Steve McQueen
Shame is a hard-hitting drama, dark and brutal, a
master-piece in showing emotions of loneliness, desperation, frustration, all
created around the main character’s sex addiction.
A 2011 British drama from director Steve McQueen, starring
Michael Fassbender and Carey Mulligan, Shame is co-produced by Film4 and
See-Saw Films and has been released for limited screening on 2nd of
December 2011 in the USA. Due to explicit sexual scenes, was rated NC-17 in the
United States and even described as “commercial suicide.” Steve McQueen argues
that “I chose sex because people don’t want to talk about it. Sex has a stigma
that drugs or alcohol no longer have.”(Solomons,Steve McQueen:`I could never make American movies-they like happy endings`)
Steve McQueen, the director, can be said to be a real author,
with the public having a certain degree of expectations from his movies, all
presenting provocative and controversial themes intended to push the viewer out
of his comfort zone into the debate of appartenance and judgment.
Brandon (Michael Fassbender), the main character, is
presented as a successful businessman living in New York. His darkest secret
which is controlling his life is his struggle with sexual addiction. He is
presented in the middle of a lively, intense, crowded Manhattan but still
isolated, he is in control of the material things, but his inner feelings and
thoughts are baffling, in the same time aggressive and caring to his sister. His
character is constructed as a complex personality that will constantly surprise
the audience, while making them to identify and judge the character’s actions
in the same time.
Sissy (Carey Mulligan) is Brandon’s sister and she is
presented in the movie as an obstacle in the addict lifestyle of Brandon. Her character
is constructed thru the debate of innocence and trouble seeking, and mainly
thru the interaction with Brandon. The viewer is confused by the relation
between the two of them that shuffles between anger, companion sense,
understanding, hate, sexual arousal. In some scenes Sissy is shown to be
judging his brother because of his sexual addiction, but in other scenes she is
portrayed to take his place or be his complicit.
The narrative of the movie is simplistic; it can even be
described with no clear, traditional line, but defined as a composition of various
scenes that beautifully form the whole. The conversation is kept to minimal, there are few
intense lines, while the facial expressions, that are captured by numerous of
close ups, tell the story of his obsession. In addition, the soundtrack of the
movie highlights different emotions thru out the movie, being a tool in getting
further inside the viewer’s mind.
One significant scene in the movie is when Sissy talks to
him about the fact that they are family and they are supposed to help each
other, but Brandon wants nothing to do with her because he says all she does is
drag him down. This argument between the two it is seen as the cause of the
madness of events that happen afterwards. Brandon heads out and tries to pick
up a woman at a bar, but ends up beaten up by her boyfriend. Beaten, he tries
to get inside a nightclub, but is denied entrance. He then goes to a gay bar
across the street; a man approaches and kisses him, then has intimate sexual
contact with the man. Next scene presents Brandon entering a hotel with two
women. When he leaves, he sees that Sissy left a voice mail. He is witness to a train
being delayed by an implied suicide further up the tracks. Did she kill herself? What Brandon is going to do? How will the movie finish? Is he going to be "released" of his addiction. This is the thrill of the film.
Shame is not a film for everyone. If offended by sexuality
in movies, or looking for an easy digestive scenario, or maybe something to
kill the time, Shame is not the right movie. Think about Requiem for a Dream,
Drugstore Cowboy, Days of Wine and Roses, they all have appealing names but
sure they made for certain market that are enjoying their themes. Shame is a
combination between art and psychology, playing with the viewer’s curiosity to
see more but also his aversion to the images in front of his eyes.
4.5/5
- Solomons, Jason. (2012). Steve McQueen: 'I could never make American movies – they like happy endings'. Available: http://www.guardian.co.uk/theobserver/2012/jan/08/steve-mcqueen-shame-sex-addiction-interview. Last accessed 12 April 2012.
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