In Shame, Michael Fassbender and Carey Mulligan play brother and sister who share a disturbing past that they only hint at, leaving film-goers to guess what happened to them as children and teenagers as their emotionally-crippled adult years unfold.
Fassbender's Brandon Sullivan is a thirty-something businessman who is relationally disabled. He seems incapable of connecting with anyone except through random, fleeting and sometimes dangerous sexual encounters. Mulligan's Sissy Sullivan, a lounge singer, craves a connection with her brother, a caring relationship. However, he is incapable of connecting with her except for fleeting moments of affection.
One of my favorite scenes in the film is when Brandon and his smarmy married boss, played by James Badge Dale, go to the club where Sissy is performing. Her rendition of Frank Sinatra's New York, New York is spellbinding, as is her brother's unfolding reaction to it.
Shame is rated NC17. There are a number of graphic scenes of full frontal nudity, threesomes, prostitutes, explicit language and more. None of it is gratuitous or particularly titillating because, what always comes through above all else is the emptiness and desperation in Brandon. He seems to wish to find a way out, but always to no avail.
As someone else wrote, this is not a good "first-date movie." Shame is not for everyone. It is compelling, disturbing and well-acted and directed. If you have a stomach for a disturbing film and a slice of the times we live in, check it out.
Fassbender's Brandon Sullivan is a thirty-something businessman who is relationally disabled. He seems incapable of connecting with anyone except through random, fleeting and sometimes dangerous sexual encounters. Mulligan's Sissy Sullivan, a lounge singer, craves a connection with her brother, a caring relationship. However, he is incapable of connecting with her except for fleeting moments of affection.
One of my favorite scenes in the film is when Brandon and his smarmy married boss, played by James Badge Dale, go to the club where Sissy is performing. Her rendition of Frank Sinatra's New York, New York is spellbinding, as is her brother's unfolding reaction to it.
Shame is rated NC17. There are a number of graphic scenes of full frontal nudity, threesomes, prostitutes, explicit language and more. None of it is gratuitous or particularly titillating because, what always comes through above all else is the emptiness and desperation in Brandon. He seems to wish to find a way out, but always to no avail.
As someone else wrote, this is not a good "first-date movie." Shame is not for everyone. It is compelling, disturbing and well-acted and directed. If you have a stomach for a disturbing film and a slice of the times we live in, check it out.