Cast your minds back to the Oscars (seems like an awfully long time ago doesn’t it?). You may have read various articles on various film-ey websites about reactions to the nominees. If you did it’s highly likely they mentioned the film I am writing about today, many said Michael Fassbender should have received a best actor nomination if not the award itself. Here’s what I thought of ‘Shame’.
Michael Fassbender plays Brandon, a 30 something has a high-powered job (possibly in advertising although it’s never really clarified) and is suffering with sex addiction. Brandon hires prostitutes, has many one-night stands, uses online sex chats and utilises many other outlets for his addiction until one day his sister Sissy (Carey Mulligan) needs somewhere to live and decides to crash in his flat. The film follows his life and the tragedy of being afflicted with an addiction.
One of the things I like about ‘Shame’ (and there are many) is that it portrays sex addiction as a ‘proper illness’. Whilst drug addiction has (to some extent) been accepted as something that needs medical treatment, sex addiction has not been afforded the same level of understanding. I’ve seen it emblazoned across the T-shirts of lads heading to 18-30’s holiday destinations and whenever some poor celebrity gets checked into rehab on account of sex addiction, it’s always commented on as if it’s not as deserving of sympathy as, say, an addiction to heroin. What ‘Shame’ does is show sex addiction as something that isn’t exciting or enjoyable; it’s something that is debilitating, all-consuming and deeply sad.
This is the second collaboration between Fassbender and Artist turned Director, Steve McQueen. I’ve never seen any of McQueen’s art-work so I can’t comment on it but I think filmmaking is his calling. What surprised me about ‘Shame’ was how tense it is. Throughout you’re sat praying that Brandon will get better, that he’ll have some kind of redemption in a way that had my heart in my mouth for a great deal of the film.
It’s such a wonderful looking film. Forgive me while I get a bit geeky but a lot of ‘Shame’ is comprised of long takes where the camera doesn’t cut away, it moves with the characters, most memorably a shot where camera tracks alongside Brandon as he runs across the blocks of Manhattan. In anyone else’s hands that scene would be boring but with McQueen it becomes so much more. I can’t put my finger on what makes these long takes so special but McQueen injects so much emotion into these simple shots you’d be forgiven for thinking he was a magician.
Unsurprisingly for a film about sex addiction there is a lot of nudity and some very graphic sex scenes. This may put some people off but I was ok with it and I’m not a lover of gratuitous nakedness. The sex scenes serve to illustrate the overwhelming bleakness of Brandon’s addiction; they’re never sexy or hot, they don’t even seem particularly fun.
McQueen has his skills as a filmmaker reflected in the two lead actors. I very much doubt that Mulligan and Fassbender would have been able to give such stripped down (in every sense of the phrase) performances without his support.
Mulligan plays against her usual type of ‘shy, English rose’ and instead makes Sissy a brash, loud, fractured individual. She’s heartbreaking.
Fassbender turns out another tour de force. I think if an actor gives one performance of this level during his career, he’s done well, for Fassbender to have films like ‘Shame’ and ‘Hunger’ under his belt already…it’s nothing short of extraordinary. He is consistently on the money and gives the same amount of passion and conviction whether he’s playing an Irish republican Prisioner, a Mutant with a bucket on his head, a Swiss psychiatrist or the Byronic hero of a Brontë novel. I adore him and in ‘Shame’ he is an absolute revelation.
I had been waiting to see ‘Shame’ for months before it was finally shown at the brilliant Warwick Arts Centre. It was everything I could have hoped; absorbing, tragic, mesmeric and searingly honest. Be under no illusions, it’s not an easy watch, but sometimes you need to see something like this to remind yourself of how powerful cinema can be.
That’s enough seriousness for one day. I think we need some…
Reasons to be cheerful :-)
1. New Dark knight rises trailer (there are some pretty awesome photos in that link too!). I have been rather neglectful of the Caped Crusader’s latest cinematic outing, for this I can only apologise, I’ve been terribly distracted by other Superhero shaped offerings (more of which next time), but this certainly made me pay attention to the final instalment of Chris Nolan’s Batman trilogy :-)
2. New 'The Amazing Spider-Man' trailer! Lots of superhero trailers today isn’t it? Not that I’m complaining! Why would I when I have Andrew Garfield’s lovely visage to look at! This makes me a bit more comfortable with the idea of a reboot so soon after the Sam Raimi trilogy. The initial trailers were a bit dark and gloomy but this one has more of a sense of humour which is what Spiderman should be about. I approve!
3. It's been revealed (WARNING – THIS LINK CONTAINS SPOILERS) who Benedict Cumberbatch will be playing in J.J Abrams follow up to 'Star Trek'. I won’t write it on here just in case you don’t want to know but all I will say is that I am VERY excited :-)
That’ll do for today. Hold on to your hats people because next time… Avengers will Assemble!
Goodbye till next time :-)
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