Review of Shame (2011) by Mohammed B — 21 Aug 2012

In my opinion, Shame is a film that must be looked at in two, separate ways. This notion is obviously a negative one, as a truly great film really should be a unified and coherent whole. Half of Shame is about a brother and sister relationship in which the sister doesn't really matter at all; what a shame.

The other side of the film in which we are presented with a man who has a problem, knows he has a problem, and is forced to acknowledge his problem, is where the real story lies. Where McQueen succeeds is by placing the viewer in a perverse voyeuristic seat in which we are forced to watch a man's sexual addictions repeatedly until we are absolutely sure that we feel the same way as the filmmaker.

And while I did understand the filmmakers view, I understood something more -- when showing a persons addiction in such a personal manner as this film, we can only care as much about the other characters as our addict does.

I grew increasingly frustrated by Carey Mulligan (this is the worst she's ever been, oh how I long to see her spit "It's mister Bingley!" as an exuberant Bennett in Pride and Prejudice once more) regardless of how much she acted like a wounded animal the entire film.

Every person the addict fucks seems just as disgusting as him. And when the films climax (literally) comes (literally again) we are almost left wondering if we are not completely inside the head of our sex addict in some bizarre Cronenbergesque existential reality shift.

But no, this is what we get, a deeply disturbed human being (played flawlessly by Fassbender) still only able to express himself through sex, only now he knows it: and he's frustrated, and scared, unbelievably sad, lost, and so imperfect, so human, and it's all so utterly heartbreaking.

I wish the filmmaker felt the same way Fassbender and I do.