There are stories that are about life and all the aspects of life itself and then there are stories that are less like stories and more like studies of people and psychological issues.These kinds of films often leave the viewer with a sense of loss - precisely what Shame does - it brings the viewer into the depth of severe psychological disturbance in two particular individuals and makes one feel the loss that is consuming these people. Brother and sister; obviously victims of sex abuse in childhood of some order - and their current lives and dysfunction. Fassbender plays a man off the scale with severe emotional trauma that manifests itself in constant sex addiction - he is in break down. His sister, played by Mulligan is also in breakdown - the interesting family dynamic that is seen between siblings in abuse cases - they love/hate each other and are left to do the parenting which can never work. Some viewers will find the cold hearted sex scenes at time repetitive and indeed they are. But McQueen is clever in that he brings the viewer on a journey to see the severity of the addiction and all the forms it manifests in - leaving the protagonist tortured, exhausted and haunted. The added burden he takes on, is wanting to be the protector of his sister and then rejecting it - obviously he failed in protecting her in childhood and it still remained in the form of guilt. Often dysfunctional parents do a very heinous crime, in that they project on the children they are abusing ,that it is their fault - thus the long journey to break away and the healing process to even begin. Shame and guilt are heavy barriers in healing. Fassbender's performance is mesmerising. He deserves an award for it. It takes one to the heart of addiction and emotional dysfunction. The end of the film is ambiguous - did he break the cycle or didn't he? Society lends itself to sex and sexual abuse and addiction - on some level we are all obsessed with sex and it passes us by because we are not 'addicts'. The addict can find the outlet easily in modern society as it lends itself to all the vices and pain - but not readily does it lend itself to love. The sense of loss at the end of the film comes to the viewer as it is not clear if the protagonists made it through the darkness to the love that was obviously there in them too, waiting past the trauma and past the addiction.
Review of Shame
