Kishore Kumar
Very often, we have at the centre of our lives a single point which gives us strength and purpose – a dream, an idea, a conviction, a vendetta, a love. This single point remains the pillar of support around which we weave our stories and plan our days. 
And then all of a sudden there comes a moment when the earth around us shakes, and this strong pillar falls down, gets uprooted – a betrayal, a loss, a death. The mansions we built around the pillar collapse, and we are left rummaging through the rubble looking for any remaining shreds of meaning. And we realize there is no meaning in it. Life around us moves on, but we don’t move with it. After such an end, is planning your own death the logical thing to do? Or will something cross your path and give you some impossible hope?
A Single Man is one such story. And what a story it is! It’s based on the novel of the same name by Christopher Isherwood, and is told with such elegance that it captures every emotion involved in such a loss. Dated November 1962, it is the story of one day in the life of an English Professor George at a California University after he lost his companion and partner for 16 years, Jim, to an accident in a snowstorm. The emptiness in his life in the absence of Jim is palpable every moment as he plans his suicide and writes letters of adieu to his friends, including his maid. Through these movements, his life with Jim flashes in front of his eyes. Jim is played by Matthew Goode, and George himself is played by Colin Firth in what is definitely his most moving performance.
Through his day, he has dinner with his longtime female friend Charlotte, meets a stranger called Carlos, a boy from Madrid, and makes friends with one of his students, the handsome Kenny. What follows from the friendship is a lesson in hope. But what will happen after? The Lord works in mysterious ways, indeed. The direction of this movie is top class, with a lot of attention given to the accurate depiction of life in America of the sixties. The photography is very artistic. All these contributions have given this movie a great success. And of course, it is a must watch.
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