Thursday, February 2, 2012

It’s a Shame it Wasn’t Better

Review: Shame
Guest Review by Kyle Kuzemchak

After Michael Fassbender’s explosion onto the Hollywood scene with his portrayal of Magento in X-Men First Class, I immediately began to watch as many of his movies as possible. One of the movies I encountered was director Steve McQueen’s first film, Hunger, about a hunger strike in the brutal Irish prison system. What was an intriguing and powerful concept was ruined for me by a difference in artistic vision; Some people, like McQueen, believe that prolonged shots and drawn-out scenes stand for going against the grain and an enlightened artistic vision, while others, like myself, find it to be dull and boring. Shame featured many of these “artistic qualities” that contributed to what was a dreary experience for me.

The film centers around a man named Brandon (Michael Fassbender), who is a sex addict whose life gets turned around when his sister, appropriately named Sissy, portrayed by Carey Mulligan (An Education) moves in with him. The NC-17 rated film shows its goods, quite literally, beginning with the first scene, where a full-frontal Fassbender walks around his apartment, checking answering machine messages and using the bathroom. Nudity continues to be a dominant theme in the film, as we see sex scene, after sex scene, after masturbation scene; even Mulligan is completely nude when first on screen.

Although the performances were solid, the acting could not carry the weightless dialogue of the script. The first bonding experience we see between the newly reunited brother and sister is when Sissy sings at a bar, and Brandon looks on…and on…and on. The scene consists primarily of one single, steady shot of Sissy’s face as she performs “New York, New York” for around a grueling three minutes (which felt like ten minutes). This was the first instance where McQueen’s artistic vision collided with my vision of art, as I lost interest in the three-minute scene after about three seconds. This occurs a few more times in the film, where a one-shot take goes on for minutes longer than I felt necessary.

Despite my complaints, the film was guided by a clearly talented, unimpeded artistic direction, and the beginning and the end of the film were gripping. Fassbender and McQueen’s portrayal of the life of a sex addict make you wish you never have to deal with something like that in your life; Brandon constantly had to masturbate in the bathroom at work or pay for a hooker, and was clearly unhappy in every pursuit. But the drawn-out scenes in the middle of the film take away the uncomfortable feeling of anxiety and depression and replace it with boredom.

The Final Word: Skip It, unless you are a fan of atypical, artistic cinema, then Go Buy a Ticket

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