My Monday Night

We kicked off our week with one days holiday, I took the opportunity to explore the West End of Glasgow as I have not had the opportunity to spend very much time their since coming to university. I really liked this little trip as it is such a different vibe than being in the city center and i love all the little boutiques and vintage shops. In the evening I went to see the film 'The Single Man' and Cineworld. I had seen the trailer online and thought that it looked quite interesting and unique. The trailer caught my attention as it seemed to have an interesting pace and I the fact that no dialogue or voiceovers took place really made it stand out from other trailers I have seen. When I discovered that the fashion designer Tom Ford was directing the film I felt slightly apprehensive. I did not know how well a designer would direct a film, especially because he has had very little experience with this medium within his career. However I am pleased to say that I was proved very wrong. Although 'A Single Man' was a very visual film I do not think that the narrative and character development was bi-passed. The film had great emotional depth. It seemed very character driven and true to life. I liked the fact that the film reflected such deep, strong and confusing emotions.

Colin Firth acted wonderfully within the film, and as a result won Best Actor at the BAFTA'S last night. His character seemed very complexed and really seemed like a real person, unlike some of the one dimensional characters that can often be seen on screen. I liked the fact that the film was quite slow paced at some points and showed monotonous little details of his life, that may appear insignificant, but actually revealed alot about his character. Clearly this tone and style didn't appeal to some people as they walked out of the cinema. I think that this is a terrible shame as I really enjoyed the film and I think that the people that left really didn't give the movie very much of a chance. However I can understand why they left, this film was quite different from the main stream blockbusters and had a lack of dialogue in comparison. However this did not bother me and I think I know have a better understanding about visual storytelling that Richard was teaching us about a few weeks ago.

I thought the film was visually striking, after watching the film I really did want to live in 1962, and dance around in chic clothes in a stylish house. I felt that the music was also used well within the film and the song 'Green Onions' fit perfectly with the tone of the film when it was played. The costumes were also excellent within 'A Single Man', I expected this due to the fact that Ford is a fashion designer. However I thought he used his artistic skills very successfully in many other areas. The world that he created was stylish and desirable, I that any time that the audience actually wants to live in the world that the director creates, they have obviously done a very good job of really transporting the audience to another time or place. Nick Hoult also did a really good job within the movie, I think that it is impressive that a young actor from skins has managed to appear in a possibly Oscar winning Hollywood film at such a young age. I felt his performance was charming and he really made me fall in love with the character, and obviously Colin Firths performance was impeccable.

Overall I really enjoyed watching this movie and I couldn't stop talking about it afterwards. I really hope that it does well over award season and I would recommend going to the cinema and watching this film to anyone who hasn't already seen it. And if you have seen the film, go along anyway and watch it again!