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Friday, December 16, 2011
THE TEN BEST FILMS OF 2011
10
9
8
7
6
5
4
3
2
1
Shame
3
Michael Fassbender as Brandon Sullivan in Steve McQueen's drama "Shame".
Fox Searchlight
Steve McQueen, director
Mr. McQueen, Abi Morgan, writers
1 hour 41 minutes
Rated NC-17 for some explicit sexual content
(Fox Searchlight Pictures)
December 2011
Michael Fassbender, Carey Mulligan, James Badge Dale, Nicole Beharie
"We're not bad people. We
just come from a bad place."
by
Omar P.L. Moore/PopcornReel.com
FOLLOW
Friday,
December 16, 2011
Sex addiction is glimpsed like never before in
Steve
McQueen's powerful second feature film "Shame", with the year's best
performance courtesy of Michael Fassbender as Brandon Sullivan, a lonely and
emotionally disconnected man whose ritualistic masturbation, anonymous sex and
pornography viewing is interrupted by his needy, lovelorn sister Sissy (an
excellent Carey Mulligan).
I believe that many more men appreciated this film than women did overall, but
that both sexes enjoyed or at least endured it. "Shame" is arresting and
undeniably potent but it never hits you over the head. One of the most
memorable things Mr. McQueen has said about one of the scenes in his film's
climax is that "it's Brandon's hell, not (anyone else's)." The scene in
question, which I won't give away, has irked some film critics and audience
members, and it's a scene you'll have to guess when you see "Shame". I
think the scene works well not as cynicism or an indictment of anyone but as an
observation of a man journeying into a lonely tunnel that has no light at its
end.
Mr. McQueen made moviegoers think and his mature portrayal of a serious problem
set against the bright lights of New York City is a metaphor for big city "I've
made it" dreams clashing with the nightmare of Brandon's self-abuse.
"Shame" left audiences with much to think about and glimpsed an all-too-real
world. This intense drama resonated, and I was shattered, exhilarated and
mesmerized.
Full written review
here. YouTube
review. The locations of "Shame"
here.
NEXT:
NUMBER 2
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