The first thing I'd like to say about SHAME is 'wow', that and I'm not at all surprised it received a 7 minute standing ovation after its premiere at Venice Film Festival, because, well, wow.
I'm not sure how I feel about sex addiction, whether I totally believe in it or not, I don't know enough about it really to make the call, but Steve McQueen and Michael Fassbender have swayed me in the direction of believing it's a real possibility.
Not for the prudish or faint hearted SHAME takes a look at Brandon, a troubled New Yorker who has carefully constructed his life so that he may indulge his addiction to sex. His already complex life becomes even more complicated when his equally troubled sister Sissy turns up for an indefinite stay, stirring up memories of their shared troubled past.
I still can't believe that Michael Fassbender did not receive an Oscar nomination for this role, he was absolutely mesmerizing. It might be hard to feel sympathy for a man so well endowed who is always getting laid, but you could see the torment in his eyes every single moment of this film. There was no enjoyment, no fulfillment, no intimacy, no love, just an unrelenting, insatiable, carnal desire.
There is a lot of buzz about The Fass in this film and all of it is deserved, but Carey Mulligan's performance as Sissy was equally disturbing and enthralling. Sissy is the flipside to the seemingly calm and collected Brandon: emotionally unstable, needy and oozing neuroses. I've always been a big fan of Carey's, but I think this is her most standout performance by far. In my opinion she is equally deserving of an Oscar nomination for this performance and her rendition of New York New York will stay with me forever. It was haunting and tormented and said so much about these siblings and their past without saying anything at all.
The camera angles, soundtrack and lighting were all manipulated superbly by Steve McQueen, who is well known for doing what he wants and not giving a damn about whether he makes any money or not. The best scene was where Brandon is on a date and McQueen has set a still camera on a tripod and captured the scene from afar. It really brings you into the restaurant with this couple and has you hanging on every word as they discuss themselves and relationships. Now I'm not a prude and I will say that the majority of the nudity was justified, appropriate and very tastefully handled by McQueen. I did however feel that the first full frontal was a little unnecessary (although I'm not complaining) it didn't really add anything to the story and probably wouldn't detract from it if it wasn't there. It didn't tell you anything about Brandon except that he was sleeping in the nude and seemed a little gratuitous compared with the way nudity was handled in the rest of the film.
The psychology of this film will keep you captivated and enthralled even with it's themes of detachment and isolation. I felt equally drawn to and repulsed by Brandon, but most of all I felt deeply sorry for him. His perfectly calculated life, his attempts to manage his addiction and in the moments where he was losing control I was afraid of what he might do.
If you're not across The Fass, you should do some investigating. Watch HUNGER in particular, and then for something a little easier check him out as Magneto in X-MEN: FIRST CLASS if you haven't already. We're going to be seeing a lot more of him in the future, both in mainstream and art house cinema projects.
I will say this film is not for everyone, it is an art film not a major studio blockbuster, but I loved it and I'm going to give it 5 out of 5. SHAME is a film that is going to stay with me for a while.
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