Highbrow Magazine - Michael Fassbender https://www.highbrowmagazine.com/michael-fassbender en The Best Films of 2023 https://www.highbrowmagazine.com/24284-best-films <div class="field field-name-field-cat field-type-taxonomy-term-reference field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><a href="/film-tv" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">Film &amp; TV</a></div></div></div><span class="submitted-by">Submitted by tara on Fri, 12/29/2023 - 13:53</span><div class="field field-name-field-image field-type-image field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even" rel="og:image rdfs:seeAlso" resource="https://www.highbrowmagazine.com/sites/default/files/styles/large/public/field/image/1bestfilms23.jpg?itok=wUgxc46P"><img typeof="foaf:Image" src="https://www.highbrowmagazine.com/sites/default/files/styles/large/public/field/image/1bestfilms23.jpg?itok=wUgxc46P" width="480" height="204" alt="" /></div></div></div><div class="field field-name-body field-type-text-with-summary field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even" property="content:encoded"><p> </p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif">For a film critic, creating a year-end list of best pictures can be a torture test. Because many of the finest films are released – in a flurry – during the last two months, one is constantly cramming “just one more” viewing into an already busy schedule. But it’s easy to fall into the year-end trap that studio marketers have created by design. By releasing so much quality content during “awards season,” films that came earlier have a tendency to get squeezed from memory. That means any critic worth their time must painstakingly account for all the pictures they’ve seen, doing their best to decide if that little gem from March was really better than the holiday spectacle from last night. </span></span></p> <p> </p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif">It’s an imperfect science, and I periodically look back and lament missing a film. Still, there is value in this exercise. Even should I later decide that No. 10 should have been No. 6 or that I unfairly dropped a deserving film on the third edit, I am comfortable saying that each of these movies is one that film lovers should watch. Some on this list are culturally important. Some have themes we should all be contemplating. Some are just pure, joyful entertainment. And – as of this moment in December 2023 – they are my top 10.   </span></span></p> <p> </p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif"><strong><em>10) The Killer</em></strong></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif">Prior to 2023, Michael Fassbender had been missing from the cinema circuit for too long, in part because he was nurturing a <a href="https://newsroom.porsche.com/en/2023/motorsports/porsche-road-to-le-mans-film-michael-fassbender-34407.html" style="color:#0563c1; text-decoration:underline">second career as a racecar driver</a>. In fact, Fassbender appeared in only one movie (<em>Dark Phoenix</em>) between 2023 and a very busy 2017. That made it a treat to see him in both <a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt10767052/?ref_=nm_flmg_t_1_act" style="color:#0563c1; text-decoration:underline"><em>Next Goal Wins,</em></a><em> </em>where he plays an arrogant, top-level soccer coach assigned an infamously bad team, and director David Fincher’s <em>The Killer</em>. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif">Of those two 2023 movies, it’s the latter that is now a crucial part of his acting catalogue. Fassbender plays a steel-nerved assassin who meticulously plans his hits, leaving zero room for error. Alas, he does falter, putting himself at odds with the dangerous people he works for. Fincher is a master storyteller and his pairing with Fassbender is a dream. The director allows much character development to play out through Fassbender’s constant, stoic narration, but key plot points are also advanced in sudden, sometimes-shocking bouts of violence, each appropriate to the subject matter. Add a short-but-incredible supporting performance by the great Tilda Swinton, and you have a remarkable thriller. </span></span></p> <p> </p> <p><img src="https://www.highbrowmagazine.com/sites/default/files/2bestfilms23.jpg" /></p> <p> </p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif"><strong><em>9) Wonka</em></strong></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif">For me, <em>Willy Wonka &amp; the Chocolate Factory</em> was not a childhood favorite. I remember liking it, but I haven’t returned out of sentiment, time and again, like I have with, say, <em>Star Wars</em>. Credit writer-director Paul King and his crew for reigniting my interest in the title character and the original, 1971 movie. <em>Wonka</em> is a prequel of sorts, looking back at a struggling Willy (Timothée Chalamet) who travels to the big city with dreams of starting a chocolate empire. Alas, resistance from a devious “chocolate cartel” and skullduggery by a nasty innkeeper (Olivia Colman) and her assistant (Tom Davis) quickly land Willy in indentured servitude. As bleak as that may sound, <em>Wonka</em> is an upbeat affair, with most action centering on Willy’s clever nature, as he works with other servants in an effort to escape their plight and keep his dreams alive. The fantastic cast also includes Calah Lane, Hugh Grant, Keegan-Michael Key, Sally Hawkins, and Rowan Atkinson. All are wonderful, but Chalamet steals the show, especially during some of the beautifully rendered musical numbers. <em>Wonka</em> is a sweet treat for children and adults alike. </span></span></p> <p> </p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif"><strong><em>8) Saltburn</em></strong></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif">Some consider this film a black comedy, but I believe it is better described as a psychosexual thriller. The plot centers on Oliver Quick (Barry Keoghan), a sharp-but-awkward scholarship student at Oxford University. At first a social castaway, Oliver’s status changes when a charming and wealthy peer, Felix Catton (Jacob Elordi), takes him under his wing. As the school term ends, Felix invites Oliver to spend the summer at his parents’ massive, historic estate named Saltburn. The result is life-changing. