Shame reviews

http://theleou.tumblr.com/post/16068569190/movie-review-shame

Movie Review: Shame

Title: Shame

Director: Steve McQueen

Starring: Michael Fassbender, Carey Mulligan

Year: 2011

Synopsis: Brandon Sullivan is a man in his thirties who lives in New York where, at the eyes of his co-workers and friends, he seems to have a perfectly normal life. In reality, he cultivates a private life made of extremes that allow him to fulfill his sexual addiction. Brandon’s carefully crafted balance is endangered when his sister Sissy visits him unexpectedly.

Review: Breakout actor of 2011 Michael Fassbender (X-Men: First Class, A Dangerous Method, Jane Eyre) coronates the year with one of the rawest and boldest movies in recent cinema. In a time where films often address difficult issues and themes in a light and glossy way (as much as The Help was a great movie, unfortunately it was an example of that), it’s refreshing to see someone have the balls (literally, actually) to portray such a realistic representation of something that is a taboo subject to prudes most people: sexual addiction. If you guys have seen Fassbender’s previous effort with director McQueen, Hunger, you know that pretty much nothing is left to your imagination here: the sex is raw and explicit, Michael and Carey go full frontal and towards the end there’s something pretty graphic that i won’t spoil for you (i wish blogs all over the net had not spoilt it for me, either). Don’t let those things fool you and think this is just another movie where the nudity of its stars is gratuitious and only serves as a bait to make people buy tickets. This right here is the journey inside the life and the mind of a man whose precious and secret routine is broken and invaded. A man who managed to completely separate the sexual act from emotions towards the partner, and is now paying the concequences of that. All of that is depicted in the most flawless and glorious way. Needless to say, Michael proves himself to be one of the actors to watch cause he’s phenomenal (Golden Globe nomination totally deserved and hopefully he will get one at the Oscars too) and Carey pleasantly surprised me by playing something completely different from what we are used to see her as. While these 2 basically carry the whole movie by themselves, director Steve McQueen deserves praise for his slick and stylish direction of something that could have easily been trashy in the wrong hands. After all, he co-wrote the script aswell. It’s amazing how he managed to never give a full background of how Brandon got to develop this addiction, but still make the viewer feel satisfied with what he was given because of how the subplot of the unhealthy (and shady?) relationship with the sister was developed. Another great thing is how the movie was edited and how they gave it a reasonable length (little more than 90 minutes). It may seem unimportant but i recently found myself wishing some movies, even though great, were a little more compact, tighter and shorter (Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy comes to mind). The top notch soundtrack does nothing but enhanche the experience to a whole other level, proving to be essential but very effective when needed. I genuinely recommend to watch this movie and to keep following the work of up and coming director McQueen whose first 2 entries in the world of cinema proved to be consistently brilliant. Cheers to that.

Verdict: 9/10
Posted January 18, 2012 at 1:12pm in Shame Review

bluebird-sky:
"We're not bad people... We just come from a bad place."

Shame.

Michael Fassbender. Carey Mulligan. An incredible movie… deserves every accolade it’s been getting. Steve McQueen is a brilliant director when it comes to the composition of his films. So poignant. Films that make you think are always the best kind.

yubyubninja:
Just Watched Shame

Even though it was in Italian and so I missed a good majority of the dialogue, just the images and raw emotion in this film were so insanely powerful. Like, I know everyone is talking about the explicity sex in this film, and yes, there is alot of explicit sex (though it didn’t get as explicit as I thought an NC17 film would until the last 10 minutes). This film was something you could feel: there was a raw intensity to everything that was being shown, it just touched something off. It’s more than a film about sex, it’s a film about human nature, addiction, self-destruction, and more. Now, if only I can see it in English…

monsterfulloftrash:
Michael Fassbender- Shame
Brendan Gleeson- The GuardWoody Harrelson- Rampart
Ewan McGregor- BeginnersPeter Mullan- TyrannosaurMichael Shannon- Take Shelter

BEST ACTOR-

WINNER

MICHAEL FASSBENDER- Shame- absolutely devastating. He brilliantly captures addiction, a cycle of compulsion and regret, a self-aware person who may not be able to overcome his weakness (side note- Best p**** award also goes to Mr. Fassbender, i mean GOOD GOD. Also, great in X-Men and Jane Eyre, and not terrible in a Dangerous Method)

NOMINEES-

BRENDAN GLEESON- The Guard- a great comedic actor, Gleeson plays this very dry and very honestly. He never feels cartoonish, which could happen easily with this character

WOODY HARRELSON- Rampart- a fascinating breakdown, this man believes his own lies and knows no other way to solve his problems than violence.

EWAN McGREGOR- Beginners- perhaps the most overlooked performance of the year, McGregor takes on an incredibly complex role and makes it look easy

PETER MULLAN- Tyrannosaur- another great breakdown of a man. Mullan achieves the hard exterior while letting the viewer see what’s really going on beneath.

MICHAEL SHANNON- Take Shelter- is he crazy or isn’t he? Shannon plays this subtly making it so much more effective.

