acting that gets ones attention, whether it be because the character is a well-known person or just happens to be particularly dramatic. George is neither of those and the true accomplishment of Firth's performance is how much raw emotion and complexity he brings to a character that holds so much in. We see the face George puts on every day and the times when the real him breaks through. The more I think about the movie the more I admire his performance and the more I think of how heartbreaking, with not too much dialogue on Firth's part, I found that scene on the phone to be. It is one of those moments in a movie that kind of takes your breath away.

Looking back on all that I have seen so far this year, I will have to agree with your assessment that A Single Man ranks near the top of the list.

Also in case one does not click through the links, this is the clip of the beginning of the telephone scene: