Shame, the controversial and acclaimed new film by British director Steve McQueen, was one of the most depressing, uncomfortable and bleak movies I have seen recently. It was also one of the most thought-provoking. Despite its critical praise and success at various film festivals, its NC-17 rating and limited release has kept it out of most mainstream theaters.
Shame will certainly not appeal to everyone. There is no conventional arching plot, no typical Hollywood storyline and it has an ambiguous and somewhat unsatisfactory ending. Shame does not aim to teach us a lesson or provide an explanation for the characters’ problems. Rather, it is a very well-constructed study of human nature, human emotion and relationships.
The film follows Brandon, a handsome, successful professional living in New York City who is a sex addict. His sister Sissy abruptly arrives at his apartment and invites herself to stay with him, interrupting his routine and intruding on his private life.
The nature of Brandon’s lifestyle is quickly exposed. He is a serious sex addict with an aversion to relationships of any kind, be it intimacy or friendship. He spends his free time watching porn and engaging in casual sex, mostly with prostitutes. We are first made aware of his addiction as he rides the subway into work. He continuously eyes a woman sitting across from him, who provocatively returns his gaze. Although she is wearing a wedding ring, he follows her off the subway and tries to catch her before she disappears into the crowd. This scene is a powerful start and effectively set the tone of the movie. There isn’t any dialogue, just simple shots of two people intensely communicating with their eyes, set against the melancholy, beautiful backdrop of the movement of the subway train and the passing subway trains. It is fascinating to watch Brandon hone in on the woman as she responds in a rather unexpected way. As with the entire movie, this scene requires the actors to portray their emotions with the subtlest expressions.
Brandon is expertly played by Michael Fassbender, who effectively conveys Brandon’s desires, frustration and pain. Carey Mulligan plays Sissy, a passionate, troubled, attention-seeking and needy young woman looking for success as a singer in New York City.
Sissy’s emotional character was an excellent contrast to Brandon’s quiet, reserved demeanor. She clings to Brandon, saying that families are supposed to look out for one another, while he dismisses her as being a burden.
The film is shot in a way that makes the viewer feel as if he or she is simply following Brandon on his daily routine; the camera hardly ever leaves him. Watching the movie feels like an intrusion of Brandon’s highly private life, as if we are witnessing things that are not supposed to be seen. It causes a feeling of discomfort — and appropriately — shame. The dialogue is sparse, which can sometimes be off-putting in movies, but here it adds to the quality of realness. The colors are dark and muted, and New York’s beauty is contrasted with its gritty underside. The simple, beautiful and haunting soundtrack fits the movie perfectly and evokes another level of emotion as we watch Brandon try to cope with the changes in his life.
Some moviegoers may assume that Shame is a moralistic commentary, but it is not a sermonizing portrayal of the dangers of casual sex. Instead, the film leaves almost everything up to interpretation, including the highly debatable ending. One criticism of the movie
is that the background of the characters’ problems was never explained. Indeed, the only glimpse we get into Brandon and Sissy’s past is when she tells him, “We’re not bad people. We just come from a bad place.” It would have been interesting to know more about the characters’ past, and it would have added another layer of depth to the movie. However, I don’t think this omission was a flaw. The nature of the film is introspective; it is not meant to explain or justify the characters’ actions. The entire movie is about human
interactions and emotions, and Shame gives us plenty to think about without going into the past.
Shame is incredibly thought-provoking in its look at human nature and relationships. In the beginning, Brandon’s solitary life may be sad to watch, but we can accept it as long as he does. It is once Sissy appears that he starts questioning himself and realizing the extent of his addiction and solitude. In one particularly poignant scene, he goes on a date with a co-worker, and through his awkward behavior we realize that he does not really know how to interact with someone in that setting. I felt so hopeful and happy for him as he loosens up and has a good time, only to later find out that he cannot handle any sort of relationship as he descends once again into self-loathing and frustration. It is heart-wrenching to see him torture himself by trying to quit his addiction while at the same time indulging himself in new extremes of desperation. It is certainly hard to watch as he tries to push Sissy away, until he ignores her at a critical moment, leading to one of the most visually and emotionally jarring scenes of the movie, and plummets to a new low of self-hatred and pain.
I definitely wouldn’t say that watching this movie was enjoyable. It was one of those movies that I liked increasingly more when I thought about it afterwards. It was beautifully constructed and made me question the extent to which humans depend on each
other, what constitutes a “good life,” and the power of insecurity and selfdestruction. One of Shame’s strengths was that at no point did I feel like I was judging Brandon or Sissy. Neither Brandon nor Sissy is a flat character; they are completely human with conflicting desires and motives. Shame provokes us into thinking about the power of meaningful interaction with other humans.
