Shame
Tags: bleak

Plot synopsis:
Brandon (Michael Fassbender) is a successful, handsome thirty-something businessman living and working in New York City. Unknown to those who know him, he's struggling with a sexual addiction. On a subway train he flirts with a young woman (Lucy Walters) and she flirts back with him. She has a wedding and engagement ring on, and when they exit the train, she disappears into the crowd.After work, Brandon and his boss David (James Badge Dale) go out and meet three women at a club. Later Brandon has sex with the woman David was trying to pursue.When Brandon arrives home, he assumes a burglar is in his house but finds a naked woman taking a shower: it is in fact his sister Sissy (Carey Mulligan), a troubled young woman who has been left as damaged as Brandon by their troubled childhood, which is never completely revealed. Sissy tells Brandon that she has been living in Los Angeles for the past year and performing as a singer in local clubs. Having fallen on hard times, Sissy claims that she has no place to live and asks if she could stay with him for a while. Brandon reluctantly agreesThe next evening, Brandon and David watch Sissy singing a beautifully sad jazz version of  New York, New York at a club. Afterwords, Sissy sits with Brandon and David at their table where she talks a little more about herself and her singing career before. After a casual talk over drinks, they all go back to Brandon's apartment. While Brandon checks his mail in the lobby, Sissy and David go up to his apartment. When Brandon arrives, he hears Sissy having sex with David through the bedroom door, in his bed.Brandon leaves his apartment and runs on the streets while listening to Bach's piano music on his earphones. Brandon comes back home and sees that Sissy and David are gone. He changes the bedsheats and quickly goes to bed. A little later that night, he is annoyed by Sissy's presence who climbs into bed and wants to cuddle next to him. Brandon yells at her to go back to sleep on the couch and she leaves him alone.At work, Brandon then tries to pursue a relationship with his co-worker Marianne (Nicole Beharie), by flirting with her and asking if she would like to have dinner with him, and Marianne accepts. After having casual and pleasant dinner at a local restaurant, in spite of the young awkward waiter (Robert Montano) interrupting them several times, Brandon resists with himself to make a move on Marianne. They part ways at the end of the dinner, and he goes home alone.Later that night, Sissy arrives at Brandon's apartment and accidentally walks in on him masturbating in the bathroom. She then finds his laptop open full of pornography. Through the laptop camera, a woman (Charisse Merman) is half-undressed, touching herself while waiting for Brandon. She says that he would love the two women to get at it together. Brandon violently appears and accuses Sissy of spying on him and she storms out. Brandon then takes all of his pornography in his apartment, including his laptop, and throws everything out.The next day at work, he approaches Marianne and takes her to a lavish hotel room. In the bathroom, hidden from Marianne's view, he snorts a line of cocaine. They attempt to have sex but Brandon cannot maintain an erection. Marianne leaves, while he stays at the hotel room, feeling lonely and humiliated. Some time later, Brandon is seen having sex with another woman (Amy Hargreaves) in the same hotel room.When Brandon gets home, he watches animated cartoons on his TV set, and Sissy arrives and talks to him. He asks her where she was, and she tells him that she was with David. Brandon tells Sissy that David happens to be married, and Sissy says that she already knows, for David told her during their first night together. Brandon angrily tells Sissy that she must move out at the end of the week to look for her own place to live. She says that they are family and are supposed to help each other, but Brandon wants nothing to do with her because he says all she does is drag him down.Brandon then heads out and tries to pick up a woman at a bar (Anna Rose Hopkins), but ends up getting beaten up by her boyfriend (Chazz Menendez) after he insults him by telling him how he would pleasure her. Bruised and beaten, he tries to enter a nightclub, but he is denied entrance, as the party-goers look much younger than its usual crowd; in fact, they are probably underage, so the bouncer (Carl Low) insists that he can't get in that night. Brandon sees a gay bar across the street and enters it. As he walks through it, a man approaches and kisses him, then performs fellatio on him in one of the back rooms. Next, Brandon is shown entering a cheap hotel room occupied by two women (Calamity Chang and DeeDee Luxe). He ends up having sex with both of them at the same time.When he leaves, he sees that Sissy left a voice mail on his cell phone. He gets off the train he is on due to its being delayed by an implied suicide further up the tracks. He frantically calls Sissy but she doesn't answer, so he rushes home. When he gets there, Sissy is lying on the bathroom floor after having cut her wrists. She survives and he visits her in the hospital. When he leaves, he collapses and cries in the rain.Some time later Brandon is seen sitting on the train, going to work as usual. The same woman from the beginning sits across from him, only wearing her engagement ring. He tries to look away but she keeps staring at him and smiling... clearly flirting with him. She stands up to leave the train, expecting him to follow her like the last time. Brandon keeps looking at her, and before viewers can know if he is going to follow her or not, the screen cuts to black.THE END[written by KrystelClaire]

Review: Shame, the real feel bad movie of the year, is only McQueen's second feature film to date.
