Shame

A non-horror one this, but I think it's an under-rated film and I really love it. When it came out in 2011 the reaction was... Split. It got a four star review from Roger Ebert, which is the hallmark of any good film, but the critical praise was hardly unanimous. Which I think is a great shame (hurhurhur).

In all seriousness, this film really is something special indeed. It's one of the most frankest portrayals of sexuality I've ever seen on screen, and the ending is absolutely devastating. It tells a very simple story; you've got a sex addict in a worker drone job, and one day his sister, who is clearly damaged in some way, comes to visit, and then things happen and it ends.

First up, right now if you think the film is going to be some kind of heart-warming drama of a man kicking his addiction while learning how to treat his sister right and amending his sordid ways... You'll be bitterly disappointed. That's part of the reason I liked it so much, and also part of the reason the critics and public were so divided. The film-makers don't preach, and instead you just feel an intense pity for Michael Fassbender's Brandon as he sees his life spiral downwards. He is a man in grip of some ferocious feelings and unable to stop them. Sex is no longer pleasurable, almost certainly was never an act of love, and has simply lost all joy for him. The orgasm is his drug and he is addicted. It's called Shame for a reason; he isn't happy with who he is, but cannot change.

Of course, it's his relationship with his sister Sissy (a brave turn from Carey Mulligan) which is what I guess you could call the core of the film, and the film is never so obvious as to spell out what happened between them years ago, but it is obvious from the outset that something did, and it has seriously affected both of their lives. Mulligan's line, "we are not bad people, we just come from a bad place", tells us all we need to know. I think to actually have revealed their history would ruin the film somewhat, if I'm honest. This is an exploration of them right now, in the moment. They are both trying to avoid, or even escape their past, so to shoehorn in some protracted reveal would just be ill-fitting (a flashback in this film would frankly ruin it).

Stylistically and structurally the film is superb, and I liked it for its depiction of people being lost in a big city (I was reminded of Taxi Driver at some points), as well as the way the film really opens up on repeat viewings. Steve McQueen directs with a certain lightness of touch, but he does put a lot of small clues in the film that can only really be appreciated on the second go. The film has a kind of cyclical structure, beginning and ending in the same place, and you can certainly read into it; it has a very cold veneer but if you look at it analytically then it really does open up (for example, at the beginning we hear Sissy's voice come through Brandon's answer-phone over and over again while Brandon doesn't react; does this reflect how Brandon has been trying to ignore Sissy, and maybe his illicit feelings for her, all his life? And so on and so forth).

Another reason I think people didn't enjoy it so much was because it is, at times, incredibly slow. There is no real forward narrative, just a succession of days which end when something happens. I can understand why a lot of people would be put off by this, but in the end it turns into the major strength of the film; everything is so natural, things happen as they would usually happen, and as the film does, inevitably, pick up some kind of momentum in the final scenes, you have become so involved that the film starts to operate in the realm of high tension; you care so much by the end that it completely knocks you for six.

Fassbender's performance is nothing less than incredible. He is both physically and mentally brave, baring all for the camera and also giving the impression of truly inhabiting the character and mindset of someone like that. (he also has a huge dong, but that's neither here nor there). The film was awarded the dreaded NC-17 in America (the less dreaded 18 over here), which shows another huge error of judgement on the part of the awful American film rating system, as despite containing many scenes of fairly graphic sex, the film actually contains a very potent and commendable message that teenagers could get; basically, that sex isn't always good and that it can ruin lives. It baffles me that films like Superbad can get away with being marketed at teenagers, yet this film is banned from them- any kid who watches this might actually think about sex, and about it's implications, but then I can only imagine Americans don't want their kids to think about sex.

TANGENT

At the end of it all, this film is amazing. It tells a poignant and devastating story, and stands out from the other films of 2011 for being brave, daring, and using extreme content to make a powerful point. I'd recommend it to anyone who takes films seriously, because it's not the kind of film that comes along very often. See it with an open mind, buy into it, and you may just find a masterpiece.