Here’s my interview for FFWD with Shame director Steve McQueen, and review of the film, which opens tomorrow in Calgary.
No, not the action star
The other Steve McQueen talks ShameIt’s a hell of a name to live up to considering the action star that came before him, but British artist and filmmaker Steve McQueen is exceeding expectations. With his second film, Shame, garnering wide critical acclaim for both McQueen and its star, Michael Fassbender, surely it’s a name that won’t draw much confusion in the future.
McQueen and Fassbender previously worked together on Hunger (2008), a brilliantly meditative film about the prison death of IRA hero Bobby Sands. The role launched Fassbender’s career, and drew notoriety for the extreme weight loss the actor endured to replicate Sands’s lethal hunger strike. For their followup film, the actor and the director have turned to a similarly bleak subject: sex addiction.
“It’s almost like a river, it’s just pulling you and you’ve got no control over it. You’re hanging on to branches and debris… but there’s a stronger current that’s just sort of dragging you,” says McQueen of the character Brandon’s addiction.
McQueen has a unique approach to storytelling — contemplative and minimal in dialogue, yet rich in subject matter — that allows the viewer to draw their own conclusions. When asked if this comes from a collaborative process, he says, “I’m the boss, absolutely the boss. It’s all about my decisions, but those are based on experts that I work with…. I always like the idea of musicians….”
Rhythm and improvisation do play an important role in his filmmaking, especially in uniting cinematographer Sean Bobbitt and screenwriter Abi Morgan’s ideas with actors on set. “We have our ideas and at the same time the actors have their ideas…. You’re jamming and you’re the drummer, you have to be ready. You’re jamming with the actors and that’s what’s exciting,” he says.
In Shame, McQueen explores a topic that is considered taboo and yet often dismissed. He and Fassbender manage to strip away any notion that sex addiction is a form of pleasure.
Brandon is a successful, single New Yorker, living a secluded life in a sterile apartment. He jogs, he listens to Bach (an incredible musical choice throughout the film). You get the sense that in an alternate universe, he could be the murderous Patrick Bateman fromAmerican Psycho, or at least his friend. But in reality, Brandon’s only form of friendship is his lecherous, married boss, who looks on in frustrated jealousy and awe as Brandon charms women.
Initially, Brandon’s flirtations with a woman on the train, or his visit from a prostitute, seem to do little harm. But as the film unfolds, the nature of his addiction is revealed as all-consuming and joyless. His porn addiction is a deep embarrassment, making his office and apartment claustrophobic. A potential relationship is deflated by intimacy issues. It’s an inescapable problem, exacerbated by the arrival of his messy, damaged sister Sissy — played with perfect, insufferable fragility by Carey Mulligan.
Though initially contemplative, the film begins to hurtle towards the limits of suffering.
Two incredible scenes stand out: Brandon’s late-night jog through a quiet, isolated New York, mirroring his own alienation; and, at the crux of the film, Brandon’s face twisting in agony in a scene that should be full of passion. It’s a heart-wrenching moment.
Like Hunger, McQueen and Fassbender have created something that is equal parts introspective and ferocious. You’ll wince, but you can’t look away.
The two are set to work together again on Twelve Years a Slave, along with Brad Pitt and Chiwetel Ejiofor. With critical acclaim and awards stacking up for Shame, one hopes that a larger budget and a big-name cast won’t disrupt the vision McQueen has so expertly curated.
http://www.ffwdweekly.com/article/screen/film-features/no-not-the-action-star-8677/
