Monday, August 8, 2022
flickfeast
  • News
  • Reviews
  • Festivals
  • FrightFeast
  • Spotlight
  • Contribute
  • Submissions
    • Advertise on Flickfeast
    • Submit a Film
No Result
View All Result
flickfeast
  • News
  • Reviews
  • Festivals
  • FrightFeast
  • Spotlight
  • Contribute
  • Submissions
    • Advertise on Flickfeast
    • Submit a Film
No Result
View All Result
FLICKFEAST
No Result
View All Result
Home Reviews Film Review

Shame (2011)

Rory Wilding by Rory Wilding
January 21, 2012
in Film Review
14
SHARES
1.4k
VIEWS
Share on FacebookShare on Twitter

In his long-awaited second feature, what does Shame has in common with Steve McQueen’s brilliant debut Hunger? Not only do both films feature an astounding performance by Michael Fassbender, but they also explore the damaged human body: one film explores it through hunger, and the other through sexual urges. Fassbender plays Brandon Sullivan, a 30-something yuppie living in New York who is unable to control his sex life. However, his life is turned upside down when his younger sister Sissy (Carey Mulligan), movies into his apartment.

After many Hollywood films which explored sex addiction in a ludicrous or hyper-active way such as David Cronenberg’s Crash or any early Michael Douglas flick, McQueen presents a realistic portrayal of a sex addict and the challenges one has to face, both personally and professionally. Like Patrick Bateman from American Psycho, the character of Brandon is a well-suited organised individual who has a pristine apartment, a well-paid job and a love of classical music: the perfect bachelor’s life. However, unlike the murderous side of Bateman, Brandon’s somewhat duel life is an uncontrollable desire for sex, which even involves masturbating in bathrooms and looking at live nude web chats.

You might also like

Bullet Train (2022) – Film Review

Where The Crawdads Sing – Film Review

Thor: Love and Thunder (2022) – Film Review

The unexpected arrival of his sister Sissy, who has problems of her own, creates conflicts for Brandon’s organised and yet flawed life, and that’s as far as the story goes. Along with The Iron Lady screenwriter Abi Morgan, McQueen is more fascinated in character interactions as best established in Brandon’s first actual date with a co-worker and seeing the difficulty of Brandon trying to resist his urges. This sequence, along with others including the love/hate sibling relationship, are done in single shots, of which the director previously used in Hunger, in order to encapsulate all the intensity in a single image.

Since his breakthrough performance as Bobby Sands, Michael Fassbender has continued to shine in numerous roles and in the case of Shame, he surely deserves an Oscar nomination. Despite presenting himself as a suave sophisticated man that will hopefully appeal to the opposite sex, there is a rage wanting to come out whenever it doesn’t go to plan and certainly his sister’s actions makes it, in his terms, worse. From the film’s very first image, Fassbender is doing a physical performance, in as much as his naked body is displayed through out, particularly in the various sex scenes which will be disturbing for some. As with her on-screen brother, Carey is doing a naked performance, as well as being left-field to what we usually see from Mulligan’s repertoire, but more importantly, even during the bleakness of the story, Mulligan singing “New York, New York” has never been so uplifting.

Whilst it will be uncomfortable for some due to its racy content, Steve McQueen presents a brave examination of a sex addict’s dysfunctional life, featuring another astonishing performance by Michael Fassbender, along with a bratty Carey Mulligan.

DIRECTOR: STEVE MCQUEEN
SCREENWRITERS: STEVEN MCQUEEN, ABI MORGAN
STARRING: MICHAEL FASSBENDER, CAREY MULLIGAN, JAMES BADGE DALE
RUNTIME: 101 MINS
COUNTRY: UNITED KINGDOM

 

Film Rating: ★★★★★

Tags: Abi MorganAddictionCarey Mulliganjames badge dalelucy waltersMichael Fassbendernicole behariesexShameSteve McQueen
Rory Wilding

Rory Wilding

Related Posts

Bullet Train (2022) – Film Review
Film Review

Bullet Train (2022) – Film Review

by Katie Smith-Wong
August 3, 2022
Where The Crawdads Sing – Film Review
Film Review

Where The Crawdads Sing – Film Review

by Dallas King
July 22, 2022
Thor: Love and Thunder (2022) – Film Review
Film Review

Thor: Love and Thunder (2022) – Film Review

by Katie Smith-Wong
July 16, 2022
Minions: The Rise of Gru (2022) – Film Review
Film Review

Minions: The Rise of Gru (2022) – Film Review

by Katie Smith-Wong
June 29, 2022
Nitram - review
Film Review

Nitram (2022) — Film Review

by Johannes Black
June 27, 2022

Recommended

The Jurassic Park Trilogy (1993-2001)- Flickfeast and Chill Film Review

The Jurassic Park Trilogy (1993-2001)- Flickfeast and Chill Film Review

August 29, 2018
margarethe von trotta barbican

Margarethe von Trotta Retrospective Mounted at Barbican

September 17, 2018

Don't miss it

Alone Together (2022) – Film Review
Reviews

Alone Together (2022) – Film Review

August 4, 2022
Bullet Train (2022) – Film Review
Film Review

Bullet Train (2022) – Film Review

August 3, 2022
Anything’s Possible (2022) – Film Review
Reviews

Anything’s Possible (2022) – Film Review

July 31, 2022
Sofa Surfer (2022)
Reviews

Sofa Surfer (2021) – Short Film Review

August 5, 2022
Where The Crawdads Sing – Film Review
Film Review

Where The Crawdads Sing – Film Review

July 22, 2022
Down with the King (2022) – Film Review
Reviews

Down with the King (2022) – Film Review

July 9, 2022
flickfeast

Whetting your appetite for cinema with the best film reviews and features since 2009

© Copyright - flickfeast. All Rights Reserved.

No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • News
  • Reviews
  • Festivals
  • FrightFeast
  • Spotlight
  • Contribute

© Copyright - flickfeast. All Rights Reserved.

Posting....