"Shame" is an absolutely devastating portrait of a man living with a sexual addiction. It's not a film for the faint of heart and it's not easy to stomach, but it's a very artistic piece of filmmaking that showcases a lead actor and director at their absolute best, and it's a film that has stuck with me more than most others released this year.
The film centers on Brandon (Michael Fassbender), a white-collar New Yorker with a very controlled outward lifestyle. However, as the opening moments of the film clearly reveal, Brandon uses this well-put-together facade to hide a massive addiction to sex in any form. When Brandon's younger sister Sissy (Carey Mulligan) shows up unannounced at his apartment with the intention of staying there indefinitely, he is forced to curtail his behavior, which leads to an increasing buildup of frustration that ultimately leads to the film's devastating climax.
A brief word of caution: "Shame" is a very artistic film; in fact it's one of the most purely artistic films I've seen all year. But it is a film about sex, specifically sexual addiction. It's not pornographic by any means, nor is the sex titillating--or meant to be so--in any way. But director Steve McQueen does not shy away from anything in terms of his display of Brandon's addiction, and the film is absolutely deserving of the NC-17 rating it has received.
That being said, the filmmaking execution on all levels is brilliant, though certainly not flawless. The film's opening moments introduce us to Brandon and his compulsion, but as the film moves along more and more layers of this character are revealed. There is a clear juxtaposition between Brandon and his boss David (James Badge Dale), a man who also seems outwardly sex-obsessed. While David is constantly flirting with women during business outings, Brandon is always calm, cool, and collected. But there's no evidence to suggest that David has any type of serious compulsion, while Brandon, once he gets one of David's would-be conquests alone, is clearly revealed to be the man with the more serious problem. He is also incapable of carrying on any kind of normal romantic relationship, as we see during an awkward dinner date scene and his even more awkward handling of the aftermath. And it's not just that Brandon would rather have sex with high-priced prostitutes than with a woman who clearly has feelings for him, it's that he literally can't bring himself to have any kind of intimate relationship with her. The film's most complex relationship, though, is the one between Brandon and Sissy. These are two siblings who clearly share a very painful past, one which is never fully revealed. There's one particular interpretation which is easy to arrive at, and while it's a simple explanation I almost think it should be discounted just because this is not at all a simple film. The point between these two is that they have both experienced something very painful, and they are both clearly longing for reconciliation. Unfortunately for Brandon, his sexual behavior has become so compulsive that he has become unable to maintain normal human contact, and this clearly pains him all the more as the film progresses.
Clearly Brandon is a complex character, and Fassbender absolutely nails him. His is probably the most fearless performance I've ever seen on film, but there is so much more depth to Brandon than the depth of his depravity. Fassbender captures every nuance perfectly, from the calm, confident man out at a club looking for women to complete and utter anguish and everything in between. It's an absolutely brilliant and compelling performance. Mulligan is also very, very good, though she doesn't have nearly as much to work with as Fassbender does. I've seen Mulligan in a few films now I've always been impressed with her, but this is the first time I've really seen her cut loose emotionally, and she continues to show how incredibly talented she is.
Finally, director and co-writer Steve McQueen must be commended for the sheer audacity it must have taken to pull a film like this off...and also for refusing to cut a single frame of the finished product to make it more palatable to audiences. The film is quite intense, though it does lull for a bit in the middle as Brandon tries to cultivate a more normal life. But the length and awkwardness of some parts of the second act are really appropriate as they mimic the situation the characters are in as Brandon clearly does not know how to have a normal romantic life. But the intensity builds once again towards the film's end, ultimately leading to one of the more devastating climaxes I've seen in recent years.
"Shame" isn't really a film I can recommend, given its very serious subject matter. Film buffs will certainly appreciate the artistry on screen, but no matter how you view it, this is a difficult film to watch. Psychologists may have a whole different view as far as how the film portrays sexual addiction. I can't speak to that end of things, but I can say that "Shame" is an artistically brilliant film that deals with a very difficult subject that is probably far more present in our culture that we might think.
"Shame" is rated NC-17 for some explicit sexual content.
Running time: 101 minutes.
Released domestically on December 2, 2011, by Fox Searchlight Pictures.
3 stars out of 4.
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