Tom Ford's directorial debut A
Single Man will open December 11 in limited markets, renewing
hope for a gay-inclusive Oscar best movie race.
The film premiered at the Venice
International Film Festival, where it took the 3rd annual
Queer Lion award and Colin Firth was named best actor.
Firth stars in Ford's big-screen
adaptation of Christopher Isherwood's 1964 novel of the same name as
professor George Falconer, a gay man struggling with the loss of his
longtime lover, Jim (played by Matthew Goode). George is the
ultimate outsider in 1960s Los Angeles: middle-aged, gay and British.
In accepting the award, Firth, 49,
called the win “possibly the greatest honor of my life.”
The film's December release gives it a
shot for a possible Oscar nod. The academy has only nominated two
gay-themed films to win its top best movie prize: Brokeback
Mountain and last year's Milk. But neither film took home
the statue.
Fashion designer turned film director
Ford has said the film has a universal message and should not be
confined to a gay niche.
“It's really a film about love and
isolation that I think all of us feel, so it is very universal,”
Ford said at its Venice premiere. “When I see someone who sees the
film and says, 'It's a gay story,' I don't even know what they are
thinking, it just seems to me a human story.”
Gay Entertainment Report is a feature
of On Top Magazine and can be reached at
ontopmag@ontopmag.com.