"Shame", a new film by British director and screenwriter Steve McQueen tells the story of a troubled young man struggling with himself in a big city. Brandon is in his mid-thirties. He has a boring but probably pretty safe job in some office, the nature of his work not being relevant. He's a lonely guy. The only two persons in his life are his sister, who comes from out of town with no place to stay and is as troubled as he is, and his wife-cheating boss, who gets drunk and sleeps with his sister. Brandon is a sex addict. He spends every available moment masturbating or having sex with whomever he can. The problem is he doesn't enjoy it. It's a pain and torture to him, almost as if he's punishing himself for something.
As you can see it's a very simple plot and the movie avoids any kind of exaggeration in depicting it. It's deemed controversial because of its many sex scenes and some probably consider it vulgar and excessive because of that, but the sex is necessary to tell the story and the movie is one of the most realistic that I've ever seen. What director concentrates on are the thoughts and emotions of the characters (mostly Brandon and his sister Sissy) and that's what carries the movie and keeps you involved. McQueen has done a great job both directing and writing this movie. He has provided the actors with an opportunity to display all their skill and they've done it masterfully. Both Michael Fassbender as Brandon and Carey Mulligan as Sissy gave fantastic performances, with their faces as the main tool for expressing all the sadness, fear, anger and loneliness of their characters. That can especially be seen when Sissy sings a melancholy version of "New York, New York" or when Brandon has sex with two women near the end of the movie (this scene even gives a feeling of horror). The other few actors that are appearing in the movie do a good job, but the emphasis is on Mulligan's and especially Fassbender's performance.
Beside the work done by McQueen, Fassbender and Mulligan, there are two more important elements which make the film as good as it is. Sean Bobbitt's cinematography makes a fantastic job showing us loneliness and despair of the main characters through every frame, and Harry Escott's music evokes the sadness and melancholy which make us feel their pain and empathize with them. I should also point out the scenes of sex which are greatly filmed and yet lack the ability to arouse. Instead, they just deepen the prevailing feeling of hopelessness.
Whoever talks about this movie points out Brandon as a sex addict. I'm not sure what would be a definition of a sex addict but I think there's something else we should focus out attention to here. At one point Brandon goes on a date with his colleague Marianne. A proper first date with walking, dinner, talk about relationships and a promise of a second one. It's the only time we see Brandon genuinely having fun. I think he's even happy and looking forward to the second date. But when it comes, all is ruined. Brandon can't have sex with Marianne. He can't get his penis hard which causes him to break and he lets her go. Here is revealed his inability to establish a normal relationship. Is it a consequence of his sex addiction or maybe a cause of it we don't know, but it's the most tragic thing about him.
The title "Shame" is ambiguous, showing us all the complexity of the movie within itself. There is disgrace in Brandon's way of life, embarrassment he feels about it, and pity we feel for him. But there is even more to it. Because it's not just about Brandon. It's about all of us, trying to escape from our troubles in all the wrong ways and losing ourselves in the process, which seems to happen more often as time goes by. And that really is a shame.
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