FINALISTS-

if the award were cutest performance, the winner would most def be Jean DuJardin- The Artist, Ryan Gosling is the definition of bad ass in Drive, Tom Cullen and Chris New nail difficult characters that complement each other beautifully in Weekend, Hamish Linklater surprises with some incredibly endearing moments in The Future, and Gary Oldman soars above what i believe to be the very average Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy

beebsandthings:
Shame...

So I just went to see Shame.

Hmmm. I don’t know. It’s not really a film I warmed to. I got it, but I didn’t love it. I can see why it will gain much awards buzz, but I don’t see it winning much (well… not in the US).

I’ll say that the strange accents were more distracting than the full frontal nudity.

Make of that what you will!

littlewolfbitch:

365 films #1 Shame (2011, McQueen)

Utterly beautiful cinematography (including compellingly realistic five-minute takes as though McQueen is crafting a documentary rather than a portrait of his protagonist’s life) and a grim, muted look to the colouring allows for a stark, borderline horrifying portrayal of Brandon (Michael Fassbender) and his struggle with sex addiction as he finds himself trapped and alienated in his own apartment and the busy but ever claustrophobic streets of New York. A brilliant performance from Fassbender focused largely on his physical communication with the people and the world around him - both sexually and otherwise - is complemented by Carey Mulligan’s sweet-faced, loud-mouthed and dependent Sissy.

hatwasdramatic:

Finally saw Shame and wow. Just wow. What a fantastic film. Steve McQueen is amazing and Fassy… I’ve seen The Artist; Moneyball and Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy and Jean Dujardin, Brad Pitt and Gary Oldman were all pretty incredible. But Michael Fassbender just takes it to a completely different level. And I swear I’m not just saying that because we’ll marry someday. After a few minutes I even forgot about my inappropriate crush on him and just focused on that incredible piece of acting. I’ll definitely see it again, even though it’s a really hard film to watch.

And since George Clooney already said it, I can say it too: Fassy is amazing in every sense. Let’s leave it at that.

By the way, those hands have held mine. Just saying.

laughtoerasethedirtonyourmind:

image

Film 30: Shame (2011)

I’ll probably know better how I feel about this tomorrow - it’s one of those movies that can take their time to digest - but right now I’d say it fell a little short of my expectations. Though I can’t fault acting for that, as both Fassbender and Mulligan were very, very good (the latter in particular). I guess I expected the film to be a bit more… layered? Hmmm, not sure, it’s hard to pinpoint what I feel was lacking here.

Rating: 7.5-8/10

mattemerymusic:

I go to the cinema every monday night and last night went to see the film Shame. I’m not sure what I thought of the film, it was certainly shot beautifully and the acting and actors (Michael Fassbender & Carey Mulligan) were brilliant, the story is about a chap called Brandon who is a sex addict, and the films around Brandon his life and urges (and his sister). Anyway The reason of this blog was to post about the music, the score was ace, and features this absolute stunner of a piece by Harry Escott titled ‘Brandon’ its featured twice in the film and sent shivers down my spine when accompanied with the story. #Powerful

quantum-drinks:

So I thought, why not do a post with all my emotional vomit regarding the film “Shame”

How ashamed does Brandon Sullivan (a staggering, shimmering Michael Fassbender) (Fassy wat waaat) actually feels? A battle for his soul being fought in every shot, and he doesn’t know if he is winning or losing. But he is surviving. Determined to be more than his own man, run half of Manhattan and built up defenses when his sister in having loud, drunken sex in his room. Wanting to rip his skin off because he is so terrified to touch her, to feel anything, because god only knows what it might be.

Is Sissy aware of this? Is she consciously forcing herself on Brandon to make him face the demons and come out victorious? She hates herself, but in coming to terms with that she becomes more free than Brandon can aspire to be at this point. Sissy sees heaven and inferno inside her and lets herself sink. Brandon cannot even venture a glance, not yet anyways; he is just desperately trying not to die. Sissy has stopped trying so hard; she owns herself a bit more, she is ready for the outcome, whatever it may be. When she sings to New York is not without hope, but without despair; dreams might always be welcome, but she is above them now that she has found the path to the darkest regions of herself.

Brandon wants nothing but to keep this evasion of his own self going for as long as he can, but, like every other method, it ceases to be enough. The numbness becomes unbearable; he’s left naked, looking into an enhancer mirror. Desperation finally creeps all over, his mind gives up because thinking always lead to the same corner of his soul where there seems to be no air. Leaving him so fragments he cannot even wrap his arms around him.

Could he feel what Sissy was planning on doing? Did he, for even a moment, though that, once she were gone, he might find himself a bit relieved, a bit more free? Denying this would be denying his human condition. He rushes to her, and in doing so, he recognizes he cannot extirpate suffering from his life, rather make part of it; one of the most legit parts of himself. He sees what he is, what he might become, and flinches and it’s sickening, but he keeps going forward, and in doing so, he might just have taken the first step to reach the next level.

keithpence:
Shame.

