Michael Fassbender in Shame
Shame has generated a lot of interest since its release, in part due to hoards of women angling for a glimpse of Michael Fassbender’s willy, but mostly as this is a film that portrays, with sensitivity and style, an issue that has rarely been broached in the past: sex addiction.
However, this isn’t some sexed up Hollywood drama that uses the subject matter as an excuse for an hour and a half of soft porn. The sex scenes in Shame are not erotic, or beautiful, or funny even. They are uncomfortable. At no point does Fassbender look like he’s enjoying pounding away on his plethora of ladies, in fact, quite the opposite. We are constantly being reminded that his character, Brandon, is suffering from an illness, to all intents and purposes like the alcoholic you see lying on the floor drinking Special Brew. Brandon’s relationships with the women he is screwing are merely for his pleasure and revolve around sex, nothing more.
There is one exception to the rule though, sister Sissy (played by Carey Mulligan). Their relationship is a terse one; Brandon seems unable to relate to Sissy, even though deep down we know that he does care for his little sister, as highlighted when Brendon watches Sissy perform what is to me a mind numbing rendition of New York, New York. Regardless of this brotherly love, Sissy is an imposition to the carefully regimented life that Brandon has constructed; by having her stay at his flat, Brandon can’t have a quick stoke in the bathroom, or arrange a visit from the local prostitute. When Sissy brings home David, Brendan’s boss, after a night out, the imposition is almost too much for Brandon to bear and leads into the film’s most poignant and absorbing scene where Brandon runs through the streets of New York, obviously struggling to deal with the emotional trauma that appeared when Sissy first breezed through the door.
Carey Mulligan in Shame
The running scene is one of many that feature Fassbender as the sole focus. Right from the opening credits, when Brandon wanders naked through his sparse apartment, with stark walls in the background we realise that even though there’s a woman languishing in the bedroom, Shame is about a man alone, dealing with his many demons. We are favoured with tight angles for the duration of the film, allowing Fassbender to deploy his hefty acting skills through expressions, rather than heavy dialogue, because lets face it, you don’t spout a monologue when in the middle of a threesome. The score is brilliant in the main part, conveying strong emotions in a film that is relatively short on narrative yet high on emotion.
Whilst writing Shame, Steve McQueen and Abi Morgan were heavily influenced by our ability to access things in an instant; be it porn, food or alcohol. For this one of the reasons the film was shot in New York, which is a perfect location; throughout the film Brendon is able to get whatever he wants, whenever he wants; porn on his hard drive at work, alcohol in the middle of the night, a hooker called to his apartment. Shame makes a statement on consumerism that compliments the main theme of addiction without challenging it.
It was interesting to see what a McQueen (Hunger)/Morgan (The Iron Lady) coupling would produce, and the resultant film is stylishly done; unadulterated, truthful, with a delicate approach to sex addiction that allows the audience to understand the emotional implications of a compulsion for sex, without trying to glamorise it. To all intents and purposes Shame manages just what it sets out to do. Stripping bare the pub jokes and the winks that inform people’s view of sex addiction, it is an uncompromising representation of a condition that can be life-destroying.
Shame is showing at Broadway until Thursday 26 January
Shame official website
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