Shame (2011)

In New York City, Brandon's carefully cultivated private life -- which allows him to indulge his sexual addiction -- is disrupted when his sister arrives unannounced for an indefinite stay.

Director:

Steve McQueen

Writers:

Steve McQueen, Abi Morgan

Stars:

Michael Fassbender, Lucy Walters, James Badge Dale

Nominated for 1 Golden Globe. Another 26 wins & 52 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Michael Fassbender	...	Brandon
Lucy Walters	...	Woman on Subway Train
Mari-Ange Ramirez	...	Alexa
James Badge Dale	...	David
Nicole Beharie	...	Marianne
Alex Manette	...	Steven
Hannah Ware	...	Samantha
Elizabeth Masucci	...	Elizabeth
Rachel Farrar	...	Rachel
Loren Omer	...	Loren
Carey Mulligan	...	Sissy
Lauren Tyrrell	...	Hostess
Marta Milans	...	Cocktail Waitress
Jake Richard Siciliano	...	Skype Son (as Jake Siciliano)
Robert Montano	...	Waiter

Storyline

Brandon is a 30-something man living in New York who is unable to manage his sex life. After his wayward younger sister moves into his apartment, Brandon's world spirals out of control. Shame examines the nature of need, how we live our lives and the experiences that shape us.

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Plot Keywords:

new york | office | addiction | thirty something | porn | 

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Genres:

Drama

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated NC-17 for some explicit sexual content

Details

Official Sites:

Official Facebook Official site

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Release Date:

13 January 2012 (UK)

Also Known As:

Shame - Deseos culpables

Filming Locations:

28th Street Subway Station, Manhattan, New York City, New York, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$6,500,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend:

$349,519 (USA) (2 December 2011)

Gross:

$4,000,304 (USA) (20 April 2012)

Company Credits

Production Co:

See-Saw Films, Film4, UK Film Council

Technical Specs

Runtime:

101 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color (DeLuxe)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

During the jogging scene, Brandon is seen waiting at a stop light and in the background is an advertisement for the TV series Army Wives. Lucy Walters, who plays the woman on the subway train, also appears in Army Wives as Amy Sandberg.

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Goofs

In the restaurant Brandon orders a bottle of pinot noir. When it comes the bottle is not a typical pinot-shaped bottle. When the wine is poured it's a very dark, inky coloured wine unlike a pinot noir.

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Quotes

Sissy Sullivan: I'm trying, I'm trying to help you.
Brandon Sullivan: How are you helping me, huh? How are you helping me? How are you helping me? Huh? Look at me. You come in here and you're a weight on me. Do you understand me? You're a burden. You're just dragging me down. How are you helping me? You can't even clean up after yourself. Stop playing the victim.
Sissy Sullivan: I'm not playing the victim. If I left, I would never hear from you again. Don't you think that's sad? Don't you think that's sad? You're my brother.

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Crazy Credits

No opening credits.

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Connections

Featured in Ebert Presents: At the Movies: Episode #2.24 (2011)

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Soundtracks

"Variatio 15 a 1 Clav. Canone alla quinta. Andante from the Goldberg Variations"
Written by Johann Sebastian Bach
Performed by Glenn Gould
Courtesy of Sony Masterworks and the Glenn Gould Estate
Licensed by Sony Music Entertainment UK Ltd

User Reviews

The grim life of a sex addict

Steve McQueen made a real impact in the film world with his powerful debut Hunger. But like with musicians, there is always the risk that a director's second film will not live up to the high expectations the first effort sets. Yet McQueen has a good go with his dark exploration of human character in Shame.

Brandon (Michael Fassbender) is a successful and well off man living in New York City. He is also a sex addict who constantly picks up women, hires prostitutes, views internet porn daily and masturbates at any given opportunity. It affects his day to day life and he lives a lonely existence. His life is made more complex when his singer sister Sissy (Carey Mulligan), a woman with obvious problems, crashes at his place. She interferes with his life, including sleeping with his boss, David (James Badge Dale) and sets Brandon off to tackle his addiction.

Brandon is depicted as a really despicable character, but he is a man struggling with an addiction. There is a number of sexual scenes throughout Shame, but there is no eroticism as Brandon explores more depraved and disgusting acts and his life spirals out of control. Shame plays as a drug addition movie, similar to Requiem for a Dream as someone struggles to give up something hazardous.

Fassbender offers a powerful performance as a dark, sinister man with strong interplay with Mulligan as he becomes threatening towards her. Compare him to Mulligan, a much more brittle character, on the edge for different reason. She gives a heartbreaking performance as a woman who does not know how to do deal with problems and has a sadness in her eyes. Their scenes were enhanced by McQueen's direction, using hand held cameras to follows Fassbender and the conversations stick to one point, making you feel like you are really watching them in a voyeuristic matter. This makes the movie more tense as the tone changes in an instant.

McQueen employs a grainy filter, giving Shame a dark, grim look which is perfectly fitting considering the atmosphere of the movie. The visuals have a similar feel and tone as other gritty and grim New York set films such as Taxi Driver, Midnight Cowboy and American Psycho, all of which follow the horrible underbelly of the city. He has shown that he is a great actors' director, but McQueen also had some great visuals, such as a long tracking shot of Brandon jogging and Brandon watching two people having sex in their apartment.

There are many moments in the movie that have little dialogue, relying on Fassbender superb abilities as an actor, particularly key in the beginning and during a long montage of Brandon wandering alone in New York, playing like a scene in the great novel Last Exit to Brooklyn. This is a movie about Brandon's continuing descent and self-sabotage and Fassbender should hopefully gain an Oscar nomination to back up his award buzz in Europe.

Shame continues McQueen's reputation as being one of the best emerging directors around, sticking to his no holds barred, brutal style which keeps a stage play quality to the presentation. Shame is tough, but worthy just for Fassbender's performance and keeps to a tradition of grim New York based film.

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