In Shame, Michael Fassbender poignantly portrays a sex addict, Brandon, who’s life quickly begins to unravel when his sister, Sissy (played by Carey Mulligan) moves in with Brandon for an indefinite stay. Very few movies impacted me the way Shame did, with the last two being A Single Man and Crash. After people like Tiger Woods brought the term “sex addict” to mainstream knowledge, people began to see the addiction as a laughable thing that wasn’t a “real” addiction. Addictions aren’t necessarily substance based and Brandon helps us understand that fact. Director Steve McQueen, a true artist at heart, gives a beautiful depiction of a repulsive and vile addiction. The sex scenes, while high in number, are undoubtedly necessary for the viewer to understand the depth of the despair Brandon feels. From the masturbating in the work bathroom to the emotionless sex under a freeway underpass - one can see deeply into the perturbed mind of Brandon. Throughout the movie, one empathizes with Brandon, although he is deeply grotesque and haunting character. You feel for the lack of emotion Brandon possess, stemming from his constant desire to be alone and away from pure human contact. It’s extremely troubling to watch someone struggling to maintain an emotional connection with someone that they want to be connected with. It hurts you as the viewer. In the end, Michael Fassbender and Steve McQueen do an exquisite job in helping the general public understand what it’s like to be disturbed by a sex addiction. I highly recommend seeing this film if you are of age.

elektrikmayhem:

Shame was beautiful but upsetting. Any chronicle of true addiction, in any form, is heartbreaking and saddening. But the movie is worth seeing, I believe, just be prepared to feel that sinking feeling in your heart.

rdjserenity:
Watched: Shame..

First i was like..

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And then clothes started coming off

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And then i was like Michael Fassbender

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Then things got sad and intense and i was like

image

image

But overall the movie was just amazing, i will admit at first i watched it with the intention of seeing Michael Fassbender flaunt his sexy nakedness. However his acting and his protrayal of the character makes you forget about him being naked, and Carey Mulligan is amazing i loved her character.It is an intense and brilliant movie.

I highly recommend it however do not watch this movie with your mother or father or anyone just watch it alone otherwise it will be awkward and cringe worthy but seriously it’s a must watch…

deaddollsdontcry:
Shame

I feel bad for not having written anything about it yet, but you know… The Golden Globes and so on.

Last Night I went to see it.
I have to admit I was a bit worried at first because when it comes to see such movies I need to feel in the right mood, but since convincing my friends to watch something in particular is always a pain in the ass and since this time they said it was ok.. do the math

What can I say? This movie is tremendous and also very heartbreaking.
Apart from the fact that ok it’s Michael Fassbender and blah blah blah I love him, omg naked Fassy (and you can say what you want, I don’t care) he showed me once again what an amazing actor he is! You got to have the guts to shoot certain scenes and he did it!
It’s one of those I like to call punch-in-the-belly-movies, one of those once you get out from the movie theater that make you feel numb. I was expecting it, but it’s the kind of movies I love the most.
Well done Fassy! and well done Carey Mulligan too! She was awesome!!!

Both Brandon and Sissy are two sides of the same coin, but a broken one.
She’s the sensitive one, he’s the aloof one and at some point they have to learn how to take care of each other. He’s longing to feel something while instead she just feels rejected.

One of my fave scenes was at the pianobar where Sissy sang “New York, New York” it was devastating. She’s so good!

I think now it might be time for me to see Hunger (I know.. I suck, but Steve McQueen always gave me the feeling that I had to feel utterly happy before watching one of his movies)

on a side note: one of the things I hate the most is people being cunts using their mobile phones during the whole movie. Well thank goodness this wasn’t the case, but it was even worse.. We weren’t so many, which is normal because in this crappy country movies like this are considered too “mental” and god knows if people have to switch on their brains during a movie… lord have mercy. But let me say I just wanted to set people on fire last night because since the very beginning till the end of the movie I heard people (mostly grown men) laughing.. CONGRATS, YOU’RE 5!

the guy next to me at the end stood up in order to put on his jacket, turned to his friend and said “WHAT A CRAPPY MOVIE…” and the other one behind me “WOW… WE WENT TO SEE A PORN”

seriously? I know everyone needs have opinions, but sometimes I wonder if people actually read plots before buying tickets. it just makes me sad..

http://pooryorickproductions.wordpress.com/2012/01/17/i-want-to-wake-up-in-a-city-that-never-sleeps/

I want to wake up, in a city that never sleeps

17 martedì gen 2012

Posted by william dollace in cinema, efferato, come indossare la notte

≈ 2 commenti

Tag

blues, carey mulligan, Cinema, frank sinatra, Harry Escott, I want to wake up in a city that never sleeps, michael fassbender, New York, New York New York, shame, steve mcqueen

New York New York, Frank Sinatra

Start spreadin’ the news, I’m leavin’ today
I want to be a part of it
New York, New York
These vagabond shoes, are longing to stray
Right through the very heart of it
New York, New York

I want to wake up, in a city that never sleeps
And find I’m king of the hill
Top of the heap

These little town blues, are melting away
I’ll make a brand new start of it
In old New York
If I can make it there, I’ll make it anywhere
It’s up to you, New York..New York

New York…New York
I want to wake up, in a city that never sleeps
And find I’m A number one, top of the list
King of the hill, A number one….

