Like many critics, I find making gross generalizations almost irresistible, especially as the year comes to a close. For example, I previously declared this the year that belongs to actor Ryan Gosling, who produced excellent performances in “Drive,” “The Ides of March,” and “Crazy, Stupid, Love.” Unlike some critics, though, I’m willing to come clean when I realize I was wrong. So let me make a new sweeping statement: Michael Fassbender is the man of 2011. My evidence this time: “X-Men: First Class,” a surprisingly intelligent superhero flick; “A Dangerous Method,” the upcoming David Cronenberg film in which the German-Irish actor brings a searching Carl Jung to life; and “Jane Eyre,” in which he made an old character, Mr. Rochester, new.
Most important, though, is his immensely brave performance in “Shame.” Many people wouldn’t have heard of this film, the second from British experimental artist Steve McQueen, had it not been rated NC-17 — or had Fassbender not received the best actor award when it was presented at the Venice Film Festival. That rating might scare some viewers off. But the explicit sex scenes in this intimate film about a man who can’t bear true intimacy aren’t in the least gratuitous. The most telling image in the film, in fact, takes place during one of them — though that crucial close-up isn’t on Fassbender’s body, but his face.
| On screen |
| ‘Shame’ |
| 4 out of 4 stars |
| Stars: Michael Fassbender, Carey Mulligan |
| Director: Steve McQueen |
| Rated: NC-17 for some explicit sexual content |
| Running time: 101 minutes |
The actor plays Brandon, an attractive New Yorker with a good job and a better apartment. Yet he’s unsatisfied — though it might be hard to believe he is sexually. Brandon’s the kind of guy who can (and usually does) jump out of bed and into the shower to masturbate, take care of himself at least once or twice in his office’s restroom, then spend the night with a prostitute or a one-night-stand from the bar. He’s got some deep-seated need to satisfy, but never does. The phrase “sex addict” will almost certainly come up in most reviews of the film, but it doesn’t feel quite right label Brandon so easily. Sex always seems to find him, even during the rare times he’s not looking for it.
He’s managed to keep his frantic need private — and then his compartmentalized life breaks open. His sister, Sissy (Carey Mulligan), moves in. She has nowhere else to go, she implores. She’s as troubled as her brother, in different (and more obvious) ways, though they seem to share a specific suffering, and a sexual reaction to it.
Brandon listens to Bach, perhaps in search of some emotional order. But it’s Harry Escott’s haunting score that suits the mood. Fassbender, so lean you can count his ribs, looking like he’s giving everything to the role, is just as unforgettable. Mulligan is his foil, a passionate cabaret singer wearing her heart on her sleeve. Their differences are in clear contrast in how they act when they are on the closest things they ever come to dates, she with her brother’s boss, he with the office secretary. Their shared search for connections, undertaken so separately, are unbearably sad.
“Shame” is a hard film to watch; but it’s one of the few released in 2011 that you’ll remember for years to come.
