This film is set in New York and is about two Americans. It's a bit of a mystery therefore why it stars Michael Fassbender (who sounds German) and Carey Mulligan (who sounds English). This fact constantly grated on me no matter how wonderful other aspects of the film were.
That rant over, there was a fairly big upside to Shame, namely the cinematography and the top-notch acting. Steve McQueen almost makes New York the star of the film. There are loving, lingering shots of the waterside, subway carriages and dark alleyways - the city really comes alive in his hands.
Fassbender and Mulligan act their socks off, he as an executive with a porn and prostitute addiction and she as his wayward sister. However, it was a long single-shot of Fassbender on a dinner date with his co-worker Nicole Beharie which wowed me. It really captured the man's charm and longing to live a more normal life.
Shame is a strange Anglo-American hybrid. A few tweaks to the script (why couldn't Brandon be a British ex-pat?) would have ironed out its awkward moments and made it truly wonderful.
That rant over, there was a fairly big upside to Shame, namely the cinematography and the top-notch acting. Steve McQueen almost makes New York the star of the film. There are loving, lingering shots of the waterside, subway carriages and dark alleyways - the city really comes alive in his hands.
Fassbender and Mulligan act their socks off, he as an executive with a porn and prostitute addiction and she as his wayward sister. However, it was a long single-shot of Fassbender on a dinner date with his co-worker Nicole Beharie which wowed me. It really captured the man's charm and longing to live a more normal life.
Shame is a strange Anglo-American hybrid. A few tweaks to the script (why couldn't Brandon be a British ex-pat?) would have ironed out its awkward moments and made it truly wonderful.