for "shame"
Watched a CAM version of "Shame" because I was in the mood for a good mood downer. Or something. I don't know. Why are the best movies the ones that are so sad? There's something so magnetic about a film that explores the complex, deep, twisted insides of broken miserable people. Anyway, I would like to say that the Academy and everyone else should just so fucking fuck themselves for not recognizing the miracle that is Michael Fassbender.
And also his penis.
Which is really hawt.
"Shame" is about a man named Brandon who suffers from deep, crippling sadness. You can see it on his face, you can see it in his movements, you can see it as he orgasms. Like many people with depression he seeks to dull the pain with something, anything. For some it's alcohol, for others it's drugs, for him it's sex. He seems to be a functioning addict until his sister pays an unexpected visit and then the shit just hits the fan.
It's sad that because of the penis and breasts in this movie it is NC-17 although opening someone up from the inside out and then bathing in their entrails is only R. In that spirit I would first like to address the sex scenes. I think one reservation I had about this movie was the way women would be depicted. We're dealing with a male sex addict. For many filmmakers, and as my friends have complained, even good male filmmakers will fall prey to the salacious male gaze. In the case of a movie about sex there is a context to it, to the analytical way we are brought into Brandon's mind through the camera, at the way women are perceived and objectified. For Brandon women are simply a way for him to dull whatever feelings attack him on a daily basis, the way a man would use a bottle to ease his dis ease. What saves the film in that regard then is the ways in which Brandon also becomes just a body. He is a penis, he is a buttocks, he is a naked back and a thrusting loin. He is nothing but a shell, a man who will drift from one sexual encounter to another without semblance of self. And then when it pans to his face, observes the absolute pain he seems to be experiencing as he climaxes, there is no joy. There's no pleasure or happiness or gratification. There's arousal, then guilt, then - yes - shame.
There's a danger for the audience to entirely miss that or for them to interpret it differently but the long shots? The awkward extended pauses? The focus on one body part or one face for what seems like years? There's a clear sense that through the framing and the directing and the editing we're meant to feel extremely uncomfortable about what Brandon is doing. Even as we watch Brandon plunge his fact into a woman's breast and put his hand up her skirt I have this extreme compulsion to look away, because this isn't a man taking pleasure in wantonness. This is a man destroying himself as we sit by and observe. There's a scene near the beginning where Brandon sits on a train and eyes a woman. He just stares her down with a half cocked smile and an intense gaze and at first she's flattered. But then as the camera refuses to leave her face, as the camera emphasizes just how long and how unwaveringly Brandon stares at this woman, we as an audience begin to feel our skin crawl, just as hers does. She is at the same time flattered and unsettled. It's awkward and uncomfortable and he his completely unaware.
There is also the fact of Sissy, Brandon's sister. The two of them obviously went through something as children but we never find out what. She's destructive too but in other ways. Her actions reveal that she is selfish, needy, impulsive, and emotional. I was worried at first this would turn incestuous but instead there's always that feeling it is simply a case of two extremely vulnerable people dealing with their issues in very different ways. Sissy needs Brandon to be some sort of emotional rock for her but he is incapable of it. When he fights with her he's cruel, he's mean, he's terrible. The movie doesn't shy away from how much of an asshole he can be. Yet Fassbender delivers it in such a way that we know it's not her he's trying to punish. It's himself. There's a scene where Sissy's on the phone with a man and she's begging him to take her back and Brandon goes to the door of his room to listen to her through the walls. There's such sadness on his face, a deep afflicting love but when they're together he's a raw nerve. He can barely say two kind words to her without exploding.
This isn't a pleasant movie to watch but it is deeply affecting. It's definitely a completely different tone from a movie like "The Descendants" or "The Artist." It's not as accessible, not as "greatest hits" film nerdy, not as colorful or optimistic. But it's so much braver. It tries so much more, it says so much more, and the film making itself is far more exploratory and adventurous.
I hope Steve McQueen and Michael Fassbender continue doing movies together. Forever.