These little town blues, are melting away
I’ll make a brand new start of it
In old New York
If I can make it there, I’ll make it anywhere
It’s up to you, New York..New York New York

Imponente trattato luciferino sull’urbanistica notturna dell’animo umano, pelle d’oca che scorre vibrante già dal folgorante incipit che indugia su una mappa di nervi e muscoli e subito dopo sul duetto immobile di sguardi metropolitani che scandagliano l’anima sessuata sotto scacco che siamo, duetto che si ripete durante la pellicola e si muta in duetto di sguardi fra lo spettatore e New York, fra lo spettatore e il Grande Schermo, fra lo spettatore e gli occhi sbarrati di Michael Fassbender e le lacrime nascoste di una disperazione ancora troppo umana dove non c’è elogio imperante del Vuoto perché Vuoto non è, ma la rappresentazione dell’essenza stessa s/categorizzata che lasciamo su ogni metro di marciapiede, in ogni porta sbattuta, a ogni svolta sudata, in ogni sciacquone tirato, in ogni messaggio di segreteria ascoltato, in ogni eiaculazione mancata, in ogni abbraccio negato, e l’imponenza notturna di Lei, New York, ferma e appiedata eppure in movimento tratteggiata, colta e spiata dal serpeggiare della macchina da presa che la fissa implacabile sulla retina impotente e sulle occhiaie delle feritorie come finestre di palazzi anneriti dietro le quali si consumano solitudini in disparte e solo in parte accese, dal calpestio sonoro che annuncia l’onnipresente equilibrio visivamente umanamente materico di un cinema che funziona al buio, sotto il fuoco semaforico di un cielo colabrodo a pioggia, mischiato con le lacrime.

http://singitallnight.tumblr.com/post/15978769324/i-saw-shame-today

17 Jan 2:33
1 week ago
I saw Shame today

Beware, spoilers ahead!

I don’t have the vocabulary or skills to describe this movie, but I’ll try nonetheless.

First of all, let’s just get this out of the way. I’d heard countless people gushing about the constant full frontal scenes throughout the movie and I mean seriously, the scenes were barely there. I don’t even think there was a full minute of his d*** on the screen. I’m not complaining either way, the amount fit the movie. But I’ve seen more dicks just watching Finnish dramas on TV during the day.

Now to the actual movie… absolutely stunning. I had really high expectations and I was still blown away. Michael Fassbender’s performance was just that - a powerful performance embodying Brandon Sullivan in all his pain and desperation. The rest of the cast was perfect as well; Nicole Beharie as the charming Marianne, James Badge Dale as the disgusting boss and last but certainly not least Carey Mulligan as Sissy.

I haven’t seen many of Carey’s movies but based on just this role, she is extremely talented. The sadness and need in her voice each time she left Brandon a message was something that got to me, along with her rendition of New York, New York.

I have to mention the score. The score. It kept my hopeless feelings bubbling right at the surface through the whole movie, even when I wanted a break to breathe. The same music that was used in the trailer was my favorite; it was heard throughout the movie and each time was just as haunting as the last.

Needless to say, the star of Shame is Michael Fassbender. He made Brandon come alive and made me sympathize with the character more than I would have even wanted to. I found myself living the scenes with him - feeling the suffocation as time went by, trembling when he held Sissy in the bathroom, certainly crying over him more than he did himself. I also felt like my thoughts were his. Each time he’d break down and give in to his addiction, I’d plead in my head “Don’t do this, fight it, please don’t do this”, and I can only imagine that he was thinking the same as well.

My favorite scene, or part of a scene, had to be the threesome; particularly Sissy’s voice echoing through it and then Brandon’s f#%@#&! heartbreaking face at the end of it. It showed how truly unhappy and broken he really is, even while getting his fix. How there really was not a moment during the day when he was honestly happy or at peace with himself.

There was very little dialogue in the movie but it actually worked in its favor. You got to focus more on the nuances in body language and expressions on the characters’ faces. And it gave you the space to let your own thoughts pour into the scenes and in a way, make the movie your own.

Shame is not a movie that I’ll easily get over, nor do I want to. I don’t know that I’ll ever be able to watch it again as it was brutal, to put it simply.

Michael deserves all of the recognition he’s been getting from this role because he was perfect in it. Honestly sickeningly perfect.

http://www.flickfilosopher.com/blog/2012/01/shame_review.html

Shame (review)

Shame Michael Fassbender

Unsexy and the City

Brandon Sullivan is living the dream! Great job in New York City, fantastic apartment in Manhattan, a different beautiful woman in his bed every night. He must be the envy of every hotblooded man, mustn’t he?

This is that movie about sex addiction you’ve heard so much about. This is the movie in which Michael Fassbender (Haywire, X-Men: First Class) goes full-frontal -- oh, come on, you’ve heard about that, too. These things are not shocking. What is shocking about Shame is the male vulnerability, the male weakness, the abject male misery we see onscreen. Movies simply don’t do this. Movies protect the male ego, even to the point of -- at least in the United States, thanks to the MPAA’s retrograde puritanism -- decreeing that male nudity is much more scandalous and is to be treated much more seriously than female nudity, which may be treated casually. (A p****? Onscreen? Why, men might feel inadequate! Unless said p**** is somehow comically small. That’s okay! Male egos remain intact!) (Warning: Fassbender’s nudity may bruise some male egos.) Male dignity is something that the status quo -- in Hollywood and in the larger culture -- works very hard to maintain in the same way that it does not do for women.

