Seen-A-Scene: A Single Man, Tom Ford (2009)
My choice for this week’s Seen-A-Scene comes from one of my favourite films — the car park scene of Tom Ford’s A Single Man.
Tom Ford’s A Single Man is a relatively undiscovered masterpiece in mainstream commercial cinema and in all honesty, I had trouble whittling down the film to one specific scene that could accurately represent the film, as is required for Seen-A-Scene. It felt like choosing a favourite child out of a bunch of kids who are all as effortlessly stylish, articulate and poetically tender as each other. Eventually, I settled for an unforgettable moment that I still nostalgically remember, and quote, to this day — a scene drenched in sex, Americana and a sense of Freudian Death Drive.
A Single Man focuses upon protagonist, George (Colin Firth) and the deep grief for his late partner. It’s a gentle film that beautifully unfurls into an almost tangible heartache. 41 minutes into the film, George bumps into Carlos (Jon Kortajarena) in the car park of a liquor store, knocking a bottle out of his hands and onto the floor below. George kindly buys a replacement and the pair share a cigarette in reconcilement and chat idly. After mistakenly mis-interpreting one of George’s actions as a sexual invite, George asks Carlos, a Spaniard, about his life story and why he came to LA. They speak openly about love and lust.
Through the themes explored in this scene, the film reveals itself as a deep and universal story of love and loss — rather than simply validating itself through cheap voyeurism of the gay experience. This scene shows the authentic intricacies that underpin the narrative and allow for the story to unravel as sensitively as it does.
In this sense, A Single Man both actively uses and subverts traditional Hollywood narrative forms to intelligently portray the emotional depth that haunts the film. Whilst the film is centred around a gay man, Ford rejects the often-damaging Hollywood stereotypes of a homosexual men as a simple, frivolous accessory by creating complex, polarising characters who never need to exclaim or validate their sexual orientation.
For example, although bursting with raw sexuality, the car park scene reinforces the film’s central message by exposing the tragic longings of the protagonist, whose sole wish is to be reunited with the love of his life. When faced with the prospect of a sexual encounter with Carlos, George simply ruminates about the integrity of relationships in the world — and then declines. This moment galvanises George as a steadfast and deeply unhappy man.
In this denial of a sexual encounter with Carlos, an undeniably sexual being, George is shown to be stronger than the classic narrative tool of doing something morally wrong in order to show regret and eventually, true intentions. Ford has created George with such conviction that such a shallow narrative would weaken and contradict his characteristics. For George, all that matters is the man who he loves and lost — whether that is due to his loyalty, grief or his melancholic outlook is for the viewer to decide.
Moreover, even Carlos, with only a few minutes airtime, is shown to be a deeply intricate character who transcends expected narratives. When promising, “I’m a good man, and I think that’s what you need”, he does not express the sexual bravado one may expect from an escort in a Hollywood film. Instead, he acts to extend the gravity of George’s longing in line with the film’s central theme.
Interestingly however, in this scene, Ford also adheres to Hollywood’s heteronormative expectations by objectifying Carlos, as Hollywood would a woman. With obvious homoeroticism, Ford sexualises the character by selling every inch of Kortajarena’s undeniably handsome physicality — most noticeably, his piercing eyes and full lips. Ford even goes as far as to enhance the colour saturation of the scene to increase the redness of his lips to mock an demonstration of innate sexuality.
Whatsmore, Ford intelligently juxtaposes the raw sexuality of the car-park scene with quiet domestic contentment of the following scene to fully contrast the previous scenes themes with a bittersweet nostalgia.
In conclusion, the car-park scene in A Single Man is a stellar example of Ford’s auteurship and his dedication to building the intricate complexities of his characters. In this scene, the audience glimpses into the void in George’s heart and soul. He is a man uninterested in momentary frivolity, but solely, and rather sadly, the man he loved, or more accurately, the man he still loves.