In Shame, McQueen dissects the very personal and often shocking sexual addiction of Brandon Sullivan (Michael Fassbender).
Like Fassbender, she gives her all for the role, exposing her true colors.In just two films McQueen has established himself as a major player in the art house scene.
Weeks later, I am still trying to decipher what may be one of the most shocking and raw films I have seen in quite some time.The titular Shame in question is what Brandon (Michael Fassbender), a posh yuppie living in New York City, must live with every day.
Seeing how far Brandon will go to satisfy and suppress himself is simply harrowing, not unlike films like Trainspotting and Requiem for a Dream were with their characters' drug addictions.
It makes for an awkward feeling, but one that evokes a response with every new scene.But for all of the shock and audacity, McQueen still managed to make a deeply troubled film that leaves a lot unsaid, and even more unresolved.
And to some extent he seems to have his addiction under control, until her sister Sissy arrives unexpectedly looking for a place to live for a while.British director Steve McQueen delivers a fascinating character study that explores how modern life (in which new technologies play a major role), increasingly isolates people and makes them unable to establish emotional bonds with others.
In Brandon's case, a hunter in search of pleasure and not love, the arrival of his sister will turn him into a prey of his own emotions and will make him face his reality.One aspect that has caused controversy is the way so raw and explicit to show Brandon's sexual encounters, however this becomes a necessary element, since it is through them that you can see Brandon's need and desperation as Sissy is more involved in his life.
Special mention deserves the dynamics established between them, since it is fully nuanced and can even be uncomfortable to witness but is devastatingly emotional (especially in the last minutes of the story).However, the most important element for the success of the film lies in the performances: in the hands of less committed actors Brandon and Sissy's conflicts would be unconvincing, but McQueen wisely chooses Michael Fassbender (both had previously worked together on Hunger), who literally bares body and soul to take Brandon's emotions to the limit and does it so impressively in a brave and courageous performance (and unfortunately the Academy possibly considered too intense for consideration in their nominations).
Meanwhile Carey Mulligan proves to be one of the young actresses with the best prospects and acting range nowadays: her rendition of the classic song New York, New York is an utter delight as well is one of the best scenes in the film.Shame, in the end (as in most character studies) does not seek to create empathy for the characters, but rather wants us to reflect and ask ourselves how we would react in similar situations..
"Shame" centers on Brandon (Michael Fassbender), a lonely, self-  alienated man in his thirties who tries his best to appear as your  average New Yorker with an office job whenever he finds himself out in  public.
The day Brandon's distressed, disruptive sister Sissy  (Carey Mulligan) barges into his condo looking for a place to stay  until things wind down and her sorrows disappear, his life begins to  spiral out of control.
In sum, Steve McQueen's "Shame" is a masterful character study with  top- grade performances from Michael Fassbender and Carey Mulligan and  a raw power unmatched by any other film I've seen.
Yet McQueen has a good go with his dark exploration of human character in Shame.Brandon (Michael Fassbender) is a successful and well off man living in New York City.
