Although frustratingly unfocused
and flawed in places,
this film is a testament
to the talents
of it's director
and leading actor.
Shame deserves acclaim, if simply because this came from such an inexperienced director (only his second film) and still turned out so meticulously made. This film is shot beautifully and shows outstanding talent from the future best picture winning director. It also features some of the most daring and impressive long takes I have ever seen. However, I do have some fairly harsh grievances with the film's subject matter, and more importantly how that subject matter is portrayed.
The film portrays the deep emotional and psychological issues brought on by serious sex addiction, and the loneliness that it can bring about is perfectly mirrored by the sparse and cold cinematography. However there are some questionable moments which in my opinion, work towards weakening the film's tone. For instance, a seemingly superfluous shot showing Fassbender's character snorting a line of cocaine, during a scene wherein he has supposedly cleaned up his act, is baffling to me. Not only does it carelessly gloss over drug abuse as an issue not worth exploring, as it is never brought up again, but it also ruins the idea that the character is genuinely trying to fix his vice ruined life. I have no clue why this pointless shot was included and it helped to contribute to the film's lack of focus. In addition (SPOILERS), a scene in which Carrey Mulligan's character attempts suicide is similarly lacking in depth. The issue of self-harm or suicide are not explored prior in the film, and it does not seem to tie into the primary issue of sex addiction in any substantial way. Overall issues such as these really spoiled the film's tone for me, and put the quality of the editing into question for me.
However, the film is filled with great qualities that these flaws do not ruin for me. Fassbender is outstanding, showing amazing expression in his face and throwing himself 100% into every single scene. He is great, and with the excellent of support of Mulligan, the film's primary cast truly impressed me. The rest of the actor's, all in relatively small roles, also do very well and overall I would call this film a testament to McQueen's ability to direct his performers beautifully. Also, as I mentioned before the cinematography is jaw-dropping and the film's pace is appropriately methodical. The score is of good quality too, if a touch repetitive for my taste.
In conclusion, I was impressed by Shame and I would recommend it. However it's flaws are deep and there are more I decided not to discuss here, mainly because they stray too far into personal preference for a review of this format. Suffice to say however that they are cut from the same flawed cloth as the other issues that I have discussed in this review. Shame shows outstanding promise, however it has too many issues to truly endorse this one.
By Jack D. Phillips
A Zoom Film Review
The film portrays the deep emotional and psychological issues brought on by serious sex addiction, and the loneliness that it can bring about is perfectly mirrored by the sparse and cold cinematography. However there are some questionable moments which in my opinion, work towards weakening the film's tone. For instance, a seemingly superfluous shot showing Fassbender's character snorting a line of cocaine, during a scene wherein he has supposedly cleaned up his act, is baffling to me. Not only does it carelessly gloss over drug abuse as an issue not worth exploring, as it is never brought up again, but it also ruins the idea that the character is genuinely trying to fix his vice ruined life. I have no clue why this pointless shot was included and it helped to contribute to the film's lack of focus. In addition (SPOILERS), a scene in which Carrey Mulligan's character attempts suicide is similarly lacking in depth. The issue of self-harm or suicide are not explored prior in the film, and it does not seem to tie into the primary issue of sex addiction in any substantial way. Overall issues such as these really spoiled the film's tone for me, and put the quality of the editing into question for me.
However, the film is filled with great qualities that these flaws do not ruin for me. Fassbender is outstanding, showing amazing expression in his face and throwing himself 100% into every single scene. He is great, and with the excellent of support of Mulligan, the film's primary cast truly impressed me. The rest of the actor's, all in relatively small roles, also do very well and overall I would call this film a testament to McQueen's ability to direct his performers beautifully. Also, as I mentioned before the cinematography is jaw-dropping and the film's pace is appropriately methodical. The score is of good quality too, if a touch repetitive for my taste.
In conclusion, I was impressed by Shame and I would recommend it. However it's flaws are deep and there are more I decided not to discuss here, mainly because they stray too far into personal preference for a review of this format. Suffice to say however that they are cut from the same flawed cloth as the other issues that I have discussed in this review. Shame shows outstanding promise, however it has too many issues to truly endorse this one.
By Jack D. Phillips
A Zoom Film Review
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