And Steve McQueen (Hunger, also with Fassbender) and screenwriter Abi Morgan (Tsunami: The Aftermath) -- a lady Abi, it’s probably worth noting; she knows what it’s like to not have one’s dignity valued -- strip all that away to lay out the bare, spare truth: what pop culture typically feeds us as “ordinary” male sexuality is probably worthy of a psychiatric diagnosis. Men think about sex nonstop! Men will f&#! anything with a pulse! This is the reality of Brandon’s life... and he is wretchedly unhappy with it. The startling opening image of the film is Brandon lying in bed, staring unblinkingly at the ceiling, into the camera. He doesn’t move. He might be dead. He is dead, we come to see, on the inside. He is a slave to his physicality, in no different a way than if he was addicted to, say, picking his nose. Yeah, sure, that sounds gross... Shame makes a life of nonstop orgasm look gross. Look appalling. Brandon doesn’t enjoy sex -- when he tries to make love to a lovely coworker (Nicole Beharie: American Violet) with whom he’s just had an actual grownup date, he can’t get an erection; he’s dumbfounded by how gentle and tender she is. Sex, for Brandon, is quick, rough, nasty, and anonymous. It’s an act, in the broadest sense of the word -- a physical behavior but also a sort of performance -- that he’s compelled to engage in over and over again. With strangers. To Internet porn. By himself in the restroom at work.

(Note that I am not suggesting that all men are sex addicts. I’m saying that our culture colludes to create an image of men as slaves to sex, and that that’s not true... because if it were, all men would be like Brandon. And they’re not.)

“Brandon, where are you?” his sister Sissy sing-songs on his answering machine. It’s a good question. He’s lost. He lives in constant terror of his secret being discovered. His elegant exterior hides his torment, but he gets that deer-in-the-headlights look so often: “I find you disgusting,” barks his boss (James Badge Dale: The Conspirator, The Departed) in a meeting, and Brandon is rocked with startlement... but it’s just the asshole boss’s idea of a pep talk to his team. (We never learn precisely what sort of work Brandon does. It doesn’t matter -- it’s not important to even his own central idea of who he is.)

And then Sissy (Carey Mulligan: Drive, Never Let Me Go) shows up at his door. She’s a mess of her own kind -- she has boundary issues, for one thing -- and she needs a place to stay. She shatters his terrible stasis. Is it merely her presence in his space, physical and mental, that interrupts his regular obeisance to his compulsion? Or is it that she’s a woman, so close, whom he’s not supposed to want, but finds himself thinking of sexually anyway? Shame is never clear on this. It doesn’t need to be.

Lest I haven’t been clear, this is not a porno. The sex isn’t any more graphic than what we see in lots of other movies. If what’s actually depicted onscreen is worthy of an NC-17 rating in the U.S., then many many more films should be rating the same. (In the U.K., the equivalent rating of 18 is used far more often than the NC-17 is, so the point would seem to be moot on this side of the Atlantic.) I’m not suggesting this film is for children -- of course it isn’t. But it would seem that the only “problem” with this movie, when compared to much of Hollywood’s output -- and hence why it garnered the NC-17 rating -- is that it actually deals with the ramifications of what it depicts. The veneer of our cultural fantasies has been ripped away. You have been warned.

Did I say that movies protect male dignity? Well, there is the subgenre of the humiliation comedy, in which we’re meant to laugh at male misery precisely because it is laid so bare: it’s (supposedly) funny when men are weak and beat-up-upon. But that’s just a way of protecting male egos, too: a dude is invited to laugh at the man who is treated like he’s a woman, weak and exposed. Brandon’s nakedness here -- and I don’t mean his physical nakedness, either -- is shocking partly because McQueen is so very very compassionate about it. Shame is as economical a film as you will see, with not one wasted moment in it: yet McQueen takes the time to show us Brandon holding a door for a woman pushing a baby stroller. Brandon is a nice person. He is a good person. He is not a monster. He’s just really, really f&%$#& up. “We’re not bad people,” Sissy comforts him at one point. “We just come from a bad place.” We don’t learn what that bad place is, but really: Shame, for all its disquieting specificity about Brandon’s particular problem, is about all of us, and the secrets we keep, and the secrets we’re terrified others will learn about us.

projectorreview:
Shame: Selfish, Cold and Composed

★★★★☆

Michael Fassbender and director Steve McQueen’s second feature together is a difficult one to look at. Like his debut Hunger, Shame hangs about the screen, cold and stark, each frame meticulously composed and static and, where his main concern first time around was hunger striker Bobby Sands deprivation, this time around McQueen takes a long hard stare at a successful man’s addiction to sex.

