Running Time: 1 hour, 39 minutes
Rating: NC-17
Director: Steve McQueen
Quick Impressions:
What a sad movie! The first scene is sad, and it keeps getting sadder and sadder and sadder till at the end, the audience drowns in a puddle of sadness. Shame is the perfect title, and the film is very good. I’ve heard lots of buzz about Fassbender’s Golden Globe nominated performance, but I’m surprised nobody’s talking much about Carey Mulligan, who was also amazing.
Surely if a few scenes were slightly trimmed, this movie could have gotten an R-rating, and I’m awfully glad the director didn’t do that because I think the NC-17 rating is appropriate for this film since children won’t understand it. I do wish, though, that there was not such a stigma attached to the NC-17 rating. I’m sure if we’d seen less of Michael Fassbender’s penis, the film could have squeaked by with a hard R, but this movie is for adults only. Why isn’t there a way to convey that without giving it a rating that makes people nervous when they walk into the theater? (It’s really funny watching people enter the auditorium of an NC-17 movie. Every single one of them looks around and then sits far away from other people, usually behind them if possible.)
The Good:
I love Michael Fassbender. He has such charisma, such an energy that brings his face to life. I don’t know quite how to explain it. Not only does he house tremendous energy, he expresses it so effortlessly. It all looks natural. I’ve often thought that a close-up of his face, thinking, reacting, interacting would be enough to entertain me for two hours. (Lots of high-powered actors have a similar quality. Meryl Streep springs to mind. Ryan Gosling has a related but opposite power. He seems to suck all the energy in the room into his eyes and down to a black hole somewhere inside himself. Only recently have I come to appreciate Gosling’s antithetical vibe, but I’m a huge sucker for people with energy-releasing faces.)
Critics always seem to call performances with lots of full frontal nudity brave, but I tend to doubt being nude on screen takes much courage when you’re Michael Fassbender. In order for the story to work, someone like Fassbender must be cast in the role of Brandon. Besides being intelligent, efficient, diligent, practical, and reasonably witty, Brandon is also tall, handsome, and so well-endowed that he can probably impregnate women with a well-timed glance. And in spite of all this, he is alone and desperately unhappy, terrified of the emotional intimacy he craves, unable to sustain human relationships, and losing the ability to hide that painful reality from himself and others. Also, he loves his sister, and he hates her because he loves her. He doesn’t want to admit that he has feelings because his feelings have caused him nothing but pain, anguish, shame.
Sissy comes from the same place, but she has different coping skills than Brandon and is more obviously dysfunctional because she can’t hide in the same way that he can. By wearing her vulnerability on the surface, Sissy is in some ways stronger than her brother. She doesn’t know how to thrive, but neither does he. His method of survival is just as dysfunctional and damaging as hers. She needs to love him. And her need for him to admit that he needs her is the catalyst driving most of the movie. They need each other. She’s glad about that; he isn’t.
Best Scene:
“New York, New York” is not a sad song. At least, I’d never thought so until Shame. (Also, researching its origins just now, I’m shocked to learn that it wasn’t written until 1977. It feels like it belongs to a much earlier era. It’s such an iconic part of pop culture that I naively assumed it had been around forever.)
When Carey Mulligan’s Sissy performs the song as her brother listens and weeps, the movie really clicks. That moment reveals so much about these characters, their origins, their troubles, their relationship, their dreams, their fears.
I’ve never heard such a heart-breaking rendition. Mulligan has a lovely singing voice, but her performance of “New York, New York” is increasingly painful to endure. And she sings the entire song. We watch, we listen. Her brother breaks down. She sings the whole thing.
Listening to Mulligan, it’s hard not to hear an implication to the lyrics that I’d never considered before. “If I can make it there, I’ll make it anywhere.” But what if you can’t make it there? As Sissy sings it, the song is about desperation, hope, despair, and longing.
And Brandon’s boss is such an annoying sleaze ball. He takes in her performance and all that registers is, “Hmm…maybe I’ve finally found someone unstable enough to be taken in by one of my incredibly pathetic, bungled attempts at seduction.”
Most Oscar Worthy Moment (Michael Fassbender):
The presence of Sissy is absolutely key to understanding the character of Brandon. At first, we know only that he’s a tormented sex addict who doesn’t like to get attached. We don’t know why, and we also don’t know the depth of his torment.
The way Brandon reacts when his boss seduces his sister reveals so much. We finally start to understand his emotional make-up. His behavior during the seduction scene itself is marvelous, and then the way he acts during the aftermath completes the story and answers the question, “Why on earth does he associate with such a creepy jerk?” He doesn’t get mad at his boss for taking advantage of his sister. He gets angry at his sister for revealing how dirty they are to his boss. Suddenly, his background comes into incredibly clear focus.
Most Oscar Worthy Moment (Carey Mulligan):
That song is really good. And Mulligan has a wonderful moment near the very end of the movie that I don’t want to spoil. The fantastic thing about her character is that even though she’s weaker than Brandon in incredibly obvious ways, there are some aspects in which she is stronger and more together.
Best Surprise:
There’s a moment near the end that suggests things could go one way; they go another. Instead of revealing tragedy, that critical moment serves as foreshadowing, not only looking forward to what might happen but revealing to Brandon how such a thing would affect him.
The Negatives:
I thought the film worked really well. It’s one of the best Oscar-seeking movies I’ve seen this year. But I did really wonder about the colleague from work who begins dating Brandon. Maybe I just dislike this because she reminds me of my own foolish self, but seriously, she seems like such a balanced, normal woman. Why in the world does she seem so delighted and eager to take things further with Brandon after the way he behaves on their first date? Seriously? (Run, woman! Run! Run!! Run!!!!!!!)
Overall:
Shame was great but terribly sad. Both Michael Fassbender and Carey Mulligan give strong, Oscar-caliber performances as Brandon and Sissy, and their story, revealed in such an interesting way, is quite compelling. And the movie does end on a note—however tenuous—of hope.