Edit: To be fair though, at some points "The Artist" does share the same tone as "Shame." And "The Descendants" for that matter. Because "The Artist" is manic-depressive and should be put on Lithium.
And also his penis.
Which is really hawt.
"Shame" is about a man named Brandon who suffers from deep, crippling sadness. You can see it on his face, you can see it in his movements, you can see it as he orgasms. Like many people with depression he seeks to dull the pain with something, anything. For some it's alcohol, for others it's drugs, for him it's sex. He seems to be a functioning addict until his sister pays an unexpected visit and then the shit just hits the fan.
It's sad that because of the penis and breasts in this movie it is NC-17 although opening someone up from the inside out and then bathing in their entrails is only R. In that spirit I would first like to address the sex scenes. I think one reservation I had about this movie was the way women would be depicted. We're dealing with a male sex addict. For many filmmakers, and as my friends have complained, even good male filmmakers will fall prey to the salacious male gaze. In the case of a movie about sex there is a context to it, to the analytical way we are brought into Brandon's mind through the camera, at the way women are perceived and objectified. For Brandon women are simply a way for him to dull whatever feelings attack him on a daily basis, the way a man would use a bottle to ease his dis ease. What saves the film in that regard then is the ways in which Brandon also becomes just a body. He is a penis, he is a buttocks, he is a naked back and a thrusting loin. He is nothing but a shell, a man who will drift from one sexual encounter to another without semblance of self. And then when it pans to his face, observes the absolute pain he seems to be experiencing as he climaxes, there is no joy. There's no pleasure or happiness or gratification. There's arousal, then guilt, then - yes - shame.
There's a danger for the audience to entirely miss that or for them to interpret it differently but the long shots? The awkward extended pauses? The focus on one body part or one face for what seems like years? There's a clear sense that through the framing and the directing and the editing we're meant to feel extremely uncomfortable about what Brandon is doing. Even as we watch Brandon plunge his fact into a woman's breast and put his hand up her skirt I have this extreme compulsion to look away, because this isn't a man taking pleasure in wantonness. This is a man destroying himself as we sit by and observe. There's a scene near the beginning where Brandon sits on a train and eyes a woman. He just stares her down with a half cocked smile and an intense gaze and at first she's flattered. But then as the camera refuses to leave her face, as the camera emphasizes just how long and how unwaveringly Brandon stares at this woman, we as an audience begin to feel our skin crawl, just as hers does. She is at the same time flattered and unsettled. It's awkward and uncomfortable and he his completely unaware.
There is also the fact of Sissy, Brandon's sister. The two of them obviously went through something as children but we never find out what. She's destructive too but in other ways. Her actions reveal that she is selfish, needy, impulsive, and emotional. I was worried at first this would turn incestuous but instead there's always that feeling it is simply a case of two extremely vulnerable people dealing with their issues in very different ways. Sissy needs Brandon to be some sort of emotional rock for her but he is incapable of it. When he fights with her he's cruel, he's mean, he's terrible. The movie doesn't shy away from how much of an asshole he can be. Yet Fassbender delivers it in such a way that we know it's not her he's trying to punish. It's himself. There's a scene where Sissy's on the phone with a man and she's begging him to take her back and Brandon goes to the door of his room to listen to her through the walls. There's such sadness on his face, a deep afflicting love but when they're together he's a raw nerve. He can barely say two kind words to her without exploding.
This isn't a pleasant movie to watch but it is deeply affecting. It's definitely a completely different tone from a movie like "The Descendants" or "The Artist." It's not as accessible, not as "greatest hits" film nerdy, not as colorful or optimistic. But it's so much braver. It tries so much more, it says so much more, and the film making itself is far more exploratory and adventurous.
I hope Steve McQueen and Michael Fassbender continue doing movies together. Forever.
Edit: To be fair though, at some points "The Artist" does share the same tone as "Shame." And "The Descendants" for that matter. Because "The Artist" is manic-depressive and should be put on Lithium.