Shame is a provocative art film that leaves no stone unturned while exploring the ins and outs of sexual addiction. The film is a character study that analyzes how a wealthy, sex addicted individual is haunted by a past, of which is unknown to the audience, and because of it, he chooses a life of solitude in between the sexual encounters.
Brandon (Michael Fassbender) is struggling with a sex addiction that he hide from his work and family. He has the confidence to grab the attention of random women, woo them to bed, and he also delves into purchasing prostitutes, but he is unable to have meaningful, long-term relationships with women. His sister Sissy (Carey Mulligan) returns to his apartment one night in need of a place to stay, which he reluctantly allows. They share a damaged past and Brandon hesitates to share his life with her, now that she is intruding on his territory.
The beginning of Shame is incredibly explicit in order to convey how ritualistic Brandon’s lifestyle is. His penis is specifically present in frame because it is the center of his life. No matter how successful he is at his career, sex is what drives him from day to day. His addiction has taken over his life and work; his work computer is confiscated due to a virus, apparently from the filthy material that was downloaded (somehow), according to Brandon’s boss. The addiction is a consequence of some earlier period in his life, and the only clues to such an abusive past lies in his sister, Sissy. Sissy also has much of the same emotional disconnect in her life, and she too is damaged. Her hair is dyed blonde but her roots are clearly visible, conveying that she is unable to take care of herself and how her past is still haunting her. One scene has Sissy performing a melancholic version of “New York, New York” at a upper class bar with Brandon in attendance. Tears run down his cheek during her flawless performance, signaling that the two have shared past experience that has made them into the damaged souls that appear before us.
Brandon is a successful professional who is applauded left and right at his job. Shame explores how Brandon must delicately balance his addiction and work life, a feat that he appears to be doing well at first. His addiction does not infiltrate into his social and work life much, but his actions when having sex, masturbating, or viewing pornography penetrates his psyche and invisibly damages him. When he does have interest in having a meaningful relationship a woman from work, he makes an active attempt to trash the publications and appliances he uses to feed his addiction. But the damage has settled forever, he is unable to truly love a woman, even when he has a chance to make love to them. Like a junkie, he has to get his fix, and he will go as far as he can.
Brandon seems to prefer his lonely lifestyle no matter how many women he is able to bed. That loneliness is represented by the prominent cello driven score, save for the classic music during his late-night jog. His apartment is mostly sterile; white walls and sleek, modern furniture. Sissy, however, is a stark contrast. She is talkative and she craves for attention, specifically Brandon’s, a theme that appears again in the climax of the film. Brandon is annoyed by Sissy’s presence, probably because he knows that the difficulties that she is having in her own love life are the product of the same horrors of the past they share. She is intruding on his loneliness, and she explains that she has no one else but him.
Director Steven McQueen has worked with Fassbender before in Hunger, a similarly depressive work of art. In Shame McQueen uses long, long takes to convey the important moments in his life. Brandon’s dinner with his co-worker is essentially one extremely long take. It explores not only the innate shyness and even the sincere charm in Fassbender’s character, but it also shows how flawless of a performer the star is. Brandon’s character has some similarities of Patrick Batemen from American Psycho, but the film’s theme of addiction rivals that of Requiem for a Dream.
Shame can be a difficult film to watch, but its relevance is important due to the continued growth of the accessibility of pornography on the internet which has made fantasies easier to grasp. The film excels in telling a gripping story that frames many of the elements that allow destructive addictions to fester, no matter how much one thinks they have it under control.
