Shame (2011)

“Shame” is a harsh and compulsive film, directed by Steve McQueen.

The film tells us about the life of Brandon (Michael Fassbender), a life that is almost perfect: he has a stable work, a nice apartment, good friends and women who adore him.

However, something prevents Brandon from having a relationship that lasts more than four months, this inability is due to the fact that Brandon is addicted to sex- to casual encounters with strangers and prostitutes, to pornography and masturbation.

Attractive, impeccable and outwardly educated, Brandon is also the image of coldness: his terrible inner anger can only be reassured and kept through constant sexual release.

To some extent, he seems to have his addiction under control, until his sister Sissy (Carey Mulligan)  arrives unexpectedly to find a place to live for a while. In the case of Brandon, the arrival of his sister will make him challenge his own emotions and face his reality.

Director Steve McQueen also presents us a fascinating study of modern technologies: they isolate people more and more and prevent them from establishing emotional bonds with others. 

The film doesn’t need much dialogue to express the harsh and desolate feelings of the characters, this “shame” that causes Brandon to have that addiction is the fundamental part of the film, the suffering he feels and the guilt that overwhelms him are notorious in each of the scenes, this generates a feeling of constant suffering and leads us to compassion.

“Shame” is a unique psychosexual analysis, in which those guilty desires are exteriorized in an unbalancing and extremely dark way.

by Octavio Carbajal González