A Single Man (2009)

The exposition of the film was promising, it was ambiguous and enigmatic, hinting that the film will give a creative and even heart breaking view on a gay man’s experiences in the 1960s. However, in reality, the film (and especially its’ narrative) was disappointing and in some parts bland. The film was a colourless, grey view of life. Even the ‘happy’ moments of the film lacked emotion and warmth- even with the overused saturation blatantly being thrown in to attempt add some kind of to the film. The characters seemed to lack depth and personality- as all the empathy you should have for them never develops because of their obvious cold demeanour. Colin Firth portrays George, who should be the character we can sympathise with and feel emotional towards, however again this opportunity is lost when George is so lacking in character and any kind of personality that we cannot sympathise him as much as we would like to. At the opening of the film I was excited to see a portrayal of a gay man in the 1960s- surely the film would offer a heart-wrenching, emotional view of how hard life was for the LGBTQ+ community when it was illegal to be gay? Again, I was disappointed. The film not only seemed to alienate and dismiss gay relationships, as represented by his ex and best friend who clearly would never accept his sexuality, but also gave a troubling and repetitive view of gay men. In so many films, gay men are represented as being domineering and borderline creepy as they tend to be shown in relationships with boys much younger than them. This is a deeply negative view, creating a negative stereotype that gay men are predators. Films such as ‘call me by your name’ also normalise this, and I was disappointed to see it yet again in ‘A Single Man’. I do see that Ford’s skills as a director are utilised, with the impressive shots and repeated colour palette is used throughout- for example the shot where George and the boy that he met at the liquor store are smoking while the background is a close up on ‘psycho’.

In conclusion, I am disappointed with the film and its representations. It had a chance to be creative and give a really unique view of homosexuality in the 60s and yet, was extremely lacking in any kind of emotion.