Shame plays as a drug addition movie, similar to Requiem for a Dream as someone struggles to give up something hazardous.Fassbender offers a powerful performance as a dark, sinister man with strong interplay with Mulligan as he becomes threatening towards her.
Their scenes were enhanced by McQueen's direction, using hand held cameras to follows Fassbender and the conversations stick to one point, making you feel like you are really watching them in a voyeuristic matter.
He has shown that he is a great actors' director, but McQueen also had some great visuals, such as a long tracking shot of Brandon jogging and Brandon watching two people having sex in their apartment.There are many moments in the movie that have little dialogue, relying on Fassbender superb abilities as an actor, particularly key in the beginning and during a long montage of Brandon wandering alone in New York, playing like a scene in the great novel Last Exit to Brooklyn.
This is a movie about Brandon's continuing descent and self-sabotage and Fassbender should hopefully gain an Oscar nomination to back up his award buzz in Europe.Shame continues McQueen's reputation as being one of the best emerging directors around, sticking to his no holds barred, brutal style which keeps a stage play quality to the presentation.
In New York, the empty thirty and something year-old Brandon (Michael Fassbender) is a sex-addicted man that works in an office.
If you want a bit of degradation, why not show Brandon in a clinch with a sheep - if, that is, you want a little 'shame'?There will be reviews cladding this movie with a lot of pretentious statements, but at bottom this is a film made for men who like to take a sideways and surreptitious peek at the urinal.
What Director Steve McQueen and co-writer Abi Morgan achieve in the raw and powerful Shame starring breakout star of 2011 Michael Fassbender and Academy Award nominated actress Carey Mulligan is some of the most daring and provocative work seen this year.
Telling the story of Brandon (Fassbender), a mid-30s successful businessman who balances his work life and his unflinching addiction to sex on a daily basis.
When his free spirited and often times irresponsible sister Sissy (Mulligan) drops by unexpectedly, Brandon is faced with having his dark secret unravel in his day-to-day operations.Headlined by tour-de-force performances by Fassbender and Mulligan, Shame wraps you from moment one, never easing its unyielding grip on us and showing the darkest parts of nature in a fresh and venturesome manner.
Brandon (Michael Fassbender) is supposed to be a porn addict who has gigabytes of the stuff on his PC at work and his laptop at home, plus a lot of magazines; he has anonymous sex with anyone he can find.
But Shamed disappoints in the way it sets up questions and then doesn't bother to explore them, instead getting sidetracked in the puerile joy of depicting desperate, obsessive sex.I quickly knew Shamed was going to fail, though, when the whole performance of 'New York, New York' as sung by Carey Mulligan (Brandon's batty sister) was left in.
Meretricious is not a word I use very often but it is the perfect description for this film which like many other indie art-house movies based on similar themes of urban alienation/sexual obsession/existential crises etc are really mildly titillating soft porn dressed up (or not as the case may be) as intimate and hard hitting character driven,profound and 'provocative' film making - which this is definitely NOT.
Just another film which exploits a sexually provocative subject matter and uses it as a reason to 'explore' the theme with lots of shagging scenes and justifies all this with a tenuously strung together plot which tries to insinuate profounder levels of meaning and emotional truth which are in fact non existent.The actors try their best to convey this deeper meaningfulness and the director fancies himself as Antonioni I imagine but he's not, and of all the Steve McQueens I know of i think he is the less talented one, and I know two - one the iconic movie star and the other one works in my local Cafe Nero and does spectacularly good smoothies..
A league that has more members everyday, society is so full of insecurity that this is the result, so many people too afraid to judge through lack of self confidence, that they succumb to their doubting thoughts.This movie is diabolical, and no it has not found an unusual level of interest that only few can appreciate, it is simply poor vacant ugly and sad.Go on stand up, say you hate it, be strong, forget about the negative 'tweets' (or whatever medium it is you use to belong) you'll get from your peers, just refuse even when your subconsciousness says "go on vote 10 out of 10, Doogle and Cedric will think you're so 'in' and that girl with the green hair who makes puppets from used polystyrene coffee cups will think you are so amazing".BE STRONG, please we don't have much time left, we're almost outnumbered..
