Shame
The film follows Brandon (Michael Fassbender), a
young thirty-something, living in New York City and working as a
successful advertising executive. While Brandon is successful in his
work, he is a Rather reserved man, who seemingly has no close friends.
He also hides a secret addiction to sex. His secret life becomes
affected as his estranged sister, Sissy (Carey Mulligan) makes an
unannounced visit. His life slowly begins to spiral out of control as
her disruptive presence and need for connection pushes his need to feed
his secret addiction to much darker places as he tries to distance
himself from her.
Fassbender as Brandon has an almost quiet
desperation. He needs to satisfy his addiction numerous times, on a
daily basis. He can be a man of few words, but you see everything in his
face and his expressions. At times he’s like a junkie who needs his next
fix, sometimes wherever he can get it. He is no different to anyone who
is drug or alcohol dependent, though in his case, his dependency is sex,
but when it comes to any form of intimacy or connection, with someone
that he actually likes, he struggles to perform. He is a man who is
completely consumed and controlled by his addiction and Fassbender plays
him amazingly. Though Brandon is quite reserved through the film, we
seem to know almost everything he is thinking and that is all due to our
films lead, who has been on a meteoric rise with one amazing performance
after another, film after film.
Mulligan gives another impressive performance with
Shame. She plays Brandon’s younger sister, Sissy - a fragile
wandering musician with no real place to call her own, moving from town
to town, gig after gig and coming to New York City to reconnect with her
brother, but also because she has nowhere else to go, after breaking up
with her boyfriend. Sissy is a girl just trying to find somewhere to
belong in the world - following her passion and wanting love, connection
and acceptance from somebody and we get those things from family,
right? She also gives us the films most beautiful scene with a very sad
rendition of New York, New York.
Director, Steve McQueen handles the film well and
deals with the topic of sexual addiction head on - giving us a very real
portrayal of what is shown in the film as an incredibly destructive and
serious vice to be afflicted with. While the film isn’t perfect, it
comes close, albeit with a few stumbles along the way and due to the
films (at times, quite graphic) subject matter, it’s a film that a good
deal of people may avoid, or watch through hearing great word of mouth
about it.
Shame is a film with a dark subject matter,
which we all wouldn‘t want to admit an interest in watching. It’s sad
and at times quite confronting, but it’s a film with a phenomenal lead
performance from Michael Fassbender, which alone is worth watching this
critically acclaimed film that will be a highlight in his film resume
for years and years to come.
