No Empathy For Sex Addiction In 'Shame'

I can see why the Cannes Film Festival was fascinated by British artist Steve McQueen's Shame. Lead actor Michael Fassbender (Hollywood's It boy this year) won the Best Actor Award at the Festival. McQueen himself won the Festival's first-time director award a couple of years ago with his first movie Hunger, also starring Fassbender.

With its extremely slow pace and artistic shots of New York City - its subway, its dark alleys, its wide extensive highways and its stunning architecture, you almost have to appreciate this movie not because of its content, but art for art's sake. McQueen is best known for making a couple of silent movies and believes that 'less is more' in terms of screenplay. He also represented Britain at the 2009 Venice Biennale.

But other than its art, I just can't build up any empathy for the sex addict in the film. The whole movie is extremely disturbing - polar-opposite brother and sister, Brandon (Fassbender) and Sissie (Carey Mulligan), are both perturbed, self-destructive individuals. The cold yet beautiful architecture in New York City emphasizes Brandon's loneliness. But the whole movie lacks rationale - there are just art and emotion or the lack of emotion in the case of Brandon. The director and writers see no need to explain what brought Brandon to this pitiful state. Everything is subject to the audience's own interpretation, including the movie's ending.

Nobody can resist Fassbender with his sculpted body in a lot of stark nudity, but I can't understand why he won the Best Actor Award at Cannes. I also don't get his pain. In North America, when you have an addiction, you go get treatment, not to forever indulge in your problem. I guess I'm too rational to appreciate this kind of art! The only merit in this movie is Sissie's performance of the song New York, New York in a totally unique way.

You should stay away from this movie if you can't stomach darkness and self-destruction!