Shame (2011)

Has a good reputation among critics and film-buffs, but I thought this was duller than dullsville on a dull tuesday.

Fassbender has got to be one of the most overrated actors in recent times. He's got a distinctive look and his eyes pierces through the screen I'll give him that. And a well-sized johnson (as proven on numorous ocassions here) but other than that he's fairly mediocre.

Shame is nothing short of a masterpiece: every shot tells a story.

SYNOPSIS: (from Google)
Successful and handsome New Yorker Brandon (Michael Fassbender) seems to live an ordinary life, but he hides a terrible secret behind his mask of normalcy: Brandon is a sex addict. His constant need for gratification numbs him to just about everything else. But, when Sissy (Carey Mulligan), Brandon's needy sister, unexpectedly blows into town, crashes at his apartment and invades his privacy, Brandon is finally forced to confront his addiction head-on.

REVIEW:

I'm certain Shame will always be my personal favorite McQueen film. McQueen tells a story with the camera and with the voice.

McQueen brought on Sean Bobbitt as cinematographer for this amazing project and Bobbitt does not disappoint. Together they craft some of the most revealing and beautiful scenes in recent cinema. The lighting for this movie (also headed by Bobbitt), aids in the visual storytelling.

Abi Morgan and McQueen's script really shines, bringing Brandon's addiction further into the light.

Harry Escott's haunting score will never leave your brain after you see this film. Escott's use of both classical and original pieces bring the film together.

Michael Fassbender gives a stunning performance as Brandon, one moment he's casually strolling about, the next he's acting on his most basic impulses, and the next he's yelling at his sister. Carey Mulligan gave a great supporting role next to Fassbender as well. Both are given several scenes to shine.

The film uses its NC-17 rating to its fullest extent, yet none of the sex feels sensationalized. It's all very real and most of the time almost disturbing to watch. McQueen delivers the entire story very artistically, including the sex scenes, which many directors could have messed up. This makes the film as a whole flow better. The movie portrays sex addiction (and addiction in general) in a very real way, while everyone is different we all feel shame after we've gotten our fix, and sometimes we'll do anything to get that fix.

Perhaps I’m just desensitised to sex, and stories about sex, but for the most part the regular sight of a naked Michael Fassbender shagging, showering and/or wanking did nothing for me. His “Brandon” is a New York office worker who is obsessed about sex and who works in a team of permanently horny men led by his married but odiouly indiscreet boss “Fisher” (James Badge Dale) who also has a lot in common with a rabbit. “Brandon” has no problem attracting women, or paying for their services, until his sister “Sissy” (Carey Mulligan) arrives for a visit. He’d ignored her calls for days hoping she’d just go away, but he’d also forgotten that she had keys to his apartment - and once ensconced, she was in no rush to go anywhere. Obviously, this curtails his life of inflagrante delicto, and so things become a little more awkward, risky even, as he has to improvise. “Sissy”, meantime, take an altogether different approach to sex. She sees it as more of an act of intimacy with a partner where just knowing his name isn’t actually a sign of commitment. The question is: will he turn her into him, or might she prevail and make this leopard change it’s spots? There are a few quite potent points presented here, not least a fairly devastating critique on a modern, disposable, society. Sex for “Brandon” is just a form of entertainment. It means nothing to him and most likely to the vast majority of his partners, and to be fair to Fassbender he quite successfully brings a certain detachment to his bedroom activities. In many ways he symbolises whole generations of social media types whose best friends are folks they only know online and whose sexual experiences are either digital or transactional. It’s a film about the ultimate commitment-phobe. Mulligan injects some colour into his monochrome life, and it’s clear that she is there to suggest that some sort of emotional connection is as sexy as the sex, but even her role is unnecessarily sexualised - I felt, anyway, and her dialogue banal. It’s a slightly less seedy version of a “Fifty Shades…” book that presents many urban-dwelling humans as little better than insects venturing from their nests in the morning for the mundanities of their day then heading home for some food, some breeding and some sleep. I got the message quite early and just lost interest, sorry.