Period movies to anticipate and savour

As we approach the film awards season (quality dramas and dramatic red -carpet gowns - hurrah!) the buzz about Tom Ford's first film A Single Man continues to grow louder and louder. In particular film types are tipping Colin Firth's performance as Oscar worthy which is very exciting (I do love him). I checked out the trailer online and its a work of art unto itself. The strings, the art direction and it features some always thrilling night swimming.



Tom Ford has assembled an amazing cast for his film. I adore Julianne Moore; she would have to be one of my favourite actresses and the fact that she hasn't won an Oscar already is almost criminal. Her body of work is seriously impressive. A Single Man is set in 1962 and, as you would expect in a film directed by a fashion designer, the costuming and make-up looks impeccable. Julianne is no stranger to period dramas, having appeared in The End of the Affair and The Hours, but I especially love the look and feel of Far From Heaven, set in the 1950's and inspired by director Douglas Sirk's films from that period. I'm a big Douglas Sirk fan and in Far From Heaven you can draw parallels between Julianne's character Cathy's relationship with her gardener and the romantic relationship in All That Heaven Allows. I've blogged about that film before, but if you haven't seen it and you are a romance and vintage fashion fan, it is seriously worth seeking out on DVD. Plus it stars Rock Hudson as the crazy handsome leading man.

Meanwhile here are a few stills from Far From Heaven. I think I need to revisit this flick soon. Plus I can't tell you how excited I was to read that Julianne has been cast in an adaptation of a Alice Munro short story, Hateship, Friendship, Courtship. Alice Munro is one of my all time favourite writers and the last film adaptation of one of her short stories produced Away From Her, a truly beautiful, moving film.