Shame

In 2008, an English experimental artist turned filmmaker and a German-born Irish actor combined to tell the tale of Bobby Sands, the IRA leader of the tragic hunger strike in Maze prison. Their efforts – and those of the feature’s co-writer, playwright Enda Walsh – earned the Cannes Film Festival’s Camera d’Or as well as three British Independent Film and six Irish Film and Television awards, and a host of critical attention for the film Hunger, director Steve McQueen and lead Michael Fassbender.

Accordingly, their collaboration on the auteur’s sophomore feature Shame is far from surprising, with the thespian returning for yet another harrowing, hypnotic role under McQueen’s inimitable helming hand. Again dwelling in the realm of exaggerated physicality, their second pairing explores the exploits of a New York resident trapped by his inability to make a lasting connection, yet driven to sexual excess as his only achievable form of human contact.

Indeed, reserved Brandon (Fassbender, Jane Eyre) has a carnal compulsion, driven by lust, not love. Content with meaningless conquests, frequent masturbation and a plentiful pornography collection, his resolve is compromised by the appearance of his sister Sissy (Carey Mulligan, Drive), whose erratic emotional outbursts are the antithesis of his carefully constructed calm. Her presence throws Brandon off balance, recalling memories of a shared darkness that dampens his libidinous ways. Demanding intimacy he is unable to give, she interrupts his routine of indulgence. Neither escapes their reunion unscathed.

Employing extended takes, a sparse colour scheme and a disquieting score to present Brandon’s provocative tale, McQueen forces the audience to experience the titular distress that permeates the complex protagonist. That he cultivates compassion while doing so is a testament to his tremendous technique as a storyteller (with co-scribe Abi Morgan) and his uncompromising sense of aesthetic, with the evocative effort plunging the viewer into the seductive yet unsettling world of sex addiction.

Whilst McQueen’s vulnerable yet vivid vision elevates the film’s intensity, it is Fassbender’s courageous performance that provides the feature’s power. Compelling in his commitment to the character, he renders Brandon with a ferocity and finesse that is physically and psychologically unflinching, in a brave, bold and bracing turn from the impressive actor. Juxtaposed against Mulligan’s fragility, his portrayal is searing in its haunting honesty, matching the misery inflicted by the exposing narrative. Magnetic and moving, Shame might just be his finest hour, as well as that of his accomplished director.

Rating: 5 out of 5 stars

Shame
Director: Steve McQueen
UK, 2011, 101 min

Distributor: Transmission
Rated R 18+
In cinemas nationally Thursday February 9th, 2012