What I Saw: Shame
In Steve McQueen’s Shame, Carey Mulligan plays a woman who is addicted to intimacy. She is incessantly on the phone with her relatives and past lovers trying to get closer with them, and shows up at her brother’s apartment unannounced when he doesn’t answer her calls. She is afraid of being alone, even sleeping with a married man in a desperate attempt at connection. In her world, the upbeat tempo of Frank Sinatra’s “New York, New York” loses its luster of independent self-sufficiency and instead becomes a ballad of unrequited love to all those who will not let her “be a part of it.”
What’s that you say? You live in a society where intimacy can’t be an addiction because it is a value instead? And therefore I’m supposed to limit my review to counting nude scenes and shaking my head at the sexual addictions of Michael Fassbender’s character? Not on this blog, faithful reader.
McQueen’s second feature film unveils more than mere body parts. It also unveils the structures of anonymity and intimacy upon which our society depends. From the crowded yet impersonal subway trains, to the private yet open-windowed architecture of luxury hotels, McQueen’s settings evoke a culture of conspicuous non-disclosure. We live in a world where we are supposed to be instant friends with our waiters, while making meaningless small talk with our dates. A world where a wedding ring broadcasts personal information to every stranger we meet, but is just as easily disregarded. A world where one’s boss can use the office’s video chat software to lie to his son about his whereabouts the night before, then skip right over the obvious and wonder why the intern is “filthy.” It is a world where sex hides in plain sight, and where the hiding itself is taken to be real.
Overcoming this deceptive onslaught of culturally determined words, clothes and customs requires intensely physical acting from the cast. Michael Fassbender transforms from a confident, handsome professional to a weeping, apprehensive shell of himself. Carey Mulligan flashes from woe to whimsy, and from despair to desperation. Nicole Beharie embodies how the nervousness of a first date opens the way for compassion and sensitivity. In each of them, we see how our human vulnerabilities place us constantly on the brink of our culture’s definitions of the acceptable versus the addictive.
Oscar Chances:
McQueen and Fox Searchlight are very wise to embrace their NC-17 rating as a “badge of honor.” And since most of the Academy is over 17 years old, I remain hopeful that the film will be given fair consideration by enough voters to receive some recognition.
Lead Actor: Michael Fassbender (currently ranked 6, likely to move into the top 5 in my next predictions)
Supporting Actress: Carey Mulligan (currently ranked 10)
Best Director: Steve McQueen (currently ranked 13)
Original Screenplay: Abi Morgan and Steve McQueen (currently ranked 13)
Best Picture (currently ranked 26, likely to move up in my next predictions)
Supporting Actress: Nicole Beharie (currently ranked 40 in lead category, will be moved to supporting in next predictions)
Cinematography: Sean Bobbitt (currently ranked 40)
As always, check the Tracker Pages in the upper right hand corner of this blog for the most updated predictions in all categories!
My Lamb Score: 3 ½ out of 5 Lambs
What is a lamb score? Click HERE to learn more.
Read more of my reviews HERE.
In Steve McQueen’s Shame, Carey Mulligan plays a woman who is addicted to intimacy. She is incessantly on the phone with her relatives and past lovers trying to get closer with them, and shows up at her brother’s apartment unannounced when he doesn’t answer her calls. She is afraid of being alone, even sleeping with a married man in a desperate attempt at connection. In her world, the upbeat tempo of Frank Sinatra’s “New York, New York” loses its luster of independent self-sufficiency and instead becomes a ballad of unrequited love to all those who will not let her “be a part of it.”
What’s that you say? You live in a society where intimacy can’t be an addiction because it is a value instead? And therefore I’m supposed to limit my review to counting nude scenes and shaking my head at the sexual addictions of Michael Fassbender’s character? Not on this blog, faithful reader.
McQueen’s second feature film unveils more than mere body parts. It also unveils the structures of anonymity and intimacy upon which our society depends. From the crowded yet impersonal subway trains, to the private yet open-windowed architecture of luxury hotels, McQueen’s settings evoke a culture of conspicuous non-disclosure. We live in a world where we are supposed to be instant friends with our waiters, while making meaningless small talk with our dates. A world where a wedding ring broadcasts personal information to every stranger we meet, but is just as easily disregarded. A world where one’s boss can use the office’s video chat software to lie to his son about his whereabouts the night before, then skip right over the obvious and wonder why the intern is “filthy.” It is a world where sex hides in plain sight, and where the hiding itself is taken to be real.
Overcoming this deceptive onslaught of culturally determined words, clothes and customs requires intensely physical acting from the cast. Michael Fassbender transforms from a confident, handsome professional to a weeping, apprehensive shell of himself. Carey Mulligan flashes from woe to whimsy, and from despair to desperation. Nicole Beharie embodies how the nervousness of a first date opens the way for compassion and sensitivity. In each of them, we see how our human vulnerabilities place us constantly on the brink of our culture’s definitions of the acceptable versus the addictive.
Oscar Chances:
McQueen and Fox Searchlight are very wise to embrace their NC-17 rating as a “badge of honor.” And since most of the Academy is over 17 years old, I remain hopeful that the film will be given fair consideration by enough voters to receive some recognition.
Lead Actor: Michael Fassbender (currently ranked 6, likely to move into the top 5 in my next predictions)
Supporting Actress: Carey Mulligan (currently ranked 10)
Best Director: Steve McQueen (currently ranked 13)
Original Screenplay: Abi Morgan and Steve McQueen (currently ranked 13)
Best Picture (currently ranked 26, likely to move up in my next predictions)
Supporting Actress: Nicole Beharie (currently ranked 40 in lead category, will be moved to supporting in next predictions)
Cinematography: Sean Bobbitt (currently ranked 40)
As always, check the Tracker Pages in the upper right hand corner of this blog for the most updated predictions in all categories!
My Lamb Score: 3 ½ out of 5 Lambs
What is a lamb score? Click HERE to learn more.
Read more of my reviews HERE.
