I haven't had many movie experiences more intense than when I saw Shame, The latest from director Steve McQueen. It changed how I view the issue of sex addiction and addiction in general. It stars Michael Fassbender as Brandon, a wealthy New Yorker who works at a generic and sterile software company, and suffers from a crippling need to get to his next sexual gratification. He hoards pornography on his work computer, retires to his office bathroom for furious masturbation sessions and hires prostitutes when he arrives home to continue his cycle of sexual gratification. At no point do any of these moments appear pleasurable. He sulks through his days in a masturbatory haze, and is in a great deal of pain for the duration.
His routine is disrupted when his sister Sissy (played by Carey Mulligan) takes residence in his apartment after being thrown out by her abusive boyfriend. She is a free spirit who, like Brandon, has been damaged deeply. A reference is made to their childhood, which implies a deep scarring, but no specific details are conveyed. She has responded to this trauma by acting out, Brandon has collapsed in on himself in a downward spiral. The scenes of Brandon's rejection of her attempts at love and acceptance are searingly painful.
There isn't a complicated plot to be dissected, only two people's pain. Shame is one of the best films I have ever seen at showing this. It does so by giving us just enough of a glimpse into these characters to feel their suffering, but it does not go deeper. It's focus is on the aftermath of tortured lives. I've read some negative reviews of the film complaining that we didn't get to know the Brandon character deeply enough. I feel this misses the point. What McQueen is trying to convey is a person immersed in a hopeless battle to control his compulsions. A deeper analysis of the character would have distracted from that.
I never took sex addiction very seriously as a disorder, but after seeing Shame, my perspective has been altered. If the primal urges in a person can drive them to act the way Brandon does, there must be some deeper cause that simply enjoying sex. On the contrary, it very clearly causes him great pain.
There is a scene late in the film where Brandon visits two prostitutes and a detailed shot of their session follows. The look on his face as he is climaxing is not one of joy, but one of embarrassment and torture. He hates what he is and there is nothing he can do to change it.
The film got an unfair NC-17 rating. I speculate that this stems from the MPAA's ridiculous paranoia of sex in films. Have all the violence you want, but a few sex scenes that show a little too much of the human anatomy and that's apparently going to far. It would be sad if the rating prompts the Academy not to nominate Fassbender for an Oscar. You won't find a better performance all year, and it is one of the greatest I have ever seen in a film.
It’s a very interesting perspective on addiction, I wish more film makers could muster up the courage to make sexually charged, important movies like this, and it also happens to have a fantastic little score to back up McQueen’s skills with the camera. Fassbender is amazing in this role and really nails just about every scene he has on screen. Good review. Give mine a look at when you can.
ReplyDeleteThe rating boards are merely afraid of sexual pleasure - always have, always will be.
ReplyDeleteI can't wait to see "Shame" - nice take on a divisive film.