Play write Abbi Morgan’s tremendous script (she also penned this months The Iron Lady) and Sean Bobbit’s orange and blue hued camera work follows Brandon (Fassbender) a successful Manhattanite, whose life is consumed, threatened and numbed by sex, masturbation and pornography. Prostitutes and ever intensifying images of sex have left him afraid and unable to have a true and caring relationship with nearly everyone but his laddish work mates. When his world is intruded by his younger sister, Sissy (Carey Mulligan) Brandon’s worry and (erm…) the shame of his addiction starts to near the surface.

Both Fassbender and Mulligan’s performances are spot on. Fassbenders face (and every other part of him) being in nearly every frame certainly holds up for the duration of the film and Mulligan’s big sweet presence is as clumsy, worrying and adorable as ever. Though Sissy’s not without her problems either McQueen doesn’t attempt to judge their parents or even their past and turns Shame and it’s intensity inwards offering little or no conclusion for Brandon. It is in fact nakedly and almost wholly a film about a drowning man.

Thankfully there are a few moments of hope to not let it be totally suffocating, especially in a beautifully acted dinner date scene in which Brandon tries to reach out for someone in a genuine way. It has to be said that although McQueen’s half-hearted glance towards any redemption for Brandon is faint at least it’s in there somewhere. Or is it?

alicethomasss:

Shame;

Before I start, I haven’t seen ‘Hunger’ (yet) so I can’t comment on whether McQueen’s work is better or worse, or will I be able to compare Fassbender’s performance in both. Okay, so I a lot of words you will hear attached to this film are ‘raw’ and ‘gritty’, which are two words I hate being associated with a film, but they describe Shame pretty well. Definitely not a light watch, or one for the family. The relationship between Fassbender and Mulligan’s characters is bizarre yet fascinating, and it seems as if the film barely scrapes the surface between the pair. There was some great cinematography in this, New York was certainly the perfect setting. Although you’re engaged, I felt the pace was slightly slow (except the last 10 minutes) whether this works in it’s favour I’m unsure, I found the scene when Brendan is dating a co-worker particularly awkward, but I felt it worked brilliantly.

It’s been a couple days since I’ve seen this and I’m still toying with how I feel about it. When I came out of the screening I felt as if something was missing from it. I don’t know whether I love that I hate it or hate that I love it. I urge people to watch it, stick to an opinion and let me know it.

jonathaneprice:
Film Review: Shame

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Shame is British Director Steve McQueen’s latest film, a powerfully bleak and unremitting film about sex addiction.

Brandon Sullivan played by (now award winning) Michael Fassbender is an Ad Man of Irish heritage, living and working in New York City. He is struggling with his secret of sex addiction and we follow his daily ritual facilitating his addiction through hookers, porn and casual sex. The arrival of his vulnerable singing and self-harming sister Sissy, played by Carey Mulligan, turns up out of the blue at his flat; disrupts his ritual and challenges his lifestyle.

It’s a film about sex that isn’t sexy, a tall order for any filmmaker. Gritty and somewhat lawless New York, creates a fast paced backdrop to his hectic lifestyle, which contrasts to the controlled pace of the cinematography. McQueen’s signature style of holding long shots, exposes you to scenes and sequences that may make you turn away before the camera cuts.

Brandon is unable to relate to someone he genuinely cares for – this is shown when he takes a colleague out on an uncomfortable dinner date, which anyone can somewhat relate to. They eat, drink and talk comfortably in one another’s company after an awkward start. It’s the following events of this impulse relationship that shows Brandon’s inability to relate with women in any way, other than sex and that he can’t have sex with anyone he has feelings for. He rectifies this with a quick call to a hooker to get his fix.

Meanwhile, Sissy starts to get gigs at midtown cocktail bars. Brandon and his cocky boss go to one of her performances one night. She sings a slow jazz version of ‘New York, New York’, ironically. Here McQueen exercises his long shots as we see the two siblings connect for the first time. The performance shows the vulnerability of his sister as she stands in front a large crowd. It’s the only time that you see any empathy and emotion from Brandon as he looks on at his sister, while a tear rolls down his face. However, this performance creates some common ground between the two. Brandon continues to spiral out of control as Sissy cries for help as she struggles psychologically.

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Both McQueen and Abi Morgan, the co-writer (notable work of The Iron Lady and BBC 2’s The Hour) originally planned for the film to be set in London, but sex addiction wasn’t/isn’t medically recognised to the extent they required. They were unable to meet with diagnosed addicts in order to carry out the necessary research.

The American film licensing organisation gave Shame an NC-17 rating. It’s not a rap group but a classification of their x rated films. To say I enjoyed it would perhaps be the wrong word, due to context, not content. McQueen said ‘it’s like the blues, it hurts so good – it’s beautiful but sad’. This seems fair.

British filmmaking of the highest standard, go see it but not with the kids. Alternatively, Hugo 3D is playing in cinemas nationwide.

chasegerke:

This film is the most phenomenal piece of Cinematic Artwork I have seen in a long, long time. “Shame” is captivating in every way imaginable, all the way from the outstanding, brave performances given by both Michael Fassbender and Carey Mulligan, to the astonishing cinematography, scores and overall genuine “feel” of the film.

