Thursday, December 8, 2011

Movie Review: Riveting performances in "Shame"

Steve McQueen , the director, definitely doesn’t pull his punches and Michael Fassbender, the actor, clearly doesn’t mind taking them.


In their first collaboration, 2008’s “Hunger,” Fassbender played Bobby Sands, the IRA member who starved himself. In their latest collaboration, “Shame,” Fassbender plays Brandon Sullivan, a Manhattan thirty-something who also starves himself, but does so emotionally. That’s because he’s (A) addicte d to alcohol, (B) addicted to drugs, (C) addicted to sex or (D) addicted to love. Might as well admit it, the answer is (C), and the film’s no-holds-barred and all-parts-bared depiction of Brandon’s addiction has earned the film considerable controversy and an NC-17 rating.

While many critics are bound to have an orgasm over “Shame” – maybe that’s a poor word choice here – the general public is sure to struggle warming up to a film about people who don’t behave according to Miss Manners and who aren’t particularly likeable either. Drama ebbs and flows as well.

But who said life — or a film’s interpretation of life — has to be populated with only likeable people? “Shame” has more on its mind than pleasing audiences. If you want to see schmaltzy swill, go to “New Year’s Eve,” a lock to go ka-ching at the box office.

Like the challenging films of the 1970s, “Shame” focuses on a person behaving outside of society’s norms while trying to exist inside of them. It’s like performing a highwire act where you’re attempting to balance yourself while juggling chainsaws blindfolded. A wrong step lands you in an unhappy place.

Whether the subject matters turns you off, there’s no denying that Fassbender turns in a riveting performance worthy of an Oscar nomination. Talk about baring all — skin, soul, spleen.

It doesn’t take long to see that Brandon has issues. A little masturbation here, a lot of porn there. He later looks at a woman on the subway with a predatory stare that indicates he has more on his mind than finding out her zodiac sign.

When Brandon discovers his computer at work has been taken away, we know that its contents aren’t flooded with fantasy football statistics.

His life, while slightly off-kilter, has an orderliness to it, yet that gets disrupted by the arrival in his apartment of his sister, Sissy (Carey Mulligan), who has issues of her own. That their childhood bares little resemblance to “The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet” becomes apparent soon enough. When Sissy sings a dirge-like rendition of “New York, New York” at a bar, we see Brandon lose his guard. He tries not to make a habit of that.

Instead he goes from one sexual encounter to the next, battling with his addiction and not faring well. Some may wonder how having sex can be a bad thing. This film shows how. Brandon knows he has an illness. He just can’t find a cure. A particularly painful scene takes place when Brandon tries to have an intimate sexual experience with a co-worker (Nicole Beharie).

Psychologists should have a field day with this film, analyzing Brandon, Sissy and Brandon’s horn-dog boss David (James Badge Dale). So many peccadilloes, so little time.

People offended by graphic sex shouldn’t be within five miles of “Shame.” Interestingly, many of these people have no problem watching graphic violence. Go figure. People expecting titillation from the subject matter will be disappointed, too. This isn’t sex from Penthouse. This is sex from hell where the brief physical pleasure soon gets replaced by an insatiable need.

To be blunt, the film’s NC-17 rating has more to do with male frontal nudity than the sex scenes, which you can see in many R-rated films. To spark a debate, ask how David Fincher’s remake of “The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo” avoided an NC-17 rating.

For those keeping track, “Shame” marks the fourth film for Fassbender this year. He played a young Magneto in “X-Men: First Class,” Rochester in “Jane Eye” and Carl Jung in “A Dangerous Method.” Most moviegoers know him for playing Lt. Archie Hicox in “Inglourious Basterds.” Talk about range. But it’s in “Shame” where he lets it all hang out, so to speak. If you like your souls tortured, Fassbender’s Brandon has his waterboarded. Fassbender has my vote for best actor.

As for McQueen, who co-wrote the script with Abi Morgan and is no relation to the late actor, he’s a force to be reckoned with. He just doesn’t direct films with a sense of daring, he directs them with a sense of danger, and in era where too many directors play it safe and sanitized, that ain’t a shame.

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