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif"><em>Saltburn</em> invites viewers to consider everything from the powerful nature of greed, love and lust to the inherent stigma of class divides. This description is vague by design because <em>Saltburn</em> – written and directed by Oscar winner Emerald Fennell – is easily spoiled if one knows too much going in. Occasionally Fennel takes things too far, incorporating sequences more geared toward shock value than advancement of the narrative. But that’s a minor complaint in a project that is ultimately so powerful. This movie leaves a mark. </span></span></p> <p> </p> <p><img src="https://www.highbrowmagazine.com/sites/default/files/3bestfilms23.jpg" /></p> <p> </p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif"><strong>7)</strong> <a href="https://www.highbrowmagazine.com/24146-flora-and-son-poignant-drama-about-musical-ties-bind-us-together#:~:text=Film%20%26%20TV-,%27Flora%20and%20Son%27%20Is%20a%20Poignant%20Drama%20About%20Musical,Ties%20That%20Bind%20Us%20Together&amp;text=Although%20his%20catalog%20is%20varied,music%20plays%20in%20human%20lives." style="color:#0563c1; text-decoration:underline"><strong><em>Flora and Son</em></strong></a></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif">There are movies that quietly steal your heart. Such was the way writer-director John Carney’s <em>Flora and Son</em> hit me. The film, about a single Irish mother (Eve Hewson) who tries to bond with her delinquent son (Orén Kinlan) by studying with an American online guitar teacher (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) is, at turns, sentimental, painful, forlorn and sweet. It is also littered with great musical performances and a handful of exquisite, original compositions. This is the only film this year that immediately prompted me to download the soundtrack and listen on repeat. If that doesn’t qualify a picture for the top-10, I don’t know what could. </span></span></p> <p> </p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif"><strong>6)</strong> <a href="https://www.highbrowmagazine.com/24184-holdovers-ushers-new-holiday-classic" style="color:#0563c1; text-decoration:underline"><strong><em>The Holdovers</em></strong></a></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif">Much has been made of the fact that <em>The Holdovers</em> is director Alexander Payne’s best film since <em>Sideways</em> with Paul Giamatti. As beloved as that earlier, wine-country comedy was, I assert that <em>The Holdovers</em> is better. The movie – about an aloof boarding school teacher forced to babysit students with nowhere to go during the holidays – is understated and melancholy, but in the best possible way. Giamatti makes the instructor, Paul Hunham, come alive with the type of performance that too rarely makes it to screen. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif">Although the picture is just shy of 135 minutes, I understood Hunham by the time credits rolled. This type of character development is often reserved for miniseries and TV programs that allow hours for character development, but Payne and Giamatti make the most of the time they have. Most notably joining Hunham at school for the holiday break is facility cook, Mary Lamb (Da’Vine Joy Randolph), and student Angus Tully (Dominic Sessa). Separated from the usual trappings of Christmas, these three form a makeshift family, and all are reminded that – despite the close relationships shared by students, teachers and school staff – it’s rare for these people to truly know one another. Due to the timing and subject matter, <em>The Holdovers</em> is a holiday film, but it will remain relevant year-round. Just don’t watch when you need a pick-me-up. <em>The Holdovers</em> acknowledges that bad things happen to good people and considers the consequences of paths not taken and dreams left unfulfilled. It’s not fair to call it sad, but it is contemplative, deep and affecting. </span></span></p> <p> </p> <p><img src="https://www.highbrowmagazine.com/sites/default/files/4bestfilms23.jpg" /></p> <p> </p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif"><strong>5)</strong> <a href="https://www.highbrowmagazine.com/24173-great-power-great-diversity-across-spider-verse" style="color:#0563c1; text-decoration:underline"><strong><em>Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse</em></strong></a></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif"> Does an animated superhero film really deserve to rub shoulders with the biting comedies and hard-hitting live-action dramas that typically occupy year-end best-of lists? You bet. <em>Across the Spider-Verse</em> is not only a rare sequel that bests the original, it’s an ambitious movie where directors Bob Persichetti, Peter Ramsey, and Rodney Rothman pull out every tool in their kits to tell a fantastic story. