Rated
NC-17 (Some Explicit Sexual Content)
Running
Time: 1 Hour & 41 Minutes
Cast-
Michael
Fassbender-Brandon Sullivan
Carey
Mulligan-Sissy Sullivan
James
Badge Dale-David Fisher
Nicole
Beharie-Marianne
Elizabeth
Masucci-Elizabeth
Directed
by Steve McQueen
 |
| Michael Fassbender stars in Steve McQueen's "Shame," one of the best films of 2011. |
Addiction.
Drugs, alcohol, gambling, etc., it matters not what your poison is as the
emotions that all addicts suffer through is universal. It gets to the point
where there is only the addiction as
you spiral out of control into a never-ending cycle of self-hate and loathing
until you are left alone with…shame. You
know to continue is wrong as your compulsive urges have long ceased to grant
you any satisfaction but stopping ultimately becomes a futile effort even if
you desperately wanted to. This is “Shame” in a nutshell, the latest film from
British auteur Steve McQueen which stars Michael Fassbender and Carey Mulligan.
Fassbender has been on quite a roll in recent years, appearing in no less than four films in 2011 including Cary
Fukunaga’s adaptation of the famous 1847 Charlotte Brontë novel “Jane Eyre,”
the Marvel Comics prequel “X-Men First Class,” David Cronenberg’s “A Dangerous
Method” where he plays world-renowned Swiss psychiatrist Carl Jung, and now
“Shame.” Even more impressive is that all
of these films have received critical praise, especially for Fassbender. 2012
looks to be a big year as well as he is set to appear in Steven Soderbergh’s
action-packed “Haywire” in January and the highly anticipated “Prometheus” in
June, a semi-prequel to 1979’s “Alien” with Ridley Scott back at the helm.
Brilliantly shot by McQueen and boasting standout performances from Fassbender
and Mulligan, “Shame” is by far one of the best films of 2011 as it plunges
audiences into a haunting and harrowing character study of a man consumed by
his addiction yet is unable to escape his hellish existence even as his life
begins to fall apart around him.
Brandon Sullivan (Michael Fassbender) is an
attractive, successful businessman in his thirties living in New York City but
he leads an isolated life in a sterile Manhattan apartment and forms no real
connections. Unbeknownst to everyone around him, Brandon suffers from a
debilitating addiction to sex where his daily routine consists of masturbating
at every opportunity, watching violent pornography on his work computer,
interacting with cam girls on his home laptop, and paying for expensive call-girls
in a desperate but futile search for human companionship. Sometimes he accompanies
his married boss David (James Badge Dale) to bars in order to hook up with
women for a one-night stand. Brandon always succeeds with little effort with
his quiet yet suave mannerisms while David comes off too strong and obvious in
his intentions. Brandon arrives home one night to find his troubled sister,
Sissy (Carey Mulligan), a deadbeat jazz singer, with nowhere to go and begging
for a place to stay. He reluctantly lets her live with him at his apartment but
this arrangement soon wrecks havoc on his structured life as he finds himself recklessly
spiraling out of control and plunging into a hell in which he cannot escape
from.
Sex addiction was acknowledged in 1987 as a mental disorder by the
American Psychiatric Association and was defined as ‘distress about a pattern
of repeated sexual conquests or other forms of non-paraphilic sexual addiction,
involving a succession of people who exist only as things to be used’ but this
was removed in 2000 and whether it is an actual disorder has remained up for
debate. It continues to be treated as little more than a joke in films and
television since our brains are hardwired to consider the act of sex and
therefore orgasms as pleasurable but “Shame” treats sex addiction as no
laughing matter. At first the film appears to tell a fairly conventional
narrative but do not be fooled as the film proves the age-old adage that looks
can be deceiving. Set to a haunting melodic score from Harry Escott, the
opening shot shows Michael Fassbender’s Brandon staring blankly at the camera
with the bed sheets rumpled around his bare mid-section. He stands up fully
nude and listens to the voice mail of a woman pleading with him to pick-up the
phone before getting into the shower and masturbating. This routine is intercut
with scenes of Brandon riding the subway to work and staring intently at a
pretty woman (Lucy Walters) sitting across from him. She smiles back and flirts
by slowly crossing her legs but he continues to stare with the same blank
expression from before. The woman leaves when the subway arrives at her stop
but not before subtly flashing her engagement ring at Brandon, who desperately
tries to follow to no avail. He arrives late to work and finds his computer
being hauled away due to a virus infection. Later, Brandon sneaks off into the
men’s bathroom to masturbate again. He ends the night by having sex with an
expensive call-girl and the cycle continues anew the next day. The interesting
thing about these scenes is that very
little is actually said and what is ends up being mundane and ultimately
inconsequential. However, even though Brandon rarely utters a word, his
expression already reveals everything we need to know about him. The opening
shot of Brandon is one of depression on the verge of suicide and even when he
masturbates, his face is absent of any pleasure, only desperation and even pain.
