I recently watched Steve McQueen's 2011 film, Shame, expecting a gritty, over-sensual, too-real story, and I got just that. However, it was strikingly intense and gripping, and the performances of the two main actors were incredibly impressive.
The mystery behind Brandon (played by Michael Fassbender) is what made this movie and its theme so intriguing. We never truly learn anything substantial about him. All we come to know is that he has a high-paying job, he was born in Ireland but grew up in New Jersey, and he has a little sister named, Sissy.
Right off the bat, we as the viewers are sucked into the intimacy of the film. Brandon, a handsome successful employee of a job that we precisely never learn about, lies naked in his bed. His face is expressionless, and he lives in a metallic block of an apartment, looking out over New York City. From here, and what I find to be the most impressive scene of the movie, the film continues with Brandon on the subway, on what we can assume to be his daily commute. He catches the eye of an attractive red-headed woman. As the sequence continues where the two appear to be having "eye sex", we are provided with flashbacks to the night before where Brandon fools around with a call girl. The scene finishes in present time with Brandon following the red-head off the train, and he loses her in the crowd. Dejected, he walks away and gets back onto the train. We are instantly pulled into the daily rituals of a sex addict.
Carey Mulligan's performance as Sissy was spectacular. She is actually vulnerable to what people do and say to her; the complete opposite of Brandon. She is spirited and slightly immature, crying over the phone to her ex-boyfriend the first night she stays with Brandon. She enters Brandon's life, leading to conflicts among them and with Brandon's addiction. However, the two have some sort of a bond, shown through their mutual comfort at being naked in front of the other. This bond is shown in a much more heart-warming scene where Sissy performs at a night club Brandon and his boss are drinking at. She sings "New York, New York," and the camera gives us two shots throughout the scene: one a close-up on Sissy, looking out shyly at the audience as she sings; the other on Brandon, trying his very best not to cry. This is the first time we see some sort of emotion out of Brandon, and we become aware just how important Sissy is to him.
Brandon's life takes a downhill plunge with Sissy's appearance. His love for her goes unsaid, and the tension between the two causes him and his sexual urges to reach a new peak. As she sleeps with his married boss, Brandon chooses to go on a midnight run through downtown New York, a beautiful single long take of the city that never sleeps. He chooses to run on a stomach full of cocktails rather than listen to the quiet moans of his little sister; not because hearing it disgusts him but because he is jealous of the sex going on around him that he cannot be a part of.
One other significant relationship Brandon has in the film is with his co-worker, Marianne. We experience their very first date, which seems to go generally well. Again, we are closed-off from Brandon, which may add to his attractiveness from Marianne's perspective. He has no wine preference, no food preference, and says very little about himself. He does not even give an explanation for being late to the date. However, we learn to like Marianne, who has a nice sense of humor, who is independent, and who is endearingly nervous. Nevertheless, the relationship ends as the title of the film would suggest in a surprising scene. And from there, Brandon's night takes a turn for the worst.
The end of the movie gives us a sequence of disturbing events. Some of them include Brandon fighting with Sissy; purposefully hitting on a jealous boyfriend's girl, leading to a punch in the face; sexual relations at a gay club; and then a long scene of a three-way between Brandon and two random call girls. Even after a major accident (I don't want to give anything away) near the end of the film, Brandon sees no change. The movie goes full circle when the end scene has Brandon on the train, and he spots the red-headed girl from the first scene. And again, the two undress each other with their eyes. The rituals begin again. Brandon is continuing his cycle of shame.
Fassbender was great as Brandon and really played the part of a sex addict courageously and realistically. Mulligan, as the supporting actress, did her part well and gave us a sense of dependence throughout that Brandon could never learn to comprehend, even while striving to protect his little sister from the world that she feared so much. The two were fantastic together, and after this movie, it is clear to me how versatile these two actors are.
Shame is a thought-provoking film and touches on subjects that others may be hesitant on touching on. The images onscreen are ones that cannot go unseen, so while some may be turned off by that fact, others may be intrigued. I wholly recommend seeing the film because the entire set-up, editing, and order of events bring us into the daily life of this closed-off man, which allows us to be the most intimate people in his schedule. It is a very compelling film, and even if people are uninterested in the theme, it is worth it just to see Fassbender's and Mulligan's performances.
