August re:commendation: Shame

This is an Eating a Humble Pie kind of recommendation because when we first watched Shame in a theater, we really failed to connect to it. And then for the longest time we quoted this movie as a prime example of something boring and empty. However, on a whim, we rewatched it recently and wow, did our perception change. We’re properly shamed (sorrynotsorry).

Shame

What is it? A 2011 movie directed by Steve McQueen, starring Michael Fassbender and Carey Mulligan, tells the story of Brandon, an outwardly successful man fighing his inner demons that manifest in sex addictions. When his sister arrives for a stay the facade of Brandon’s world begins to crumble. But it isn’t really about the plot so much.

Why we love it? Not so much for story reasons as for the artistic choices and, especially, the two stars’ performances. Fassbender, especially, is breathtaking in his humanizing and honest portrayal of Brandon. Alien as his life seems to us, his suffering appears universal.

Visually speaking, this movie uses light, camera angles and interior design in a smart way. The New York of Shame both looks good and repels the viewer with its coldness and emptiness, reflecting Brandon’s inner world (or one layer of it). And (we have to add it), Fassbender is quite uncommonly attractive, too.

Shameless Shame Posters

We saw Steve McQueen’s movie Shame because of the poster above, on the left. We found it intriguing and remarkably quiet: the kind of poster which suggests things rather than yells at you. It has gloomy yet tasteful colors and impressive typography without unnecessary frills: just white Futura, smaller than it might be and more arresting for that. We weren’t alone in our appreciation because the poster has been cropping up on lists of best movie posters for 2011.