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DVD Release/Currently available on BBC iPlayer
In 1960s Los Angeles, Professor
George Falconer mourns the death of his long term partner. Over the course of a
single day, we follow his movements and visit his past through flashbacks.
At the start of the film, George
(Colin Firth) tells us that ‘today will be different’ and this is because today
is the day that he plans to commit suicide. It has been nearly a year since his
partner, Jim (Matthew Goode) died in a tragic car accident and George has still
not recovered – his world is a largely grey place, punctuated every now and
again with happiness and passing encounters. To represent this, the film
depicts George’s life in grey-scale, whilst the happier moments are shown in
colour. The colour in these moments is often heavily saturated so they look as
strange as the sections shown in grey, such as the scene where George meets a
male prostitute in the car park. As a narrative devise, this works very well
and is reminiscent of Memento in that
respect. The use of slow motion is also spot on and rather haunting.
The whole film is faintly
disturbing, from the scenes where George practises his suicide, to the alcohol
fuelled dinner party with his best friend, and the section where he sniffs a
stranger’s dog. Firth plays George with a real sense of disembodiment, which
leaves the audience feeling a little alienated throughout, but ultimately his
loneliness and sadness win you over and by the end you feel for him. The gay
relationship is handled excellently – it is understated and doesn’t make a big
deal out of the two male characters having moments of intimacy. Neither Firth
nor Goode make these scenes any more than love scenes, which is a real
pleasure. Julianne Moore and Nicholas Hoult complete the story as Charley and
Kenny respectively.
As a film, it feels rather
episodic and you can almost feel where the chapters would’ve fallen (it is based
on a novel of the same name by Christopher Isherwood), but as this is a study
into the day of one man’s life it works rather well. There is no clear climatic
moment, which could frustrate some viewers but as it is, this is a small, quiet
study into the life of a heart-broken man.
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