Shame

British director Steve McQueen and Irish actor Michael Fassbender follow up their disturbing 2008 film Hunger  with an equally dark and uncompromising picture about sex addiction.  The film is more of a character study than a narrative, and Fassbender delivers his usual committed and brilliant performance: you can really feel the pain and unhappiness in this man.  It is not an especially enjoyable film to watch, and it's hard to care too much about the character except in his relationship with his sister, played by an also-excellent Carry Mulligan.  Still, McQueen doesn’t delve deep enough into their dynamic to enable the film fully connect with an audience.  This is a bold choice in some ways; the issues between these two can’t really be articulated, which makes the behavior of the characters from scene to scene feel truthful and honest.  But without finding a way to transform this raw, honest emotional strife into a cinematic narrative, the movie stands as more of a case history than an engaging film.  Nevertheless, Shame is certainly worth seeing for the superb performances, its striking use of the New York City setting, and the genuine emotions conveyed on screen—assuming you are interested in feeling those emotions for a full 101 minutes.  It will be interesting to follow McQueen’s career and see if all his films will be observational portraits of difficult material or if he will develop and expand his gaze.