7.8 | / 10 |
Users | 4.2 | |
Reviewer | 4.5 | |
Overall | 4.2 |
Steve McQueen ('Hunger') co-writes and directs this starkly honest portrait of a man struggling with sex addiction. Michael Fassbender stars as Brandon, a lonely 30-something New York bachelor who lives a carefully-concealed second life revolving around excessive levels of casual sex, prostitutes, pornography and masturbation. When his depressive sister, Sissy (Carey Mulligan), arrives unannounced to stay with him, seeking refuge from her own troubles, Brandon's life starts to unravel as his dark and shameful secrets are revealed.
Starring: Michael Fassbender, Carey Mulligan, James Badge Dale, Nicole Beharie, Lucy WaltersDrama | 100% |
Erotic | 15% |
Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC
Video resolution: 1080p
Aspect ratio: 2.35:1
Original aspect ratio: 2.39:1
English: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1
Spanish: Dolby Digital 5.1
English SDH, Spanish
50GB Blu-ray Disc
Two-disc set (1 BD, 1 DVD)
Digital copy (on disc)
DVD copy
Slipcover in original pressing
Region A (locked)
Movie | 4.5 | |
Video | 4.0 | |
Audio | 4.5 | |
Extras | 2.0 | |
Overall | 4.5 |
Leading man Michael Fassbender and English artist-turned-director Steve McQueen—no, not that Steve McQueen—have a burgeoning De Niro/Scorsese-style working relationship that, with Shame,
has now yielded two phenomenal films. Their first collaboration, 2008's
Hunger—about real-life hunger strike activist Bobby Sands—required Fassbender to lose over 30lbs in ten weeks, subsiding on a 600
calorie-per-day diet of nuts, berries, and sardines. I like to imagine that afterwards, McQueen made a conciliatory offer to his star: "Look, Michael, I
really put you through the ringer with that one. How about this; for our next film, you get to play a sex addict. You'll just have to lie in bed
and look on while sexy call-girls undress for you. Easiest gig ever."
And indeed, there's an early scene in Shame where that happens—Fassbender ogles an escort as she takes off her shirt—and you think,
man, this guy's got it made. No acting required. But that's before the desperation and self-loathing take hold. Like its title implies,
Shame is ultimately about the feeling of profound humiliation, and Fassbender's performance is absolutely courageous—alluring and repulsive,
hardened and exposed. Literally exposed, in several instances. If you've been following the film, you already know Fassbender bares all,
and that he has, let's say, a lot to bare. But despite its NC-17 rating—for "some explicit sexuality"—there's nothing in Shame that's
remotely arousing. Steve McQueen's approach to the subject matter isn't just un-erotic, it's anti-erotic, all pain with no pleasure.
"Slowly..."
A British co-production of Film4 and See-Saw Films—later picked up for U.S. distribution by Fox Searchlight—Shame is a fairly low-budget drama by Hollywood standards. Still, the film features wonderful cinematography by Sean Bobbitt, who also shot Hunger, and the 35mm negative transfers nicely to Blu-ray, with a 1080p/AVC encode that's clean, reasonably crisp, and natural looking. Much of the movie takes place at night, necessitating the use of high-speed film stock, so you will notice that the picture is quite grainy at times. This is normal, and far better than the alternative—an image that's been smoothed out and stripped of texture by digital noise reduction. Sharpness is also slightly affected—nighttime exterior scenes inherently look softer—but overall clarity is great, with fine high definition detail easily visible in most closeups. Color is consistently impressive, with grading that subtly mirrors the mood of each scene—see the almost septic green cast in the subway scenes—and a contrast balance that's neither too punchy nor too flat. There's maybe a bit of compression noise in the encode, but no major distractions. An all-around faithful-to-source transfer.
For a drama that's driven by quiet conversation and a good deal of silence, Shame's lossless DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 surround track is surprisingly robust, with warmth, clarity, depth, and some excellent sound design as well. The entire soundfield is put to use, and in the rear channels you'll frequently hear outdoor city ambience—traffic, subway clamor, pouring rain—along with the swell and strain of a terrific score by Harry Escott, which adds some romance to a film that might otherwise come off as clinical. The music sounds fantastic, and if you're into film soundtracks, this might be one worth tracking down. I also didn't expect how much of a part the subwoofer plays in this mix, adding a throbbing undercurrent to some of the more intense scenes. Throughout it all, dialogue is always cleanly recorded, balanced high in the mix, and easy to understand. The disc also includes a Spanish Dolby Digital 5.1 dub, and optional English SDH and Spanish subtitles.
I would've loved a commentary track with Fassbender and McQueen, some deleted scenes, and a revealing making-of documentary, but unfortunately, the disc only comes with a quintet of extremely short featurettes, none of which are very substantial. This is straightforward EPK/promo-type stuff— quick interviews with the director and stars, brief discussions about the characters and story, and clips from the film. Worth watching once, but nothing you'll revisit.
I hope the director/star team-up of Steve McQueen and Michael Fassbender continues on for years to come. Hunger was my favorite film of 2008, and Shame—a sad character study of sexual addiction—sits easily in my top five for 2011. This is a challenging, beautifully shot film that's by no means easy to watch, but presents its truths so compellingly that it's impossibly to look away. As you'd expect from 20th Century Fox, the Blu-ray presentation is great—with a strong high definition transfer and lossless audio—and though the special features are slim on substance, this release is highly recommended.
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