Michael Fassbender stars as Brandon in Shame, a look into one man’s sexual addiction and his sister who is suffering from the same broken childhood that he suffered through.
Film making 18/25
Video 18/25
Audio 21/25
Bonus Features 3/25
Total 60/100
Portrait of a sex addict, Shame delivers on exactly what you expect in an adult only show of the world of sex addiction and one man’s troubles. Michael Fassbender has had a troubled childhood which we never really get any kind of peek into other than he and his sister suffered through it.
Michael plays Brandon, a New York business man who works by day and does just about everything you think a sex addict does the rest of the time and even during work hours. After a quick look at his daily routines and a few close calls at work he gets a visit by his sister who also has problems of her own.
Together they had a terrible experience that led to their emotional problems and we simply see the two work through their daily routines and the relationship they try to have with each other. Brandon is angry when his sister sleeps with his boss but he is also ashamed by his own behavior when his sister catches him masturbating.
The movie moves on with their relationship and how they are trying to get along without having found any kind of help with their mental and emotional problems. Brandon is last seen on the subway looking longingly at another woman he is seen with in the beginning of the movie but we never see if he follows her or goes his own way.
Shame is an odd film, one of those well rated ones from critics that are looking for a more heartfelt and emotional performance by actors that give good performances. Shame has a great performance by Michael Fassbender and was directed by upcoming director Steve McQueen who also directed the film Hunger.
Shame may not be a movie for everyone and is definitely not for younger audiences but it is a look at a sex addict’s life and the problems they suffer from their rare viewpoint. Shame does have an unusual insight and takes a look at a more prevalent problem we see in the news today trying to give some insight to this odd world.
Video and audio quality is a mixed bag of pretty good to great for the Blu-ray transfer and audio quality so the film is easy to watch but does have its obvious lower budget feel. Video is pretty good but occasionally feels like they either used their lower budget to create a certain feel to some scenes or just had lower costing cameras.
Audio is well done with good use of surround sound with good background music as you would expect from a drama that does not use action or thriller scenes. Surround sound works well and voice is clear and audible throughout the film so the DTS-HD 5.1 Master Audio is very good.
Bonus content is almost nonexistent with only about 17 minutes of clips that seem to be those used to promote the film before the theatrical launch. Bonus content was short and not interesting at all so there really is no bonus features to speak of.
Shame is really an odd movie and while it is interesting and embarrassing all at once there is something here that will help to propel Fassbender on his acting career.
Shame Website
