2011 Directed by Steve McQueen
Brandon is a New Yorker who shuns intimacy with women but feeds his desires with a compulsive addiction to sex. When his wayward younger sister moves into his apartment stirring memories of their shared painful past, Brandon's insular life spirals out of control.
Michael Fassbender Carey Mulligan James Badge Dale Nicole Beharie Alex Manette Hannah Ware Anna Rose Hopkins Elizabeth Masucci Rachel Farrar Loren Omer Lucy Walters Amy Hargreaves Marta Milans Mari-Ange Ramirez Lauren Tyrrell Jake Siciliano Robert Montano Charisse Bellante Carl Low Calamity Chang Deedee Luxe Wenne Alton Davis
95/100
A wailing and desperate cry of anguish and pain constructed within the leering jungle of NYC, Shame isn't so much a study of sexual addiction as it is a tortuous insight into crumbling relationships of the modern world. In Steve McQueen's film (which is possibly his masterpiece), feelings aren't told or even visualized as much as they're already within the details of the frame. Genuine conversation and aching truth make up every speck of grain from the gorgeous 35mm photography, and the result is a work of unpleasant frankness and harrowing sincerity.
Michael Fassbender is the obvious highlight here, and he's just as incredible, engaging, and unrelentingly sad as you'd expect from him in a role such as this,…
i've never come out of a movie genuinely surprised a character did not fuck their sibling
Film#30 of 'It's June Jim, but not as we know it '
This isn't a film about sex addiction. It's a film about a man torn in half by himself. The addiction is a mere vehicle for an exploration of control, humanity and self destruction.
Fassbender is amazing and easily gives one of the best performances I have seen in a couple of years. He is reprehensible, charming and unbelievably sad. His character, a man desperately running away from himself yet totally dependent on himself, is intriguing. What McQueen is able to do like no other director is to allow us to enter the mind of his characters. He is an observer and that is how he shoots his films,…
Review In A Nutshell:
Arguably, Shame finds director Steve McQueen at its peak, a sophomore opus that blends his arthouse sensibilities with commercial accessibility, a striking balance that never favours the latter over the former, neither condescending nor insulting, bolstered by a performance by Michael Fassbender and Carey Mulligan that never ceases to be striking, constantly soulful in their existence and brimming with stimulation, a bond between siblings that may leave others discomforted, but for others provoked, essential to their characterisation and compelling in their subtleties. Demanding but deeply rewarding, Shame is an unforgettable piece, deliberate in its pacing and casual in its arc, it demonstrates an artistic flourish from McQueen that would seem likely to drift away as he currently finds himself in renowned fame, let us hope he remains true to his roots.
Sex addiction is often seen as a rather silly and trivial addiction, one that celebrities wheel out when their infidelities become public knowledge. Yet in Steve McQueen's second feature it is portrayed as potentially serious, debilitating and life destroying as drug or alcohol addiction. The film is as utterly empty as Brandon's own existence and whilst that may sound like a flaw it really isn't. McQueen puts you in his world and gets under the skin of Brandon's hollow life and ambiguous family backstory. It is odd coming out of a film where you feel so little, normally they aim to heighten emotions not numb them, but it is crucial in understanding the character and the world he inhabits for…
I forgot how breathtaking Carey Mulligan's performance was in this movie, from the signing to the accent. Some of the dialogue in the final act of this movie hit hard with me. The blend of the soundtrack and colouring of the shots felt so beautiful. Ah man, that ending was quite unsettling.
the film has been saddled with “sex addiction” or addiction in general, and while that is a part of Brandon’s life, it feels more to me like a manifestation of a deeper rooted shame. sex is a way for him to stop feeling that. thus, addiction is not the topic.
anyway, this has a lot of Schrader in it. albeit, it’s a more austere package, i can see the thread.
While I thought this was beautifully shot and acted and that the direction was really nice (loved the slow moments in the film like watching the sister sing in the bar, etc), there was too much ambiguity about the characters' motivations or reasoning for me to really get pulled into this movie. I found myself zoning out, unaffected by the things they were going through. Overall not an engaging experience in spite of some stellar points.
É putaria, é mulher... pelada, é mulher... pegando na buceta da outra, é mulher beijando a boca da outra, é omi nu
When we talk about addictions, we primarily think of drug use. Luckily, Shame kicks that notion where many of other filmmakers could have made something trashy and ingenuine.
I’m glad no one else was considered for Brandon because Michael Fassbender’s range is unparalleled. His facial expressions and body language pair perfectly with McQueen’s quiet direction. His scenes with Carey Mulligan, the couch scene in particular, highlight the depression and angst in addiction. We see that he is addicted, then watch his life waste away around him. Nothing has ever saddened me more than the final 20 minutes, to watch Brandon lose everything, then the horrific realization at the final shot.
I wish I had seen this sooner and I wish more films were this detailed and perfect.
Sorry, this review is a work in progress.
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The ghost of good ideas/intentions floats about this film, but despite a strong performance from Fassbender, I found the films execution to be frustratingly misjudged a significant portion of the time. Said misjudgment is not helped by the pretentious use of music and the initial loud shots of Fassbender's swinging mickey.
I'd watch Hunger instead. That film isn't perfect either (it ends up romaticising the IRA and is also guilty of a certain conceptual pretentiousness) but I found it quite affecting, unlike this film.
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