SHAME
Directed by Steve Mc Queen
An incisive and uncompromising foray into the world of sexual addiction.
Magnetic, self assured, but emotionally escapist, Brandon has a successful executive job , which enables him to maintain a comfortable high rise in the city and pays for his peccadilloes.
His solitary life is disrupted when his explosive and unstable sister Sissy decides to crash at his apartment.
A turbulent and emotionally scarring childhood is hinted at (in a phone message) but never discussed. Both Brandon (played spot on by Michael Fassbender )and Sissy (Carrey Mulligan in another mesmerizing performance- her jazzy rendition of ‘New York, New York’, contains her whole character’s persona in one take), deal with the effects of their shared history in different ways. Brandon ,who feels trapped by his sister’s presence and irritated by her lack of responsibility, is implosive. His only way of relating or dealing with his demons is to have anonymous sex, both virtual over the computer and frequently with prostitutes.
When Brandon does attempt to embark on a relationship with a work mate, he finds that the emotional intimacy and undefined boundaries helps create an environment where he is not in control, which is not disposable and which prevents him from performing sexually. His socializing, again is limited to after work drinks with colleagues and his boss who chooses to ignore the fact that Brandon surfs porn on the job, because he acts as an accomplice in securing his extra marital affairs.
The narrative, which never spoon feeds, follows Brandon’s repeated cycles of thrill seeking, and avoidance behavior, the self-loathing and revulsion that inevitably ensues, followed by the need for a greater high to obliterate the negative feelings which have just been elicited. These bouts are mirrored in the use of flash backs and forwards in an otherwise linear progression.
One brilliant long sequence track-shot follows Brandon jogging through the city at night, his way of zoning out, providing his only true moments of peace and respite from the constant craving.
New York provides the backdrop to the film illustrating the irony of loneliness in a big city. The industrial high rises, impersonal hotel rooms and stark modern apartments act as anonymous foils for illicit encounters, often carried out in curtain-less glass sheeted, box like rooms, that mimic voyeuristic computer screens. This aspect highlights the desire to observe and be observed whilst amplifying the latent wish for the addiction to come to light.
Whilst the film often borders on the pornographic the sex is never gratuitous and although the nature of Brandon’s addiction is predominantly sexual, the inner processing, the cycling and its effects ,can be ultimately extrapolated to any form of addiction .
The ending besides, is just right. Like life.
Review by Warren J. Bugeja
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