Last Night I watched: Shame

If you claim to know your 21st Century cinema, you should know who Steve McQueen and Michael Fassbender are. If you did not know who they were in 2011, however, you would be very much forgiven unless you were talking to someone who was a bit too clued up when it came to film knowledge. 2011 saw the pair collaborate on the film Shame, an incredible film about sex-addict ‘Brandon’ (played by Fassbender to an astounding level of believability and intimacy) having to deal with his addiction after his sister ‘Sissy’ (Carey Mulligan) has to stay in his apartment having broken up with her boyfriend. This article is going to be a more abstract discussion about the themes of the film. If you want a very short review: watch it. It is an incredible film about addiction and responsibility as well as being trapped in oneself. As long as you can deal with the film being quite graphic in its depiction of sex, then I would urge you to watch it more than I would virtually any other film. I recommend watching it before reading this article.

It would be completely naïve for anyone to say that this film is purely about sex

One being for the obvious reason of spoilers, the other being the fact that you will not take as much from this article if you have not seen the film. The film is a clear cycle of Brandon trying to let go of an addiction. He tries many times to let go of it, yet when he has difficulties in the film he always turns to sex as a coping mechanism. This is what makes the ending in the underground train frightfully ambiguous. Even after his neglect of his sister has caused her to attempt suicide, we are unsure whether he will pursue the woman on the underground train now seeing that she is single. It would be completely naïve for anyone to say that this film is purely about sex, in a holistic sense it is about addiction. Critics of the film say that the sex is gratuitous, however, I would disagree. Sex is an unbelievably powerful action that enables people to portray a whole number of emotions, something known to McQueen as he talks often about how humans frequently think about or partake in sexual activity. McQueen clearly uses sex in order to relate to the audience at a basic level.

Almost everybody can relate to having sex or sexual desires, but (hopefully) very few people comparatively can relate to taking illicit substances. Brandon, being addicted, has sex at the forefront of his mind at all times. This is shown to use in the cinematography and editing. When his boss is trying to flirt in a bar after a deal has been made, the camera shows a shot of Brandon looking over to his boss and a woman his boss is flirting with, then the film cuts to a shot with the woman in the centre of the frame. A clear indication of what, or who, Brandon has in his mind. This is even shown within the subtlety of the dialogue. Brandon correctly guesses the colour of the same woman’s eyes having walked over shortly before, perhaps trying to show us what Brandon’s intentions for this woman already are. The climax of the film is showing us Brandon trying to cope with a very difficult argument with his sister, obviously through sexual encounters. This is Brandon clearly at his most desperate.

The film’s commentary on the act of sex is one that can be disputed

Having tried to improve all throughout the film by throwing away porn magazines and films which he was addicted to before and having tried to go on a date and start a committed relationship, we see Brandon clearly going off the rails and get the most pleasure as quickly as possible. This relapse shows just how hard it is to break an addiction, all it takes is one bad moment to persuade someone trying to break an addiction to go back to what they have used as a crutch for happiness, a crutch which is clearly unsustainable. The film’s commentary on the act of sex is one that can be disputed. By using it as a proponent to showcase the pitfalls of addiction, one could view this as a criticism of excessive casual sex as well as our culture’s very liberal attitude towards causal sex. Perhaps it wants to compare sex in some places to a drug, showing the psychological effects it has on Brandon due to his excessive use of it, as well as the physical effects it has due to his clear longing for sexual pleasure leading him to masturbate in a toilet cubical while at work. At the same time however, we have Sissy’s story. Sissy is, much like Brandon, trying to let go of a mind-set. Upset about being dumped, she has to readjust to being single which is something she clearly cannot do.

The implication given to the audience is that Sissy was perhaps quite clingy and that the breakup was very messy, hence we see her rely a lot on Brandon when Brandon is not quite up for taking on that responsibility mainly due to him trying to hide his addiction. This is a clear contrast in lifestyle to Brandon’s. Sissy clearly prefers monogamy and when she is stopped by Brandon from trying anything with his boss, Sissy is clearly upset by this as she feels that Brandon is blocking an avenue to her happiness. Hence a criticism seems to be made about being excessively attached to one person as well as sleeping around with multiple people, as Sissy is portrayed as lacking independence all throughout the film. There are many other examples and themes to be picked apart, Brandon’s unsuccessful date, the relationship between Sissy and Brandon, yet the main themes of addiction and trying to overcome addiction are the ones that stick with me most, due to the way that the mind-set of someone constantly relapsing when trying to let go is shown so gracefully in the film, in tandem with its writing, editing, shot composition, acting and so forth. I hope that if you were not much of a fan of Shame before, this discussion has shown you that it is at least a film worth dissecting.