“★★★★”

flipittv:
Shame Review

When I was a child I was in awe of movies,

Shame, directed by British artist Steve McQueen and written by McQueen and Abi Morgan stars Michael Fassbender as Brandon Sullivan, a thirty something New Yorker whose life is consumed by his sexual addiction, quiet literally affecting all areas of his life, but while his addiction encompasses every facet of his livelihood he struggles on holding down a relatively successful job which affords him a good lifestyle. Brandon’s life is unceremoniously turned upside down when his younger sister Sissy Sullivan played by Carey Mulligan enters the fore.

Shame Review

Shame, directed by British artist Steve McQueen and written by McQueen and Abi Morgan stars Michael Fassbender as Brandon Sullivan, a thirty something New Yorker whose life is consumed by his sexual addiction, quiet literally affecting all areas of his life, but while his addiction encompasses every facet of his livelihood he struggles on holding down a relatively successful job which affords him a good lifestyle. Brandon’s life is unceremoniously turned upside down when his younger sister Sissy Sullivan played by Carey Mulligan enters the fore.

The films time scale is one of the very immediate, nothing from our characters past is revealed to us, we are left to uncover who these people are from how they act in the scenes in front of us. Within the opening minutes of the scene we are introduced to Brandon, a sex addict well into the depths of his addiction and while it might appear to us, the viewer, an unnerving concept for a drama film, it is very clear from the onset this is the norm for the central character, he walks around his apartment naked, masturbates regularly, hires prostitutes casually and appears to watch pornography at every available moment. The character of Sissy is introduced very near to the beginning of the film also who attempts to reach out to her brother via the telephone to no avail. Brandon appreciates his hermit lifestyle, clearly opting out of the complications of the prying eyes of other people, especially that from a frayed relationship with his sister. Once Sissy’s character is introduced further Brandon’s life is torn apart. He is unable to cope with the stress that Sissy introduces to his and it is evident in a very moving scene where the character of Sissy sings New York, New York made famous by Frank Sinatra in 1979, but here the song takes on a more stripped back and emotional meaning, a longing for something new an escape from the past and this is when we realize these characters have a shared past that has affected their lifestyles and character developments in completely different ways. Brandon a world on insular dwelling, fear, shame and an inability to love, Sissy’s that of longing for love, affection and a sense of safety and warmth. From here Brandon comes to terms with his own affliction and tries his hardest changes his ways even asking a colleague out on a date which is wonderfully realistic in its awkward silences, fantastic pacing and even comic styling’s but can Brandon turn his life around and rid himself of his internal shame or will his sordid history and lifelong affliction best him yet again.

When I was kid growing up films were purely about escapist entertainment. I wanted to see explosions, I wanted to hear one liners, I wanted to see the cool kid that skateboarded be sent back in time… and as I said to a friend recently, from time to time, I still like to see these things, especially the last one but as I grew older and I was given a true revelation, the true realization of what cinema can do, it can educate, it can enthral and it can emotional move you and this is what Shame accomplishes in every way shape and form. This is a film that will open your eyes to the world of addiction and not only sexual addiction but addiction as a problem, see how the affliction effects the life of the addict, its all encompassing nature but not only the world of addiction. While at the fore this film is about a sex addict, that of the central character of Brandon Sullivan as the film goes on we become increasingly aware of a deep and dark past in both of our characters, one that is never discussed but only touched on and this is the true triumph of Shame, that which is implied but never spoken of. To be given an intense idea of the life of these characters, both Brandon and Sissy, but not to be given any details, the mind wonders and the audience is left guessing what could have gone on between or too these characters that left them in the emotional state that we are introduced to them. Small hints are given throughout but nothing is said up front, small revelations might be that they are both originally from Ireland but moved over to Jersey during the teenage years, nothing much in that you might think but that added to the scene where Sissy sings New York New York to a clearly emotional Brandon alludes to an escape which they both vie for. Due to Brandon’s sexual burden and Sissy’s opposite reaction to that of longing for attention and love one might make possible allusions to sexual abuse in early childhood. Also, while Sissy longs for family contact and Brandon shows nothing but distain at the idea one cannot help but think about the parental upbringing of these characters but not one mention is made to the parents of these individuals so the mind might be make allusions that way. Again it is in what is felt but not said where this film succeed in touching an audience, this film will stay with the viewer long beyond an initial viewing, you want to know more about these characters but given that the film is set in the immediate here and now we will never get that information and as such we are left to guess and that is what film should strive for, not to turn your brain off for an hour and a half but to think about the complex world around us, the multifaceted characters that shape our surroundings, it should question, probe and invite you to realize that nothing is so simple as 1 + 1 = 2, life is never so easy as that.

While I felt that this whole film was a feast for the brain, in relation to the overall style of it, while completely competent and in no way weak, it was nothing so spectacular. McQueen’s previous film Hunger in 2008 had a much more stylistic trend running throughout with shallow focus close ups and an interesting foreshadowing shot introduction which I had thought interesting and expected something similar as it was a stylistic choice. I discussed this topic with some friends of mine after the screening of Shame and both speculated that given that Hunger was such a contained film, one of which had to follow historical accuracies and also the setting of a prison and also the pace of script, that of a slow minimal dialogue and heavy detail base, it might have invited the director to think of shots structure and visual composition in a different light. Shame is a big film, not fast by any means but the story is told with such precision that it was possible it was necessary for it to be shot in a straightforward way. Please do not misinterpret this, the film is well shot by any standards and several shots caught my eye but in my opinion much more could be said for McQueen’s previous film Hunger with regards to a stylish visual feel.

