Reading the review "A Review of A Single Man" by Betsy Sharkey, I was not really impressed about her criticism of the movie A Single Man. If it had been up to Susan Sonntag, she would have said that Ms Sharkey did not fully meet the requirements of a successful criticism. First of all, Ms. Sharkey barely talks about the form of the movie. She comments on the fact that the movie has a lot of scenes that feel like fashion ads, but doesn’t speak any more about the techniques or details encompassed by the cinematographers. Ms. Sharkey, however, does speak about a specific scene where George ( Colin Firth) is standing on the roof of a building, taking a drag off of a “young hustler’s” (Jon Kortajarena) cigarette. She gave certain details about the setting, colors, costumes, and actions of the characters. Her overall critique was not very effective however. It might have appealed more to an audience who was very interested in the fashion world, and Tom Ford, but it would not capture the attention of the general public. It would have been better, had she commented on the vibrant colors that were brought out in the movie during certain scenes where the main character saw true beauty. She could have also done a better job at discussing how the disrupt camera shots and point of views had a major impact on how the audience viewed the movie. The broken up views or slow motion scenes ensure that the audience never knows what will happen next or fully get connected to the characters in the movie.
A major element of mise-en-scene that was brought to my attention, besides the effectiveness of color brightening and dulling, is costumes. Because Tom Ford is a fashion designer, all of the clothes worn in the movie have to be exact, and almost convey a fashion show themselves. The very fact that Tom Ford is in fashion therefore contributes significantly to the overall effectiveness of the movie. One will notice that at the very beginning of the movie, the main character has all of his clothes neatly folded and lined up in his drawers, and that the colors were only composed of black and white articles of clothing. He looks very polished in the beginning. However, as the movie progresses, and he starts to enjoy all of the small things in life and he loosens up, so does his wardrobe. After he tries to commit suicide, he goes up to his friends house for dinner, and one starts to notice that he loses his tie, his shirt becomes unbuttoned, and even his hair starts to become frazzled as he dances in the living room. After he meets with his student, his wardrobe diminishes even more. He loses all of his clothes when they go swimming and then changes into a bathrobe, in which he later dies of a heart attack. His wardrobe is very important because it mirrors his feelings and actions. In the beginning, he’s very set in his ways, very polished and exact. however, by the end of the movie he’s outgoing, free feeling, and only enjoying the little things.
