Released February 12th 2010.
No doubt this film is going to LOOK amazing, but as the maker of my favourite perfumes, and the odd sunglass and tux here and there, i'm not so sure the content is going to be as good. A fashion designer going into film is a dangerous and precarious step, but if the reviews and awards are anything to go by, then Tom Ford's done himself justice.
The fact Ford has chosen a Christopher Isherwood novel as his basis is a bit of a cop out for me, and not really a huge surprise. Or i guess it could be seen as a tactical step from his point of view as a way to ease himself into the world of film-making. Isherwood's novels are famously aesthetically minded in their content. The most famous line being from his most famous novel "Goodbye To Berlin," which opens with the words, "I am a camera." If that doesn't ring a bell in any fashion designer's ear looking for a writer to base his first film on, then nothing else will. Goodbye To Berlin was the basis for John Van Druten's 1951 play, "I Am a Camera," which in turn was the basis for the Broadway musical "Cabaret." This was then adapted into a musical film in 1977 starring Liza Minelli, and is today considered a visually iconic masterpiece. I'm sure Ford is a fan. His choice of cast doesn't exactly tickle my fancy either. I'm sure having Julianne Moore and Colin Firth as support and lead will ensure box-office success, but it also ensures a very safe and perhaps predictable film.
However, that all that being said, i haven't actually read "A Single Man," nor do i desire to. I'd like to give Ford a chance. Maybe he can prove that the boundaries between any artistic endeavour, whether it be fashion design, fashion photography or fine art painting, are often blurred. Fashion and film go hand and hand and maybe Mr Ford can be the first success in proving designers can be a dab hand both on and off the screen.
