Shame 2011

 

Dismal and depressing story about a young man who has a sex addition that is out of control and pulling him down. Set in a somewhat desolate New York City that made me immediately think of our pandemic year especially in a beautifully shot tracking scene of a very late night run by our main man from the East side of Manhattan where he lives to 7^th ave which is on the west side of the city. Our “hero” is movie star handsome and is played by Michael Fassbender who is movie star handsome. He works in what I assume is a high tech company that we never learn much about, and lives in one of those sterile high rise but expensive apartments that line the streets and neighborhoods of New York City that is as empty as he is. Michael dresses well but his clothes are without style or taste, they are ugly. He is not capable of intimacy, which I suppose is a common trait among sex addicts. He uses sex workers literally night and day, and when not doing that he is pleasuring himself in the john at work and other places including after hours Gay clubs so he swings both ways when necessary. When not doing his doing he is watching porn on his laptop. I can’t and won’t judge him but for all of this he is not having fun. I’ve known a few sex addicts and they always seemed to be having a good time.  The movie is full of a sad scenes and into this sadness comes his really troubled lost younger sister who is a sometime lounge singer and party girl for all occasions. Acted well by Carey Mulligan who has a moment in a club where she sings a melancholic version of New York, New York that is definitely not Liza or Frank’s version. The film directed by Steve McQueen is lush in its look, all shiny and glossy with most of the film taking place at night as this sort of life style usually does. There is a lot of sex and nudity mostly of Fassbender and this might quality as a guilty pleasure for some and one of the major pleasures of the movie for others. I would say as the cliché goes that watching this film was like watching a roadside car accident, you know you should move on, but you can’t stop watching.