Shame (2011); drama film review

Poster artwork for the drama film Shame.

Secret Shame by Linh

Shame is the second collaborative effort between director and writer Steve McQueen and Michael Fassbender, following their first critically acclaimed film Hunger. Shame deals with aspects of the human condition, and depicts how a sex addict copes with his condition amid the continual bombardment of sexualisation of the material world, while navigating through life’s relationships with colleagues, family and strangers. The main character suffers from sex addiction and the ‘shame’ in the film’s title refers to the main character’s feeling of self-loathing and shame of what he has done, of not being able to cope with his condition and the inability to stop the urges.

SIMPLY SOCIALISING: Sissy (Carey Mulligan) flirts with David (James Badge Dale) while her brother Brandon (Michael Fassbender) watches disapprovingly in the film Shame. Image:Film4, Transmission Films.

Brandon Sullivan (Michael Fassbender) is a successful and single businessman in New York who suffers from sex addiction and hides it from others. He pays prostitutes and randomly picks up women in bars for sex at his apartment. His well-structured life of sexual activities to feed his addiction is disrupted when his wayward and estranged sister Sissy (Carey Mulligan) unexpectedly appears and stays at his apartment for a while. 

Both siblings are similar in that they have problems with intimacy in relationships. It’s how they deal with pain that makes them different. Brandon avoids intimacy because his condition renders him unable to become intimate with someone on an emotional level. His sexual activities are purely to relieve his addiction and he feels most at ease engaging in sexual intercourse with strangers than with someone he knows. Sissy is extroverted, carefree, seeks attention and the need to be loved. Her lack of intimacy leads her to self-harm. For Sissy, pain becomes her pleasure, while for Brandon, pleasure relieves his pain.

PRIVATE PORN: Brandon (Michael Fassbender) watches pornography on his laptop to feed his sex addiction in the film Shame. Image: Film4, Transmission Films.

Michael Fassbender (A Dangerous Method, Prometheus) is equally brilliant in Shame as he was in Hunger and brings a compelling quality to Brandon in his performance. Fassbender provides the pathos to make Brandon believable and likeable, and his understanding of a character whose addiction is partly fed by the ‘sex-sells’ world we live in is evident in his performance. As sex is so readily accessible, available online and used in advertising for everyday consumption, Brandon feels it normalises his addiction in some ways, but also makes his addiction more debilitating.

Carey Mulligan (Drive, The Great Gatsby) is excellent as Sissy whose beautiful rendition of the song ‘New York, New York’ in the film hints at her character’s need for love and sense of belonging as much as her wish to start life anew. Mulligan is enigmatic and provocative as Sissy in her scenes with Fassbender and her performance shows she is capable of tackling other more profound, character-driven roles in the future. 

Other notable performances include Nicole Beharie who is wonderful as Brandon’s office colleague Marianne, whose close friendship with Brandon develops into a romance and brings another side of his addiction to the surface; James Badge Dale is fabulous as David, Brandon’s boss and beer buddy, who discovers that excessive amounts of sexually explicit, hardcore pornography caused a virus on Brandon’s work computer.

CLOSE CONNECTION: Brandon (Michael Fassbender) develops a romantic interest in Marianne (Nicole Beharie) in the film Shame. Image: Film4, Transmission Films.

Shame is another cinematic gem from director Steve McQueen, but the subject matter, adult themes and nudity may deter or be unsuitable for some audiences. The film requires the viewer to think about the characters’ motivations and to reflect upon them after the final credits roll. The sex scenes in Shame are explicit but necessary as they depict the need for Brandon to relieve his urges just as a film with drug scenes show alleviation of anxiety for a drug addict. It would be a shame to miss this film.

Shame Featurette-The Story Film Trailer (courtesy of Fox Searchlight):

Director: Steve McQueen

Writers: Abi Morgan, Steve McQueen

Cast: Michael Fassbender, Carey Mulligan, James Badge Dale, Nicole Beharie, Elizabeth Masucci, Rachel Farrar, Loren Omer, Lauren Tyrrell, Robert Montano, Marta Milans, Hannah Ware, Alex Manette, Carl Low, Charisse Ballante, Calamity Chang, Amy Hargreaves, Anna Rose Hopkins, DeeDee  Luxe, Wenne Alton Davis, Lucy Walters, Stanley Mathis, Mari-Ange Ramirez

Producers: Tessa Ross, Robert Walak, Peter Hampden, Tim Haslam, Iain Canning, Emile Sherman, Bergen Swanson

Cinematographer: Sean Bobbitt (Director of Photography)

Original Music Composer: Harry Escott

Film Editor: Joe Walker

Production: Judy Becker (Production Designer), Charles Kulsziski (Art Director), Heather Loeffler (Set Decorator)

Running Time: 1 hour and 40 minutes