'Shame' is a sad movie that at the end doesn't give much hope. It raises some questions and it doesn't do it subtly. Everything it wants to tell us is perfectly shown on the surface. It is not meant to be very deep movie in that department, but it is thoughtful. Porn (and sex) addiction is much bigger problem than mainstream likes to acknowledge. It leads into depression and degradation of social behavior. Michael Fassbender's portrayal of Brandon fighting with it's inner demons, that cause him quite few shameful moments, is pleasantly calm and striking. His dysfunctional relationship with his sister Sissy (equally great performance by Carey Mulligan) is almost tragic. Two damaged people who need help, but don't know how to support each other. Unresponsible Sissy who can barely manage herself, and Brandon who's unable to let go of his addictions.'Shame' is very bleak view of someone's life spiraling down while they are perfectly aware of it, but in the end they do very little to escape.

Shame (2011) is actually the first NC-17 film I've ever seen. NC-17 is a very rare rating that the MPAA gives out. But I will say that this film earns it, be forewarned that there are very explicit sexual scenes with both full male and female nudity. Honestly this film needed to be explicit because of the film's content. The plot surrounds the character of Brandon, played by Michael Fassbender, who is a single man who lives in New York. He seems like a normal single man, but he is actually a sex addict, he has sex with anything that walks basically. He is always searching out sexual satisfaction. That satisfaction can either come in the form of masturbation or actual sex acts with other people. His life is interrupted when his singer sister Sissy (Carey Mulligan) moves in with him for a period of time because she has nowhere else to go. This film focuses on two things. It focuses on Brandon and his addiction to sexual activity. And two, it focuses on Brandon's relationship with his somewhat dependent sister Sissy. I love how the filmmakers are able to accomplish both of these things so well. There are scenes where we as the audience don't hear a lot as far as dialogue goes, but we see the characters actions, and you are able to see what their lives are all about and we're taken into these people's minds. The performances by the two leads, Fassbender and Mulligan, are absolutely fabulous. I adored their acting and they do it in a way where the audience is sucked in and captivated by what's going on. This is an absolutely fabulous film and I suggest it 100%. I'll admit that this is isn't a movie for everyone. If you are uncomfortable with the subject of sex or with strong sexual content shown on screen then I'd say you need to stay away. 9/10 for Shame.

'Shame' is a dull and uninteresting film that thinks it's a lot better than it actually is. It features minimal dialogue, extended scenes of nothing and a shallow story attempting to pass off as intellectual and deep. The film is directionless and completely unrewarding from the audience's perspective. What's in this film for the viewer? It's certainly not entertainment.Some people will view 'Shame' as art and will say that those who see it in a different light must have 'misunderstood' it. This is a telltale sign of pretentious filmmaking, and 'Shame' is exactly that. It's a film that attempts to say something deep and profound, but spends so much time admiring itself that it ends up saying nothing at all.

Steve McQueen made his debut with Hunger, which held up a microscope to the hunger strikes of Bobby Sands and IRA co, and made political protest into exquisite martyrdom. Faeces was smeared onto walls in mesmerising, concentric circles. Urine trickled out from under doors like a cascade, in an almost silent, unblinking long take. Never had starvation been given such serene treatment. The decay of Fassbender in that film was purely physical, a pivotal political icon reduced to a withering shell. And to a lesser extent, Shame is also guilty of that touch of extra elegance. The beginning and end of the film is bookmarked by Harry Escott's haunting soundtrack, which sounds as if it was personally in mourning. Yet in the meat of the story, as Brandon's addiction and life unravel, it is a classical accompaniment that smothers the most visceral moments. His insides are churning, his mind running a million miles as he listens to his sister having sex with another man. He is aroused by this, and ashamed by this arousal. He must leave, and pours his frustrations into sprinting around the block instead. But what should be as aggressive as his mindless thrusting is watered down by a tinkling piano, and a heavy moment is made lightweight. Fassbender, to his credit, is fully committed to scrubbing the film clean of any sexual enticement. On any other day he might be a winter wear model himself, with those piercing eyes and windswept hair, but the numerous sexual conquests dangled in front of him only provide brief respite. The editing makes sure of that, cutting to and away from murky street trysts with hardly a moment to even orient the viewer, let alone allow them to savour it. Early on the camera caresses coworker Marianne, and she returns the favour as they struggle between the sheets, tenderly running her hands over his face and scalp, drinking in his gaze. But Brandon is unable to process intimacy like this, having scarcely been this close with his sister let alone an acquaintance, and his body rejects the idea. That scene builds upon an earlier one which lays out the attraction as a mutual, but also purely physical. The dinner date is a masterpiece of timing and body language, of nervous chuckles and furtive glances. Their dialogue dribbles from opening small talk to a quietly desperate attempt to find any semblance of similarity, to no avail. If she had a cat, he'd have a dog, and her final goodbye expresses a sentiment he is all too familiar with. He sees dating as a means to an end, and sex as the drip that allows him to last until the next encounter. Brandon presents himself as sleek and successful, his apartment a sterile front to hide his degeneracy. Hurricane Sissy arrives to threaten that image, and with her returns a backlog of traumas thought to have been hidden away. When he hears her moaning pleasurably in the other room he spews vitriol and venom, but some of that anger is directed at himself and his inability to experience the same. When they hurl spit and insults at each other Brandon must will himself to not make the wrong move; he doesn't know whether to hit her or bend her over. He all but straddles her after she catches him masturbating, and her laughter is like a slap to the face of his denial. Mulligan is Fassbender's antithesis. While he conceals and festers she doggedly pursues, never minding the fact that her past has left her ill-equipped to stabilise and find peace. McQueen offers her the film's most audacious moment, a near five minute unbroken closeup of a performance in which she bares her soul, practically pleading for an inkling of hope, begging the city of lights to respond, and seemingly awakening a part of Brandon that has been long buried. That McQueen immediately follows this tenderness with a humiliating sucker punch is a testament to his daring. It is as close to a human being as Brandon has been for years, and now she is in bed with another man. He returns to staring at strangers' wedding rings. It is in the climax of the film that both brother and sister willingly throw themselves into oblivion, having once again decided that the scars they bear are too great to be overcome. Brandon's vice is characteristically showy; not one or two but three lovers, including a man, tangled in an embrace of frozen ecstasy. But 'lovers' must be the wrong word. Brandon has had sex too many times, but has love ever been the focus of them? Over the shuddering bodies is a line so simple and sparse that it rings truer than any of McQueen's flourishes. The confession is what breaks the cycle. There is urgency in his step. There is care for another human being. There is an acknowledgment of grief, and perhaps even change.