Shame – the burden of sex

Relatively early in Steve McQueen’s “Shame,” Carey Mulligan’s character sings “New York, New York,” not as an anthem but as a melancholy song of yearning and regret. The lone piano accompaniment consists mostly of notes cascading down the scale and the effect is entirely disconcerting.

Shame’s take on that song is similar to its take on sex. It turns the conventions of Hollywood sex on its head. There’s nothing particularly glamorous about it. In fact, it’s not even sexy. “Shame” is not about the joy of sex, or even the release of sex. It’s about the burden of sex. Sex for a sex addict.

Michael Fassbender plays Brandon, a successful and single New York businessman who just can’t get enough sex. The tone is set in the very first scene of the film, a wordless scene on a subway train. Brandon is sitting across from an attractive, but not necessarily gorgeous, woman. His intense stare is not unwelcome to the woman, who self-consciously crosses her legs and stares back. A low-key but insistent soundtrack heightens the mood, of longing and desire. He follows her off the train but then loses her in the onrushing crowds. He looks and looks for her but to no avail. A perfect encapsulation of his neverending search.

Throughout the movie, Brandon continually pays for high-end prostitutes and picks up random women in bars, he watches porn at home and he watches porn at the office. And when he’s not having sex, he’s pleasuring himself. He never seems to reach satiety.

During one of Brandon’s sexual encounters with two women, the camera mostly focuses on Fassbender’s face and it’s definitely pained. His lovemaking is more often then not marked by desperation and despair.

Mulligan plays Brandon’s sister Sissy, an equally damaged soul who chooses to cope with her troubles in ways very different from her brother. If Brandon is all about internalizing his feelings, Sissy is all about acting them out. A clash of the siblings is inevitable.

This is a severe and formally austere movie, similar to McQueen’s brilliant first film “Hunger.” Like Brandon himself, “Shame” is more than a little hollow. But it’s also chillingly gorgeous.

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“Shame” has been slapped with an NC-17 rating. Unlike the similarly intense and downbeat film “Blue Valentine,” whose producers vigorously fought the NC-17 tag, Fox Searchlight has decided to embrace the restrictive rating.

Calling it a badge of honor rather than a scarlet letter, Fox is launching an awards campaign for the movie. Fassbender has already garnered a Best Actor award from the Venice Film Festival but the filmmakers would like to see end-of-the-year honors consideration for best film, director, supporting actress, and cinematography.