Here we have what must be the most disappointing film of 2011; Steve McQueen's sophomore effort, Shame. McQueen made one of the most powerful debuts in recent history, 2008's Hunger. Both films star Michael Fassbender (we should probably just be calling him The Ubiquitous One) and both employ a languid style, though for different reasons. Here it's employed as a mirror of Brandon's (Fassbender) listless existence. Listless that is, except for in regards to his sex life. In that, he's anything but. In that, he's a junkie. Sex addict would be the term.
McQueen sets this up early by showing us a typical Brandon day. This can be summed up as: wake up, shower and masturbate, ignore phone message from pleading sister, take train to job, take train home, and have sex with someone you either picked up or payed for. He does this all with a stoic ease that either marks his complete indifference or a deep seeded sadness. I present this 'either or' scenario because it is one of many. In fact, the entire film is basically one big 'either or.' Well, it wants to be. McQueen and co-writer Abi Morgan attempts at ambiguity aren't nearly as clever or ambiguous as they intend to be (or think they are). The majority of this forced ambiguity lies in the relationship between Brandon and the pleading sister, Sissy (Carey Mulligan). After she gets tired of Brandon ignoring her phone calls, she shows up at his door. For whatever reason, she needs a place to stay. Brandon reluctantly agrees and so begins the constant intimation that, perhaps, Brandon and Sissy have had an incestuous past. Every scene they have together is marked by this undertone. It's unfortunate really; had the film came out and said, one way or another, what their past was, it would have been much more effective. By forcing this ambiguity on the viewer, the filmmakers have cheapened the film and diverted attention away from the seriousness of Brandon's dilemma. Instead of focusing on Fassbender's fine and nuanced performance, we're constantly being made to wonder whether he fucked his sister. But again, if we're paying attention, there isn't much to wonder about. The film gives us one line, spoken by Sissy, that tells us all we need to know. Late in the film she and Brandon are having an argument and as things calm down she turns to him and says, "We're not bad people Brandon. We just come from a bad place." So there you have it; fucked up childhood, most probably involving incest in some form. Now we know (but, you know, not really because the film is SO mysterious). What's next?
Not much. Like the sex addiction, the incest isn't really explore in any kind of serious way. It's just there to tantalize and make us wonder. Really, it's not even there at all. So we get more lovely shots of Brandon's slow spiral into self-loathing, and with the incest not really being addressed that leaves the cause of his shame simply his promiscuity. It's a puritanical load of crap if you ask me. Brandon's not a bad person. He doesn't rape women, he doesn't drug them, as far as I could tell, he doesn't even lie to them. Does he use them? Yeah, but they always know what's going on. He's damaged (assuming we disregard the incest angle), not because of what he does, but because of the way society looks upon what he does. Put bluntly, Brandon doesn't have anything to be ashamed of. We might though, if we think that we're somehow better than he is.
Despite my dissatisfaction with the movie I must admit it has a rather intense, cold beauty to it. McQueen is a director with a great eye and serious talent. There were moments, individual shots, that I found quite stunning. A run through New York that follows Brandon with a tracking shot brought back memories of a thousand romantic films, and squashed there simplistic notions of love and happiness in a few mere moments. There is also the only bit of a Carey Mulligan performance that I didn't find unbearable; at a restaurant she sings a rendition of "New York, New York" that made me realize what a sad song was lingering behind that joviality normally associated with it. In all other moments she continued to be unbearable, unfortunately. There is also an extended sequence where Brandon is on a date with a co-worker. It is clear that they not only get a long, but that Brandon really cares for her. When they inevitably end up in a bedroom, Brandon can't perform. He's spent his entire adult life using sex for sensation and the idea of using it for actually human connection is to much. They part and she is never seen again. It's a segment of the film to good for the rest. It should have been the apex of the film but instead it's just an interlude. Like a movie within the movie; it's just to bad it's a better movie then what we get. In fact, that sequence is so good that it cast a glaring light on just how lazy the writing of the rest of the film is. When Brandon's spiral finally puts him at bottom, McQueen's decision to express this through Brandon have a homosexual encounter cheapens the film to an almost embarrassing level. The real shame here is so much talent and potential wasted.
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