"Waking up beings with saying am and now." I was very glad to know the first line of the novel is also the first line of the film. Though the first thing we see is a flesh-and-blood man trapped under the heaviness of blue water. He's trying to get out. We don't see his face but he reminds us of Adam in the famous Michelangelo painting.
Honestly, this movie had me at the trailer. Directed and written (screenplay) by the very respected fashion designer, Tom Ford (being a gorgeous man himself), and novel by Christopher Isherwood, I can't imagine this film being done by anyone else but a fashion designer such as Tom with its color palette, achingly intimate close-ups, and artistry. It's a hell of a feat to take on. The story is one that calls for the upmost intelligence from everyone involved, or it would fall flat on its face. But not one moment feels wrong, out of place, or questionable in this 1962 time frame.
I suppose I should say what the story is. George Falconer (awesome name) is a humble English professor, though we don't know this when we first meet him. All we know is that something is bothering him, and it must have to do with that man we see lying dead and bleeding on a snowy-white deserted Ohio road. In a dream, George kisses him, though his eyes have frozen over and flakes of snow are burying him.
George wakes with a gasp. It's not a movie gasp, but an actual gasp of fear and his eyes look up at us begging for help and answers. The world around him has a film of greyness. Nothing is as vibrant as it should be at first, and for good reason. Why would the world seem inviting when the love of his life has just died unexpectedly? It's not. So George plans his last day alive carrying a small handgun in his briefcase as he walks the Earth for the last time.
Colin Firth plays George with an enormous amount of vulnerability. He is George. His voice is an octave higher, his and face body the same, only more beautiful. The problem is that he has an infinite amount of love to give yet no one to receive it and its out in the open hoping to latch on in case that person returns. That person is gone. Jim, played by the lovely and British Matthew Goode and who we see in vibrant flashbacks, masks his accent with a light, gay American one that is both smart and friendly. You believe everything he says.
The only way we know George is a professor is when we see him get out of his car with a briefcase (containing the gun) and walk the perimeter through bustling college students. Again, everything is dulled down in color. And then he reaches his office and speaks to a secretary and he compliments every aspect of her and she smiles. Only this time her lips beam bright red for just a moment. In class, he gives a lecture about the power of fear while a girl in the front row, Lois, smokes a cigarette.
And then there's his student, Kenny, acted wonderfully by Nicolas Hoult (About a Boy), who delivers some fabulous one-liners. He is the spitting image of Jim only younger and more curious. The more Kenny interacts with George, the brighter his eyes and skin are. George takes him in with hesitation at first, then later allows things to flow naturally because, again, he believes it's his last day. No second chances.
Charley is acted by Julianne Moore. She is George's only British friend in LA. They're neighbors with a history. She's lonely and wants George and only George despite his male preferences, which results in too many phone calls and giddiness and self consciousness around him.
Throughout the entire movie there is no mention of the word "gay" or "homo." Only the obvious implications. We know through visuals and interactions. And that's enough. In fact, twice is the sentence, by both Jim and Kenny, "We're invisible."
As George goes about his day with a different view, the vibrancy begins to outweigh the greyness. Accompanied by a heart-fluttering score composed by Abel Korzeniowski, the last 20 minutes of the film are the happiest of the entire movie. Although, the lightest comes before the dark.
The last movie that affected me so was Pan's Labyrinth and both have similar endings. There's a loveliness amongst the sadness and it shouldn't end any other way.
No comments:
Post a Comment