Shame

[Reelist]

DAMN. I still wanna like it, though.

[O.]

I liked it more than Hunger. If anything, how you guys feel about this one is how I felt about Hunger, and vice versa.

[ElPandaRoyal]

WTF??? You guys are nuts! This is the best movie of the year, with probably the best perfomance AND directing. In fact, to me it is a masterclass in mise-en-scene, in editing, in composition, in acting... McQueen trusts his work and his actors so much that he lets his shots take their time, he shoots their bodies and faces like I haven't seen in a while. The first 10 and final 20/15 minutes are breathtaking and intense, and everything in between is clearly, and I mean CLEARLY, as faithful to the characters and themes it portrays as can be - the scene where Fassbender's character goes running in New York out of frustration about his sister is amazing and claerly tells you what a mess that guy is. It's repetitious, because, well, that's what an addiction is supposed to be, but at the same time the movie is about so much more than sickness. It's a shame it's getting dismissed by you guys, as it is, I repeat myself, one of the best movies of the last few years.

[polkablues]

I'm with the Panda on this one.

[Reelist]

Yeah. I wish I could defend it as well, but I saw it on a bootleg copy so my opinion doesn't matter.

I still wanna likeD it, though.

[ElPandaRoyal]

Let's take this movie to the pantheon it belongs.

[The Ultimate Badass]

SPOILERISH

I thought this movie was pretty brilliant. After watching it I thought, "The Human Bonobo".

I was totally drawn into this film. I think the direction was fantastic. As Fassbender's character spiraled deeper into darkness I was with him and felt I understood him. I loved the beautifully grimy portrait of Manhattan, and the oppressively venal  atmosphere of corporate office culture. Just a great movie.

At its essence I think this movie is about the divorcing of sex from love, or any meaning whatsoever. Sex simply becomes a biological function to achieve biological result -- a process to cope with even the smallest stresses of life for Fassbender's character. What this film is is a fantastically realized glimpse into the pathological behavior of this character, but we're also shown how he arrived here.  In the scenes with his sister we can see their relationship is not normal.  I think it's clear they had sex with one another in the past and she also suffers a similar affliction. But I think the roots of all this are implied  in a single line uttered by his sister in a consoling voice on his answering machine toward the end of the movie: "We're not bad people, we just grew up in a bad place". Inferred in this statement is a past of sexual abuse at home, as children. They both probably found comfort and security in one another through sex after their ideas of sex had been twisted by abuse. As a coping mechanism, sex became simply a thing that produces a result, devoid of all meaning. Now they both live in guilt of this.

I enjoyed the elegant and subtle way this was communicated. There were no flashbacks, or long monologues. It was done cinematically.

[Reelist]

 


yeah, I've been really edging to watch this again

[Alexandro]

SPOILERS


I do wish the film had more info on how a guy like Brandon functions in all the other aspects of life while at the same time keeping up with his own impulses. However I admired the film for it's will to avoid all the cliches of addictions that are usually found on films. The one thing that did bothered me was Sissy's storyline. It starts pretty well but it becomes way too predictable by the time it ends. Maybe the character should be different or something from the beginning, I don't really know. It's just that her "I'm the fun sister" attitude that she has from the beginning made where she was going way too obvious for me to believe something else could happen besides her ending up trying to commit suicide right after that discussion with Brandon. It just felt like unnecessary suspense.

[DocSportello]

Spoilers




I finally got around to watching this last night for the first time and it really blew me away. I was expecting to feel totally grimy the whole time but I ended up completely enthralled. All the characters were believable to me. Even the supporting roles like James Badge Dale's character. I've never liked his acting (he kind of annoys the shit out of me to tell the truth), but I felt like I knew him as that dude who is so utterly convinced he's the man and so completely oblivious to what people actually think of him. Or Brandon's office fling girl. That date scene seemed so real to me. It was perfect the way the brutal waiter kept interrupting them and how she seemed so cheated when she realized how Brandon felt about relationships being unrealistic.

Fassbender was spot on and I think the sense of entrapment he brought is the most relatable aspect of his performance. The scenes where he would blow up at is sister were great especially the one on the couch shot from behind. The incest aspect seems totally possible now but I'm glad it wasn't completely explained why they are the who the are. One of the best I've seen in a while.

I hope he stayed on that train.

[ElPandaRoyal]

Rewatched it, this time at home on a beautiful Blu-ray transfer and it only confirmed my previous opinion. Hell, I can even go as far as to say that I loved it even more the second time. But I still can't tell whether he stayed on that train or not. I hope he did.

Oh, as far as Sissy goes, I love that character as well. She's not the fun sister. She's as troubled as his brother, and the fact that you think from the start that something might happen to her is perfect because I also think it's obvious. In fact, it's obvious to anyone who pays attention to her, except for her big brother, who is so immersed in his own demons to see it. That whole relationship adds another dimension to the movie.