Film: Shame
Artist turned director Steve McQueen has again used his muse Michael Fassbender to create another stunning piece of cinema that is both provocative and deeply emotional.
The two previously worked together on the 2008 film Hunger about Bobby Sands and the 1981 hunger strike in Northern Ireland’s Maze prison.
In Shame, McQueen and Fassbender along with Carey Mulligan have created a film that dives into the world of sex addiction and familial inconvenience.
Fassbender plays Brandon, a man in his late 30s who lives alone with a well-established job and a somewhat sterile but expensive apartment.
Underneath the superficialities lies a man addicted to sex and during the film we become introduced to how extensive his compulsion is. It’s compelling to see how intrinsic sex is to Brandon and devastating to see how he conducts himself as it unfolds on the screen.
Guilt and shame plague Brandon’s world, and he feels nothing for anyone until his sister Sissy (Carey Mulligan) arrives. She is dramatic and brings a degree of chaos into Brandon’s life. This conflicts with his tendencies and thus he feels trapped by Sissy’s dependency and his subsequent distaste for her life.
The baggage of the familial past invokes Brandon’s anger and the siblings are never able to be intimate with each other.
What emerges is a deeply emotional film that burrows into Brandon’s character and his loss of control. We discover a man who is inherently vulnerable and scared as he chooses to doubt the validity of relationships and consequently love.
Fassbender is truly incredible as Brandon and is convincing as a man afflicted with a dark side of human emotion. Mulligan might have the supportive role here, but she credibly leaves her mark as the afflicted Sissy.
All in all, this film is brilliant and I will be a fan of McQueen’s in years to come. Brilliant filmmaking, screenplay and performances.
I give it 4.5 out of 5.
101 mins
Rating: R (Nudity and Sex Scenes)
Director: Steve McQueen
Screenplay: Steve McQueen and Abi Morgan
Cast: Michael Fassbender, Carey Mulligan
By Kylan Luke-McKeen, a film reviewer and presenter of Kiss My Arts on JOY94.9.
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