Nothing but the naked truth
Watching Steve McQueen’s new opus Shame — about an early middle- aged NYC sex addict — you realize that the writer-director is not trying to get under the male lead’s pants. Rather, it’s the mind he’s aiming at, or the soul, if you’re a believer. On the surface, Brandon (Michael Fassbender) is just like any other urbanite corporate exec. Early to work, out at 6 for a round of drinks at a nearby lounge, and back home it is, supposedly. But there’s a dark corner in Brandon’s private life. While developing an irrepressible, insane obsession with intimacy — the kinkier the better — there’s no way he can make a connection with another human being. One-night stands are followed by another round of meaningless, even brutal sex, watching porn, masturbating, filling his spare time with the pursuit of sexual encounters.