It started off quite well and I started to think to myself that this was going to be a good gripping drama.Michael Fassbender seemed like a really mysterious character and he and Carey Mulligan did give good performances as the brother and sister, although some of their scenes were quite uncomfortable to watch and the script just seemed completely unrealistic.
You need to at least want to understand why he acts the way he does, but truthfully he is not at all likable, there is nothing that makes you want to help or understand him.The film it just a stream of dislikable characters, embarrassing sex scenes and it's all so harsh and pointless.Really disliked this film a great deal and I would recommend a wide berth.
Yes,it's about a sex addict,but did we need as much graphic sex in such large quantities that it swamped the point of the plot.Any sympathy or hope we had for ANY of the characters was washed away.As soon as we got into the story another "sex video" reared it's head.It wasn't the actual sex that worried me,I am 64 and have seen most things;what annoyed me was the fact that the movie became exactly what is was preaching against,someone or something obsessed by sex.BTW,if that is Carey Mulligans real singing voice she is great..
Of course, it is also a rated NC-17 movie for explicit sexual content, thus further bolstering its controversial reputation."Shame" tells about Brandon Sullivan (Michael Fassbender), a New Yorker who seems to be very successful in his career, but he is pathologically hampered by insatiable sexual urges that leads him to seek sex anywhere, with anyone.
This specificity is most likely his limiting factor when it comes to real life relationships and intimacy, but Brandon's life seems mostly manageable with the boundaries he sets for himself and the rigid schedule he follows.This routine is shattered when a person whose phone messages he has been ignoring suddenly shows up in his apartment, his sister Sissy (Carey Mulligan).
I finally went back and watched the ending of this movie so now i can give a full honest review .The real shame with this movie is putting someone who calls himself and "artist" and not a director in charge.The movie lacked fall from grace now seeing the complete performance i see that Fassbender's performance at times seemed strained or overacted .Mulligans performance like the movie itself seemed to be part of the background fluff .The 3some and and gay blowjob were pointless rock bottom scenario's .If a 3some with prostitutes constitutes a justifiable rock bottom for a sex addict.This movie should of ended with in the first 5mins of starting .
I was really looking forward to seeing 'Shame' because one, i'd seen a lot of critics headlines lauding it as the film of the year, and two, because I like a lot of Michael Fassbender's work.
Obviously there are hints at a rough childhood for Brandon and his sister but, if anything, Sissy's life and character could have been explored a lot more as she seems so much more interesting.To sum up the acting was fine and the movie looks good, but the weakness of the story was a major weakness.
I swear that as they went along they were making up the story and all of its truly dreadful and clichéd dialogue, as well.I loathe movies where it takes someone resorting to a serious suicide attempt in order to get their loved-one (be it a brother, sister, or whoever) to start to show signs of caring about them.Shame's absolute lowest moment was when Sissy (the sex-addict's trashy sister) sang her half-assed cover of the song New York, New York - And at the end of this absolutely unbearable performance the audience in the bar literally went wild with approval.
(I saw this movie around the time of its release).Michael Fassbender's Sex addicted and Porn addicted character was beautifully portrayed by him.
(A really good performance after HUNGER).The flaws of human being is wonderfully highlighted whether it was Fassbender or Carey Mulligan's character.The graphic nudity and portrayal of sex was a necessity keeping in mind the topic that was dealt in the movie.Steve McQueen has left no stones unturned in researching the character.Fassbender has managed to give a performance that few actors can give to justify the role.And the music was really good that matched the situation entirely.
The fact that Fassbender is up for a Golden Globe for this film is a disservice to the other actors in his category because it cheapens the award.I was shocked to come away from this movie feeling this way because I'd read so many positive reviews (with some as many as 10 stars!).