The acting in Shame too is triumphant with Carey Mulligan portrayal of Sissy is pitch perfect. She has an air of familiarity about her, as if we all know a Sissy attention seeking and on the immediate extrovert but really on the inside frail and longing for love. Fassbender’s Brandon too is brilliant. He holds the entire movie and is a character of deep complexity and certainly one to ponder on again the restaurant date scene stick out for sheer realism and enjoyment.

All in all this film is powerful beyond reckoning, it is a film with such intensity that for quiet some time afterwards I, and my friends who had gone to the screening with me, were literally left in silent contemplation. I did not know how I felt about what I had seen, it was big and it was moving but it was tough and it was something you would have to be prepared for. Like McQueen’s last film, Hunger, this is a film that might only take one viewing. Once you ingest it you are a changed person if only for the powerful mind set it bestows upon its audience. I certainly won’t be rushing out to see it again but that is not to say that it is bad. I would highly recommend a viewing of this film, immerse yourself in the harsh reality of the human condition and be forever in the knowledge that people are fragile and immensely complex beings.

By Cian Hennigar

plagueofinsects:

In New York City, Brandon’s carefully cultivated private life — which allows him to indulge his sexual addiction — is disrupted when his sister Sissy arrives unannounced for an indefinite stay.

I went and saw this straight after I had seen The Darkest Hour, I also saw this on the day of release. The cinema was full of a lot of people much older than me. Michael Fassbender has to be one of my favourite actors. I’ve seen him in a lot of films recently, and he’s been so likeable in all of them. In this film he is so likeable even though he is playing a sex addict, just how he acts there is something so likeable about him. I know a lot of people have been going on about Michael Fassbender’s p**** in this film, and yes you do see it, and yes it is very big! Ok now we’ve got that out of the way I’ll get on to the review. This is a film that is very different, a film that really stands out. Michael Fassbender betrays his character really well! Carey Mulligan who plays Michael Fassbender’s sister Sissy is really good as well! All the acting is brilliant, it’s such a well shot film. The storyline is brilliant, well written script, and it’s a very enjoyable film. Around near the end there’s some shocking scenes, and you start to see things go downhill for Michael Fassbender’s character Brandon and he sort of goes off the rails. But Michael Fassbender pulled his character off so well and I can see him winning awards for this. A brilliant film and a must see. It’s a very moving film, and it catches your attention. One film that is definitely going to stand out for me this year!

10/10

fun-family:
Shame.

It is rare that I leave a film feeling completely engulfed in what I was watching. I am usually distracted by certain elements that feel out of place or rushed, bad writing or obvious plot lines.

But as I began to play catch-up with what I imagine will be the oscar contenders this year (although the actual nomination list won’t be out until next week), I am beyond excited to have found a film that I can say I love whole-heartedly.

I initially wanted to see “Shame” because I believe Michael Fassbender is one of the greatest actors out there today, and I thought even if the movie was terrible at least I’d get to watch him for two hours (and let’s face it, he’s very handsome). Also, the cast features the very talented Carey Mulligan, who’s career I’ve been following ever since I saw her in ‘An Education”. (She also recently starred in “Drive”.) And finally, the trailer features very intriguing cinematography.

Well, if you haven’t already guessed it, the movie offered everything I hoped it would. The acting in this film is the driving force behind all of it’s success. Really, Mulligan and Fassbender are infatuating. They are raw and broken and so beautiful together. If you watch them both in other films then see them in this you can tell how much they are submerged in their characters. It’s really so wonderful.

The way the film is shot is also unconventional, which I anticipated, but not to the extent that it was done. There entire pieces of dialogue that are single frames from behind the characters, but it works. It makes the audience a spectator to the strangeness of the relationship between Mulligan and Fassbender’s characters. If you see the film it’s definitely important to watch for shot choices.

And lastly, to make this a little brief because otherwise I may never stop talking, the story shows so much more than it tells. The writing only gives you clues, it never fully explains what’s happening because all the pieces are there if you pay close enough attention to put it all together. It’s not a mystery, mind you, it’s not even much of a puzzle, it’s as if you’re getting to know these people for two hours. A person wouldn’t walk up to you and say “hello I am a sex addict etc etc”, just like this movie doesn’t just hand you information.

I recommend this movie to anyone who doesn’t laugh at the word p****. Unfortunately, many people in the theater thought a man masturbating was just LOL hilarious, but it’s not. There are moments where you might smile, sure, but it’s not a comedy by any means. If you ever feel compelled to laugh just ask yourself what the character is feeling, because there may only be one point in the entire film where he’s feeling anything worth smiling at.

See this movie. It’s really great, and I’m sure others will disagree, but to hell with them this is my blog.

Have a great night