What can be more inappropriate on Valentine's Day than a movie about a sex addict who completely lacks the ability to emotionally engage with the women in his life, including his suicidal sister? Well, as we'll find out later, plenty - but nevertheless, Steve McQueen's Shame is a sordid tale which sets us on the path towards the grand finale. Brandon (Michael Fassbender) plays the sex addict in question, a successful advertising executive from New York who just can't get enough of what Alex from A Clockwork Orange referred to as "the old in-out". When his sister Sissy (Carey Mulligan) arrives at his apartment, Brandon clearly struggles to control his frustration with her emotional demands, and in his self-absorption he fails to recognize her cries for help. To say that Shame makes for difficult viewing would be a huge understatement - anyone familiar with McQueen's previous collaboration with Fassbender, Hunger, will know how painstaking and protracted his scenes can be, the long unflinching takes drawing the viewer inexorably into the film. Fassbender delivers one of the strongest performances of his career (which is saying something, given his exceptional track record), and like all good character studies Shame offers no comfortable resolutions, just a stark portrait of a man incapable of escaping his sordid sexual urges. Speaking of sordid sexual urges - moving on ...
