When talking about a film like Shame, I guess you have to address the controversy head on. This film has a lot of sex in it. And so it should. It’s a film about sex addicts – how else would you film it. To have the sex off screen would go against main intention of this film – to bring this addiction to the public. To stop it from being seen as shameful.
And so the film does. While the sex scenes are many and explicit, they are undercut by a sadness, which stops them ever feeling sexy or exploitative.
The film centre on Michael Fassebender’s sex addict, Brandon, who gets a surprise visit from his sister, Sissy (Carey Mulligan). Something has happened to the both of them in the past (there are suggestions of incest) that has sent them down very different, but equal damaged, paths.
Carey’s Sissy is also suffering, but she’s ‘regular crazy’ – crying on the phone to her boyfriend, self harming, needy, unreliable. She’s the kind of person who comes seeking help, because she has socially acceptable issues. And so she turns to big brother Brandon, hoping he’ll help, because, from the outside he seems like a dependable sort of guy. He’s well dressed, successful, charming and very likeable.
However, this is only the surface. Beneath lies someone in need of help as much as his sister. Yet, while his addiction is just as harmful to his life, almost costing him his job, damaging his relationships with women, and getting him a good beating, he cannot seek help because sex addiction is not something people can comfortably talk about.
In fact, I’m sure there’s many of you reading this now saying, ‘So what, he like’s sex – who doesn’t?’ But what Fassebender’s excellent portrayal shows is that he doesn’t like sex. He enjoys himself while in the act, but as soon as he’s finished, he’s thinking about the next, bigger, more exciting hit.
Shame is not necessarily a film many will want to watch again. It’s not harrowing in the way many drug dramas are, or hard hitting, but it is undeniably sad. Not miserable, more melancholy. It’s almost like Brandon agrees with the public – that his problem shouldn’t be an issue. That he should just deal with it.
But instead, he just hides it. While his boss cheats on his wife, sleeps with Brandon’s sister, and is in general a bit of a sleaze bag, Brandon, to all intents and purposes, is a good guy.
This is the beauty of Fassbender’s performance. You believe the switch from nice guy on a date, to tortured addict during a threesome. But it’s no Jekyll and Hyde. These aren’t too sides to a personality, they are one man. Everything he does in his life is based around sex. Every look on the tube, every time he gets home to his flat, every toilet break at work.
While the subject matter might not be to everyone’s taste, this film should be seen. In a genius piece of marketing, the poster for Shame is a mirror. For we all have our secrets – and this film shows that we need to confront those demons, or have them take us over.
