We've heard a lot about sex addiction over the past couple of years thanks to a few celebrities that will remain nameless.After they were exposed for their indiscretions, we've seen them cry or talk about how sorry they were while blaming their infidelities on this addiction.I was a skeptic when it came to these people claiming sexual addiction, but some people seem to legitimately have this problem.In the film Shame, we get to see what this addiction might be like for people who might actually be dealing with this.In Shame, Brandon Sullivan (Michael Fassbender) is a 30-something year old who is living the life that he wants to in New York City.He has a good job, he lives alone and he gets to have emotionless sex with countless women.That's all great for him, but he has two problems to deal with.His estranged sister Sissy (Carey Mulligan) comes back to town and needs a place to stay for a while and he's also a sex addict.Once his sister moves in, things go out of whack for Sullivan and he slowly, but surely begins to lose control of his carefully constructed life.I was hesitant to see this movie at first, because of its NC-17 rating.I thought they would probably show some parts of the male anatomy, but I was just hoping they wouldn't show any male crotch shots.I finally went to go see it and I'm happy to say that they didn't show any of those shots.In reality, Shame wasn't even as graphic as I thought it was going to be.There were probably only one or two scenes that really went over what you'd usually see in a film and one of those was done in a very artistic manner.While sexual addiction gets most of the attention in this film, much of the focus in Shame was also put on other things that were just as important.Brandon's addiction is also compounded by his emotional issues and his severe lack of social skills.His interactions with other people throughout the film are tense and uncomfortable at times and it makes for great viewing.The purpose of those scenes appear to be a way of showing just how out of touch he is due to his flaws and his inability/unwillingness to change them.Some of his most awkward interactions come from his dealings with his sister.The relationship between them is a damaged one and they never really explain why.Like most of his other relationships, it's tense and there's an obvious wall in between them that Brandon refuses to take down.As I said earlier, they never tell you why they are like this, but you can also say that not knowing their family's back story adds to the suspense.Those emotional and social deficiencies are the real draws to me.Director Steve McQueen makes those issues even more pronounced by making the city of New York more of a reflection of Brandon's empty and isolated life.It's cool how he sucks the life out of the Big Apple in this film.It doesn't give us a view of an entire city, but a world according to Brandon.I think this approach puts an emphasis on the true feelings of the main character and makes them hard to ignore.McQueen forgoes sensationalism and instead bases his main character's addictions in the realm of realism and substance.Using this method allows Shame to maintain its credibility when showing things that can be viewed as touchy and sensitive subjects.Michael Fassbender was excellent at putting all of what needs to be seen on display and turning his role into what appears to be an accurate depiction of a man with emotional problems, sexual addictions and a certain level of anti-social behavior.Their abilities and the performance of Carey Mulligan gives this film exactly what it needs to tell its story properly.Score. 3.5/5.Rating. NC-17.Director. Steve McQueen.Cast. Michael Fassbender Carey Mulligan Nicole Beharie James Badge Dale Hannah Ware Elizabeth Masucci.Film Length. 99 minutes.Release Date. December 2, 2011 (U.S.) January 13, 2012 (U.K.).Distributors. Fox Searchlight Pictures (U.S.) Momentum Pictures (U.K.).
Monday, September 24, 2012
Review: Shame (2011)
We've heard a lot about sex addiction over the past couple of years thanks to a few celebrities that will remain nameless.After they were exposed for their indiscretions, we've seen them cry or talk about how sorry they were while blaming their infidelities on this addiction.I was a skeptic when it came to these people claiming sexual addiction, but some people seem to legitimately have this problem.In the film Shame, we get to see what this addiction might be like for people who might actually be dealing with this.In Shame, Brandon Sullivan (Michael Fassbender) is a 30-something year old who is living the life that he wants to in New York City.He has a good job, he lives alone and he gets to have emotionless sex with countless women.That's all great for him, but he has two problems to deal with.His estranged sister Sissy (Carey Mulligan) comes back to town and needs a place to stay for a while and he's also a sex addict.Once his sister moves in, things go out of whack for Sullivan and he slowly, but surely begins to lose control of his carefully constructed life.I was hesitant to see this movie at first, because of its NC-17 rating.I thought they would probably show some parts of the male anatomy, but I was just hoping they wouldn't show any male crotch shots.I finally went to go see it and I'm happy to say that they didn't show any of those shots.In reality, Shame wasn't even as graphic as I thought it was going to be.There were probably only one or two scenes that really went over what you'd usually see in a film and one of those was done in a very artistic manner.While sexual addiction gets most of the attention in this film, much of the focus in Shame was also put on other things that were just as important.Brandon's addiction is also compounded by his emotional issues and his severe lack of social skills.His interactions with other people throughout the film are tense and uncomfortable at times and it makes for great viewing.The purpose of those scenes appear to be a way of showing just how out of touch he is due to his flaws and his inability/unwillingness to change them.Some of his most awkward interactions come from his dealings with his sister.The relationship between them is a damaged one and they never really explain why.Like most of his other relationships, it's tense and there's an obvious wall in between them that Brandon refuses to take down.As I said earlier, they never tell you why they are like this, but you can also say that not knowing their family's back story adds to the suspense.Those emotional and social deficiencies are the real draws to me.Director Steve McQueen makes those issues even more pronounced by making the city of New York more of a reflection of Brandon's empty and isolated life.It's cool how he sucks the life out of the Big Apple in this film.It doesn't give us a view of an entire city, but a world according to Brandon.I think this approach puts an emphasis on the true feelings of the main character and makes them hard to ignore.McQueen forgoes sensationalism and instead bases his main character's addictions in the realm of realism and substance.Using this method allows Shame to maintain its credibility when showing things that can be viewed as touchy and sensitive subjects.Michael Fassbender was excellent at putting all of what needs to be seen on display and turning his role into what appears to be an accurate depiction of a man with emotional problems, sexual addictions and a certain level of anti-social behavior.Their abilities and the performance of Carey Mulligan gives this film exactly what it needs to tell its story properly.Score. 3.5/5.Rating. NC-17.Director. Steve McQueen.Cast. Michael Fassbender Carey Mulligan Nicole Beharie James Badge Dale Hannah Ware Elizabeth Masucci.Film Length. 99 minutes.Release Date. December 2, 2011 (U.S.) January 13, 2012 (U.K.).Distributors. Fox Searchlight Pictures (U.S.) Momentum Pictures (U.K.).
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