It's also ominous because this one scene explains the point of 'Shame': Brandon could be any one of us, an outwardly ordinary person, harbouring a dirty little secret.The sex is shocking only because it's natural-looking (I wonder if any of it was real?).
Shame is a very emotionally complex film about a man named Brandon (Michael Fassbender)who can't control his sexual addiction.
Steve McQueen's follow-up to his critically acclaimed directional debut is another powerfully compelling, unflinchingly graphic & downright disturbing example of art-house cinema focusing on the devastating effects of addiction that presents the director in prime form, is crafted with precision care & meticulous attention to detail, and benefits greatly from another excellent performance from Michael Fassbender.Set in New York City, Shame follows the life of Brandon; a 30-something man who's a sex addict.
While his carefully cultivated private life does allow him to indulge in his unhealthy dependency without any major consequences, his whole world spirals out of control when his sister unexpectedly arrives in town to stay with him for an indefinite amount of time as Brandon struggles to keep his private life as stable as it was before.Directed by Steve McQueen, Shame begins with Brandon flirting with a woman on his daily commute which is intercut with snippets of his daily life & that opening wordless sequence alone tells us everything we need to know about him by instantly giving us a ticket into the mind of this troubled character, and the manner in which McQueen approaches the subject of sexual addiction proves that he's one capable filmmaker who knows what he's doing.The screenplay is penned down by McQueen & Abi Morgan, who carve out a gripping story filled with interesting characters.
One wonders why we need to watch Michael Fassbender urinate...or agonize over his many, easy sexual conquests (oh, that so many of us could have his excoriated anxieties and live in bourgeois Manhattan comfort and affluence!), and act like a general creep throughout what has been touted as one of the hot films of 2011 (?)The overall feeling is, without a projected sense of irony, one of shame.
SHAME is a brilliant, courageous, visually and emotionally stunning film by a new team of collaborators – director/writer Steve McQueen, cinematographer Sean Babbitt, and actor Michael Fassbender first gave us the unforgettable HUNGER and now they have teamed to present yet another unique work that will likely go down as one of the finest films of the decade.
Shame is a movie about a New York man, Brandon, (the amazing and underrated Michael Fassbender) trying to live a normal life while keeping his sex life in control.
Yet in the opening scenes of his latest film, Shame, McQueen provides us with a very one-sided view of the sex addiction debate.
It's clear that when you enjoy something to much and become a sex addict, life can become dangerous just the way it does for Brandon.In a powerful and raw outspoken performance from Michael Fassbender, "Shame" is the story of Brandon a single good looking New York city business guy who's successful and wealthy and his one passion is sex.
No matter how you feel about the issue of sex addiction "Shame" is one film not to be missed..
SHAME is a portrait of the vicious routine of addiction, and Fassbender strips himself completely bare, both literally and emotionally, following the arrival of Brandon's sister Sissy (Carey Mulligan).
Director Steve McQueen and Michael Fassbender collaborated for the first time back in 2008 with "Hunger", which is also a beauty in terms of film, but is also about not-so-pretty subject matter.
Michael Fassbender is playing a character with a sex addiction problem.
Overall, this movie was well acted, but I think I would have liked to see less nudity on Michael Fassbender's part, and more of him addressing the deeper problem beneath the porn and sex addiction.
Expect characters, fantastic acting from Fassbender and Mulligan, good script/direction and a movie you can watch when you're in that certain ponderous mood.Highlight of the film was something we rarely see: A long, incredibly intense conversation scene with absolutely no cuts or editing.
"Shame", directed by Steve McQueen, transcends boundaries by conveying to the audience the life of a man coping with sex addiction.
Brandon, being a sex addict, frequently engages in hook-ups with prostitutes and the like, until one day, his life is disrupt by the unexpected arrival of his sister Sissy, played by Carey Mulligan.The film is top-notch with excellent direction, flawless cinematography, outstanding editing and remarkable acting.