We can all safely say that no matter which film we see Colin Firth in, he’s still remembered as the bloke from Pride and Prejudice who walked slowly out of the water, dropping wet. However, after Firth’s rather incredible performance in ‘The Single Man’, it may be in the near-future he is more widely remembered for the role of George Falconer, the gay English professor, rather than Mr Darcy, the self-absorbed aristocrat.

‘A Single Man,’ based on the novel by Christopher Isherwood, centers around an English professor, who, after mourning the death of his partner, attempts to go about his daily life with the weight of depression and a way to end it holding him down everywhere he goes. Being more of an ‘emotional journey’ film, not an awful lot actually happens, apart from three rather pivotal encounters with a rather suggestive student Kevin (Nicholas Hoult), a lifelong friend from England, Charley, who lives rather close (Julianne Moore) and a, pretty much Spanish James Dean, Carlos. Each of these meetings are significant turning points in his mourning phases and prolong the attempted suicide Falconer has been planning for months.

Kevin, the suggestive student stalker (played by Skins and About A Boy actor Nicholas Hoult) is a seemingly strange yet very intriguing character. Pushing Hoult’s cringe-worthy American accent and rather orange skin-tone aside, he seems to pull off this rather serious part very well. I can only think of a handful of other actors of his age who could’ve done just as good a job, although Hoult didn’t seem to mind jumping in to the sea with a naked Colin Firth towards the end of the film, which is a bonus!

The direction and overall handling of the film was beautiful, and all down to former Gucci man, Tom Ford. You would expect a film, being in the hands of such a stylish man, that the costumes would be somewhat fashionably 60s, and they definitely were. There was such a mixture of bleak and warm outfits that it beautifully contrasts the emotions throughout the film.

Although the trailer appears rather desolate and miserable, there is in fact only fractions of that feeling expressed within ‘A Single Man.’ It’s more Falconer’s discovery of beauty within awful, tragic things. A similar line used within the film is used to describe the luminous pink smog coating the LA skies, which is rather disgusting but in its own way, breathtakingly stunning.

It’s such a refreshing change to see a film that requires a little thought, but not too much for you to miss the point and mis-read the message completely. I believe Colin Firth’s Oscar nomination for ‘A Single Man’ is incredibly well-deserved and if you don’t believe me, you should see it for yourself. And see for one and half hours, if you can shake that Mr Darcy image of Firth from your head for the first time watching him play another role.

Catch it at the Filmhuis in Den Haag everyday at 17.00 and 19.00.

By Claire Minnitt

Verdict: 4/5 stars

Genre: Drama

Starring: Colin Firth, Julianne Moore, Nicholas Hoult, Matthew Goode

Certification: Netherlands: 12 UK: 12A

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