First, I would like to state that most film and television reviews consist of commentary on the characters performances, visual pleasure, displeasure, and, of course, the climax. Basically, the whole package! Second, given the nature of Shame a film about a depressive man, his impressive member (Classic Clooney himself even commented on it at the 2012 Golden Globe Awards) and his sex addiction, this review, while using the normal criticisms, will probably seem littered with innuendos. In summary, Shame starts out raw and intense but soon loses luster and leaves the film with an unsatisfactory climax. Yup, that’s what I said!
Shame, as previously stated, is a film that explores sex addiction. The story revolves around the main character of Brandon Sullivan (Michael Fassbender). Brandon is a seed of Ireland living in New York City. He is a handsome and established businessman living in a great apartment with amazing views of the concrete jungle outside. Also, Brandon likes sex, and I mean a lot of sex. However, Brandon likes sex in a way that no mentally stable person could like sex. He is an addict with hard drives, closets, memories, and thoughts full of incriminating material. He hires prostitutes, literally chases attractive women out of the subway, and when his is out of options, he visits gay bars. Yes, he is out of control and it is sad to see since people do really suffer from this that many other people, even critics, say isn’t a legitimate addiction, just indulgence.
There are an abundance of sex scenes and full frontal nudity (both male and female). However, Shame is in no way a sexy movie. It is a dark and depressing movie, even frightening at times. When Brandon attempts to attract a taken woman in bar later in the film, he lacks charm and exudes creepiness; but he still manages to draw her in (I guess good looking people never need to use charm?) It is a very chilling scene. He knows he is heading down a dark path and he is disgusted with himself. It gets to the point where he cannot, how you say, ‘rise to the occasion’ when he is with a female coworker that he genuinely likes. When he seems content with being at his worst, Brandon’s life gets turned even more upside down when his mentally unstable sister, Sissy (Carey Mulligan), stops by to visit for a few days. Suddenly, he is not able to have his ‘alone time.’ His personal and professional life are interrupted by the needy, broken hearted, Sissy. They fight their way through a very confusing sibling relationship. Just her presence reminds him that he is a bad man. She even attempts to reassure him by saying, “We aren’t bad people, we just come from a bad place.” I think this is one of the better lines in the film because it opens up that can of worms; Where did they come from? Why are they so messed up? Were they sexually abused? Neglected? Those questions, however, are never answered. Not even touch upon. This is where I feel the film fails.
This film marks the second time Fassbender has worked with director, Steve McQueen. No, not the late Bullitt or the Cooler King. This Steve McQueen is the British filmmaker whose mainstream film debut was the impressive Hunger (2008), also starring Mr. Fassbender. That film examined the hunger strike of the Irish Republicans at a prison in Northern Ireland. McQueen, who is new on the directing scene (Shame is his second major piece of work), seems to have found his niche; raw, gritty, and depressing with Fassbender as his muse. It is a good match. McQueen is talented because he uses techniques that can make his films feel very real. He includes an abundance of continuous shots of dialogue between two people (consider it a much less pretentious version of the Tarantino long shots). The slight stutters and mistakes from the actors seem natural and unscripted. There is a scene in Shame where Carey Mulligan serenades a crowd in a slow and haunting rendition of “New York, New York.” The camera cuts to Brandon shedding a a depressing tear. This scene was shot in real time, the actors emotions very real and unrehearsed. These are just a few examples where McQueen shines as a director. Where he fails, to me at least, is being able to complete a story in a satisfying way.
It would be very cliche to end Shame with Brandon changing his wayward ways, Sissy finding herself, and them establishing a better relationship with each other. However, the story could have answered the question about where these messed up siblings truly come from. They seem ashamed of their past and each other. They also seem to have bizarre boundary issues; including being naked in front of one another quite a bit. Don’t worry, there is no incest. In the end, I would have been more pleased with the film to know why these characters were so messed up. When the film ends, there just wasn’t any sort of resolution to work with. There wasn’t enough material to keep me guessing as to what will happen to the characters. It just ends. Not quite like the Sopranos series finale, but along the same lines.
I was highly impressed the casting. I have high hopes for Fassbender as an actor. He was nominated for a Golden Globe for this performance. Although, I wouldn’t consider this performance in Shame Oscar worthy, not really a fault of his, he does have the talent and intensity to do great things with any role he is given. He has a good resume to his name. In my opinion, he was one of the more watchable, albeit short-lived, characters in Inglorious Basterds, only after Christoph Waltz, of course. He turned the comic book villain of Magneto into an enigmatic and vengeful, and suave bad boy with a wardrobe straight out of a JCrew catalog. And, I am sure all movie fans remember the ‘fight in the shade’ line he muttered in 300. Next, he will appear in the highly anticipated Prometheus. Carey Mulligan is also very talented. Some of her best work includs the lead roles in An Education and the beautiful Never Let Me Go. She will appear this year in the Baz Luhrman adaptation of The Great Gatsby.
In summary, I was impressed with the idea, the film techniques, and the characters of Shame. The storyline just failed to impress me. I guess I just had higher hopes for the whole package... Giggidy!
An awesome review I found through Spill: http://my.spill.com/profiles/blogs/shame-audio-review
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