Shame

Over the weekend I went to see the movie 'Shame,' a film by Steve McQueen chronicling the life of a sex addict - Brandon Sullivan - played by Michael Fassbender, also known for a small role Lt. Archie Hilcox in Inglorious Basterds and a surprisingly emotional role as the young Magneto in X-Men: First Class. Here is where Michael Fassbender first caught my eye. Up until then the X-Men series has played out as more of an unhappy family reunion of celebrities.

In 'Shame,' Fassbender gives an authentically disturbing, evoking and painful performance. His character Brandon is a sex addict whose sister comes to visit him (Carey Mulligan, reprising her irritatingly typecast role as the withering victim) and throws his life sharply off balance. First we get a good look at Brandon's social, professional and personal life. A look into these aspects of his life in such sharp focus that I dare you not to feel like a pervert for just sitting through it. It's incredibly effective, and sets the stage for every painfully congenital moment in the film's arc.

Carey Mulligan (playing Sissy Sullivan) does a great job of making you feel both sympathetic toward and totally turned off by her needy, energetic and pathetic disposition. At the point in the film where she makes an appearance the audience is already so wrapped up in Brandon's life that we can't help but vicariously bristle at the intrusion. This makes the volatile dynamic between the siblings all the more raw, the tension between them bubbling up and over multiple times resulting in the fierce manifestations of Brandon's inner demons.

Of course, only with an actor like Michael Fassbender can this evoke such a visceral and acute response to a dynamic. I will go as far as to say that I have never felt so much through a character as Michael Fassbender made me feel through Brandon. Though the audience is given access to Brandon's daily life and rituals we are never subject to his thoughts or to his actual processes. We are tourists, trying to understand a man through only his face and his routines and I have to say I have trouble thinking of any actor that can put so much intensity into any scene using only his expression. The script isn't dialogue heavy - the subtle tremors of emotion in Fassbender's expression and the score serve as more than enough to get you to not only connect on an alarmingly real level with the character but to self reflect in a way that will make you uncomfortable with yourself. Watching Fassbender play this incredibly controlled, tragic man will give you the same discomfort that you might feel watching somebody grieve. Probably because in a lot of ways you are.

Steve McQueen directs the film in a way I can best describe as patient. If you haven't caught on by now, you are more than likely going to find yourself in a state of tension for the entire film. But McQueen doesn't rush it, he doesn't give the audience the gratification of moving things along or of finding resolution. His direction is patient, at times drawn out and it never lets you get away with sitting back and assuming things will be fine. His directing along with the score takes it's time, makes you sit with Brandon through every painful moment of his life because he's not going to let you off that easily. You don't get to just infer the suffering of this man, you are going to watch it unfold in real time. This is where the film's power comes from. Instead of rushing the scenes, creating distracting dialogue and making Brandon universally relatable the camera lingers long enough on Fassbender's face during scenes so graphic (emotionally and at times sexually) that you can barely sit still, creating the almost unbearable discomfort that defines his character.

All in all, an incredible film. I can't recommend it enough - just make sure you don't have any social plans after seeing it because this one will stay with you for a while.

You can find the trailor here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=62nelnMXW3M
If you've seen it, what do you think?