McQueen’s framing is very calculated as he utilizes long takes where his camera
lingers for minutes at a time. He depicts New York City as a place of contrasts
with upscale yet sterile apartments and grimy streets covered with graffiti. It
is a way to symbolize how Brandon presents a clean exterior of normalcy but
hides something ugly deep inside him.
Once Sissy arrives to live with Brandon,
that’s when his life starts to unravel. At first, the film does not even reveal
that she is his sister and we initially assume that they are estranged lovers
given the way they behave around each other until an off-handed comment is made.
The two are unperturbed at seeing each other naked and it is implied that they
suffered a traumatic event in their childhood but McQueen keeps his cards close
to the chest as much is left up to the viewer’s interpretation. Brandon and
Sissy are both troubled individuals desperately looking to make an emotional
connection but the two go about it in different ways with one seeking it from
casual sex and the other by clinging obsessively to anyone who pays attention.
We expect Sissy to help Brandon reach redemption and realize that he is leading
a hollow existence but this is not that type of film where there is a happy
ending. The final third of the film has brother and sister sitting a little too
closely and having a tense argument until Brandon gets up to leave and delivers
an ultimatum: Sissy has to be out of his apartment by the time he comes back.
This is when McQueen delves into darker territory as we find Brandon wandering
the streets looking for relief. He is refused entry into a nightclub and walks
into a dingy gar bar where a man performs fellatio on him. His face is one of
anguish and self-loathing at his addiction. Later, Brandon finds himself in a
threesome with two women but as he reaches orgasm, the release gives him no
satisfaction and it is apparent that he has become a shell of a man. The final
scenes show Brandon displaying at least some measure of care for a human being
but it ends where it began at a fork in the road: on the subway staring into
the eyes of the same attractive woman.
What really makes “Shame” such a
compelling watch are the powerhouse performances from Michael Fassbender and
Carey Mulligan. The two bare not just their bodies but also their souls. Fassbender
succeeds in the incredible feat of making you sympathize with what is
essentially a selfish character and the audience is made to wallow in his
self-hate and loathing with him. The dialogue appears to be improvised but the
most effective scenes are the ones in which he says nothing and this actually
wrings quite a lot of suspense as it feels as if an explosion is about to take
place. Much of the emotion is below the surface; the only time in which
Brandon’s armor cracks is in this powerful moment where he finds himself at a
New York pier and screams in anguish at his suffering. Fassbender has given an
Academy Awards-worthy performance in every sense of the world and I would be really glad if he took home the golden
statuette as no one deserves it more. Carey Mulligan has a less substantial
role as the film is filtered through Brandon’s eyes but she also gives an
amazing performance. Mulligan has this one scene that encapsulates everything
this film is about where she sings Frank Sinatra’s New York, New York and transforms it from a song about celebrating
your dreams into longing and regret. McQueen’s camera focuses on her throughout
the four minutes with occasional cuts to Brandon, who is deeply affected and
even sheds a tear because he knows
what she is going through. The two appear fully nude in several instances
although it is mainly Fassbender. While it is rated NC-17, the nudity is no more
substantial than what you would see in an R-rated film such as David Fincher’s
“The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo” but what did you expect from the MPAA with
its puritanical view of sex? It almost feels as if the consumer/ratings
organization is ashamed, which I find
humorously ironic considering the subject of this review. The sex scenes form
an organic part of the story, functioning as a way to delve into Brandon’s
mindset and are not meant to arouse. I admire the fact that Fox Searchlight
Pictures did not appeal the rating and wore it as a badge of honor.
In limited
release since December 2, 2011, “Shame” has received largely positive reviews
with a solid 79% on Rotten Tomatoes. I must admit I was expecting higher
considering the glowing praise the film has received and continues to receive. Critics
hailed it as ‘a powerful plunge into the mania of addiction affliction.’ The
widest release has been 55 theaters so do not expect an expansion. The film has
grossed $4.4 million worldwide against an estimated $6.5 million production
budget but I doubt a director like McQueen cares about such things. I viewed
the film in the morning and audience attendance was middling at best since this
will only appeal to a very niche group. “Shame” is not a film one enjoys as it’ll
leave you feeling cold and hollow as you leave the theater but it is a powerful
piece of cinema with performances that has rivaled everything I have seen so
far. I have found my best film of 2011.
Final
Rating: 5 out of 5
“We're
not bad people. We just come from a bad place.”
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