Review: 'Shame' at 34th Starz Denver Film Festival

Despite Steve McQueen's "Shame" being a hyper-sexualized, hyper-stylized, and emotionally jarring psycho-erotic drama, the film smoothly washes over you. Michael Fassbender's performance as a sexually compulsive Manhattanite confronting his addiction is a tour-de-force. Sissy, played by an infectiously eccentric Carey Mulligan, uncloaks his soulless exploits, like a phantom wind with no intention -- just consequence.

Mulligan's Sissy is simply a co-dependent songbird looking to crash on her brother's couch in between what are probably hopelessly romantic flings. She is the perfect counterpoint to Brandon's (Fassbender) hard-shelled corporate drone, like a humanized Patrick Bateman ("American Psycho") without the raincoat and axe antics. She is a free-spirited artist, a jazz singer without the slightest sense of socialized responsibility that her brother prides in.

Yet, it is a pride ridden with "Shame," a traumatized primal adolescent masked as a suave playboy while a snarling beast of sexual demons occupies his motives. Sissy is shameless in her actions, first appearing onscreen bearing all in the shower, effortlessly conversing with her shocked brother. She further invades Brandon's facade by doing the deed in his bed -- with his boss. The scene follows Brandon's tormented reaction as he paces the apartment, playing like a psychological rape scored by the audibly erotic giggles and moans of Sissy.

Brandon escapes the discombobulated situation with a 3 a.m. jog through New York City streets, gorgeously captured by an uninterrupted tracking shot. His sprint is reminiscent of Tom Cruise's walking chess moves through Manhattan in Kubrick's "Eyes Wide Shut." Where Kubrick's dark eroticism is a sexual odyssey to shameful redemption, McQueen's visual virtuosity outwardly explodes Brandon's equally shameful redemption.

"Shame" is ultimately redemptive, albeit an NC-17 romp through some of the most alluringly cinematic porn-chic seen in the art house. It's a full frontal experience for both Fassbender and Mulligan both emotionally and erotically. Fox Searchlight will release the film theatrically with the NC-17 "Badge of Honor," as studio president Steve Gilula said. Artistically, McQueen's film can't be re-cut, as there is so much symbolism to behold and such psychological prowess in Fassbender's face during graphic acts.

Also, a re-cut of the film would reduce it to mere flickerings of city lights, as so much characterization is revealed in "naked" dialogue. "Shame" leaves you awestruck by the depths of a man's obsessive addiction, due largely to Fassbender's ability to penetrate the psyche in a glance. Sean Bobbitt's lavish cinematography is like alchemy that melds cold city colors with the softly lit heat of ravenous bodies.

Then at the root of all this gratuitous cinema is Abi Morgan and McQueen's fluid script. The story defines a line in human sexuality, a line that seems easy enough to stand on either side of but only when seen from afar. Like lines of shore on a map, in reality when standing on the beach the line is impossible to define as it wavers with the tides.

"Shame" recently screened to audience applause at the 34th Starz Denver Film Festival. It will have a limited theatrical release in December 2011.

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