2009 saw John Ford creating his first feature film. A retelling of Christopher Isherwood’s 1964 Novel; A Single Man. Adapted for the screen, directed and produced by Ford himself he went about creating a film that captured the themes of grief, despondency and isolation that make up the novel. Like the book; A Single Man is the story of finding happiness in a life that is overwhelmingly miserable. Ford however successfully makes the story his own with only minimal changes to the source material. He achieves this through his stylised approach to the filmmaking methods.
There are a great deal of decisions that went into the stylisation of the film that created the feature that would become one of my favourite films of all time. For example the decision to shoot on film lead to a far more attractive picture, more in keeping with its sixties setting than a digital film would have been. New to the film is the stylish and elegant settings of George’s home which boasts a Mad Men sophistication, likely due to sharing a set design team with the show.
From scoring to mise-en-scene Ford created a film that exudes class as well as several layers of meaning. But the thing that struck me the most was his masterful use of editing throughout and more specifically colour grading!
It would have been very easy for a first time director to allow for the mood and feelings of George to be conveyed to the audience by plot alone. A man planning to die is a relatively straight forward message that George is not at his best. But of course feelings are not that straight forward, while George is a man at the end of his rope, he still feels the joy in various moments of the day.
The editing of the film is masterful in its approach! Jump cuts are used to draw attention to where George’s mind is, for example shots of the men playing tennis while his colleague drones on about the need for a nuclear bunker. The same style is used in the more traumatic moments for George as he knocks on Charley’s door and is disturbed by the memories of eight months earlier when he came to the same door following the news of Jim’s death.
The colour of the film reflects George’s mood throughout. The scene is almost a shade of blue when he wakes up and is faced with the painful realisation that he has to face another day. It’s grey and dull as he clears up his office or searches for his missing check book. But the scene warms up as he is presented with joyful moments, whether in admiring his receptionist, stroking a fox terrier or talking to a potential love interest in Nicholas Hoult. The film is bookended with two completely different grades, opening with the cold, blue grading as George prepares to face another day of grief and ending with warm and lively colours as George decides that life is worth living, representing his change of perspective throughout the day!
Remarkably A Single Man did face criticisms for being too stylised and fashionable and an extension of the director’s own career in fashion. Citing examples such as the black and white beach flashback or the focus on women’s lipstick and clothing. Although watching this film not knowing who Tom Ford was I did not see the criticisms and watching the film again many times since knowing full well who Tom Ford is, I still don’t believe the criticisms are justified. At most one could say that the advertising techniques of the fashion industry have been borrowed for the stylisation of the film. But the reason they were used in fashion in the first place is because fashion companies generally prefer good quality filmmaking in their adverts. But alas, you cannot educate the ignorant.
In conclusion A Single Man is an excellent film, it will always be on my top ten for the excellent performances, amazing style and the beautiful adaptation of Christopher Isherwood’s novel. It was a novel that needed the right filmmakers in its adaptation and its needs were well and truly met!
Further Reading…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y9sQVQc0D18
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AXq8zPVUM-o
https://brightlightsfilm.com/multiple-senses-tom-fords-a-single-man/
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