Shame – A szégyentelen

I love this feeling of pure joy at how this film is made. Shame is a precise, depressive drama and Fassbender is becoming on of the most interesting “young” actors of the moment. (2012.04.12)

Whether you wake up alone in the morning, next to a steady partner, or with someone different every day, Shame attacks the core of each of us. Brandon's behavior may start out as just a casual walk with various sexual undertones, but the last half hour takes all the psychological weight and throws it into the viewer's lap. The mental pain, which increasingly radiates from Fassbender's eyes, didn't repel me, destroy me, but rather incredibly fascinated me. A film that only in the last seconds definitively proves how complex and deep it is. (2012.07.28)

My low rating is not related to the shock of sexually explicit scenes or the lack of even minimal identification with the main character. It stems from the fact that Brandon was uninteresting to me from the beginning and I quickly felt from the film an artificially created situation and a superficial story. Simply put, I was bored and found the movie detached. Overall impression: 25%. (2018.02.19)

What has happened to us? We are crumbling under the pressure of the modern age, we pretend that nothing is happening and try to blend in with the crowd to survive, only to turn back into our real selves when we are alone in private. We turn into unstable individuals who don’t belong anywhere, with an inclination to... experiment. Shame deals with advanced sexual addiction and portrays a man in the final stage of decay, culminating with the arrival of his sister. And this results in a couple of scenes that are nightmarish for every brother. An absolutely precise acting performance by Michael Fassbender (where is that Oscar nomination?) draws you into the sleazy world of success, opportunity but also emptiness. With him, we observe mere silhouettes of people with whom he enters into relationships, either bed or work-related, we see his efforts to escape and failures accompanying such attempts. And even the punishments he gives himself for his failures. A very distinctive and slow-paced movie certainly not to everyone’s taste, or understanding, or even misinterpretation. If just for that unbelievably strong scene in the metro (the ravishing Lucie Walters) at the beginning of the movie it deserves all the stars. (2012.03.18)

An emotionally complex masterpiece, the likes of which have not been seen in a long time (especially within the genre). Steve McQueen, much like Woody Allen, revolves around societal relationship issues, but in a completely different way. He is shocking, he is perverse, he is minimalist and intense. Flawless in terms of acting, in terms of visuals, New York is squeezed to the maximum, and the music is brilliant. A magnificent musical motif for such a minimalist film, and yet it works. It would be difficult to improve anything. A film that defines the 21st century on a social level a work of art. (2013.06.07)

Although McQueen holds tremendous directorial promise for the future, he'd probably stumble a bit in this case if it wasn’t for Fassbender. This film, like few others, focuses on the psychology and nature of the individual, which essentially dictates the entire atmosphere and reflect all the moods and thoughts that surround McQueen's sexual experiment. And Fassbender sacrifices so much for his extremely difficult role that in some scenes he’s left standing, giving a performance worthy of at least an Oscar nomination. Some of the shots attacking the boundaries of porn are perhaps too violent, and the viewer should be prepared for a number of almost lyrical (I really can't think of another term) passages, but otherwise what we have here is a perfectly executed intimate drama that explores eroticism and passion from the opposite point of view, unfortunately often present in life. If there's ever going to be an adaptation of “50 Shades of Grey”, it should be a job only for McQueen. :) 85% (2013.12.22)

I won't claim that this is a film that everyone will love. With his film "Hunger," Steve McQueen - no, not the legendary and late actor - made it clear that his films would not be simple. After a depressing hunger strike, we now have Michael Fassbender in the lead role again, who will not suffer from hunger but from sexual desire. This is not just a longing, but a genuine craving. He is willing to do it with any woman, anywhere. No, he is not willing, he actually needs it. We follow a man who is addicted to sex, a man who sinks deeper and deeper into human relationships because of it. Among his colleagues, he wears a mask that he never takes off, it only falls off in front of his own sister. Only with her does he understand who he is actually becoming. The film has many strong scenes, but one in particular stuck in my mind. Brandon, whom Michael portrays, really does it anywhere and in any way, but when it comes to making love based on emotion, perhaps love, he is unable to consummate the relationship. Is this our society? Is love and emotion disappearing, and are we becoming just those who need to fulfill their basic needs? In this sense, McQueen's indictment is perfect. It is explicit, it does not beautify anything, it cuts to the core. McQueen portrays himself as a great authorial creator from whom we can expect a lot more depressing content. Most people will find his "Shame" difficult to accept, but it is definitely worth it. More: http://www.filmovy-denik.cz/2012/08/lode-stud-zoo-marylin-pulnoc-v-parizi.html (2013.02.24)

Emotional deprivation, bandaged in vain with more than just casual sex, can never do anyone any good. I liked that Steve McQueen didn't mess around with it – he just took a knife, stuck it in the flesh, and gouged and gouged until the wound was so gaping it could hardly be healed. I am referring now to the overall feeling of the film and the really very "nice" fate of the main character. An attitude and a world in which love and moral principles have completely disappeared, leaving only something dubiously empty – physically satisfying for the first few tries, but utterly unable to quench the desperate thirst for mental satisfaction. In some ways, this is also how you could characterize the group of (a)socials (I deliberately did not say (a)social group) that Steve McQueen targets in his second film. Michael Fassbender is convincing and his acting is really excellent. Yet rather than being an "intimate and personal look at the life of a very sexually frustrated man", the whole film struck me as a parallel to Western, consumerist society that simply doesn't know what to do, so it seeks out all sorts of hobbies. Of course, it will be slightly more complicated in the end (I wouldn’t have it any other way, otherwise they wouldn't make dramas, only comedies :)) My point is more to suggest that even an ordinary bumpkin duo with below average incomes can be many times happier and more mentally balanced than many corporate elites. When you have money and a lean little apartment with an even leaner view in one of the busiest cities in the world, you just think about how and what way to escape boredom:) (2012.05.02)