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif">Because the movie envisions a multiverse where many Spider heroes exist, the directors change animation styles depending on what character is being featured and what plot point is being illuminated. One could spend hours analyzing the visual storytelling alone, but most viewers will probably be so swept away by the fast-paced plotting that the nuance will hang in the background. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif">The key characters are Miles Morales (voiced by Shameik Moore), Peter B. Parker (Jake Johnson) and Gwen Stacey (Hailee Steinfeld), each a Spider hero. These three – and others – must join forces to stop a threat to all their realities. The one down side? This film is part of a trilogy that started with <em>Into the Spider-Verse</em>, and the final leg was delayed by the Hollywood strikes. That means the conclusion – originally slated for March 2024 – is probably further out than most would like.    </span></span></p> <p> </p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif"><strong><em>4) American Fiction</em></strong></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif">Often, thought-provoking comedies are so dry that they actually feel like dramas. <em>American Fiction</em> is a pleasant surprise that refuses to bury its humor in morosity. This approach is as refreshing as it is laugh-out-loud funny. Jeffrey Wright kills as Thelonious “Monk” Ellison, a novelist and academic who refuses to dumb down his work, despite the fact that he toils in relative obscurity. Although Monk is a black man, he is upset when a publisher passes on his latest work – a piece that has nothing to do with race – because it doesn’t properly depict black America. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif">In frustration, he writes a typical, “black” novel and demands that his agent send it out as a joke. You don’t have to imagine his surprise when a publisher instantly pounces because writer-director Cord Jefferson and his co-screenwriter Percival Everett do the imagining for you. <em>American Fiction</em> forces viewers to think deeply about race, art, fame, art criticism and American culture in general. These are important topics, and any discussion could easily become uncomfortable but, as with all good humor, <em>American Fiction </em>delivers its messages with a feather rather than a hammer. </span></span></p> <p> </p> <p><img src="https://www.highbrowmagazine.com/sites/default/files/5bestfilms23.jpg" /></p> <p> </p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif"><strong>3)</strong> <a href="https://www.highbrowmagazine.com/24083-it-s-barbie-world-and-we-re-just-living-it" style="color:#0563c1; text-decoration:underline"><strong><em>Barbie</em></strong></a></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif">If you think the summer hype over <a href="https://apnews.com/article/barbenheimer-barbie-vs-oppenheimer-61a6ec6c67359b851ddeccd6d655b5ab" style="color:#0563c1; text-decoration:underline">Barbenheimer</a> was overblown, I urge you to reconsider. In July, all we knew was that <em>Barbie</em> and <em>Oppenheimer</em> were rolling into theaters with big budgets (<a href="https://www.insider.com/how-much-did-barbie-spend-marketing-box-office-success-explained-2023-7" style="color:#0563c1; text-decoration:underline">$145 million</a> and <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/antoniopequenoiv/2023/08/20/oppenheimer-surpasses-700-million-worldwide-2023s-fourth-highest-grossing-film/?sh=3deebb773064" style="color:#0563c1; text-decoration:underline">$100 million</a> respectively), noteworthy directors and big-name casts. Five months later, we know both films have stood solid against the onslaught of fall and winter awards contenders. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif"><em>Barbie</em> isn’t a perfect film, but it is a complete cinematic experience. Greta Gerwig and husband/screenwriter Noah Baumbach started by crafting a script that is infinitely more thoughtful than any previous Barbie project. Then, as director, Gerwig assured it would succeed by merging a perfect cast (Margot Robbie as the primary Barbie and Ryan Gosling as a perfectly rendered beach Ken), with incredible art direction, a wry sense of humor and an approach that could appeal to those who both love and hate the doll franchise. <em>Barbie</em> wasn’t an easy movie to make, but it is easy to love.  </span></span></p> <p> </p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif"><strong><em>2) Air</em></strong></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif">In an age of rampant commercialization marked by increasingly obvious product placement, it’s tough to recommend a movie that is – in many respects – an advertisement. But, let’s face it, <em>Air</em> tells a damned good story. There will be – dependent on age – viewers who don’t remember the time before Nike’s swoosh entered our mass culture. It’s important to note that this was once the case because <em>Air</em> is – at its core – an underdog tale. Nike wasn’t always huge and Michael Jordan wasn’t always destined to hawk the company’s shoes. That partnership came thanks to a passionate courtship launched by sports marketer Sonny Vaccaro (Matt Damon) and Nike CEO Phil Knight (Ben Affleck). </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif">Yes, the film is a big love letter to Nike, but it’s also dramatically stirring and wonderfully entertaining. As an aside, it’s worth noting that Ben Affleck has now cemented his place in the upper echelon of Hollywood directors. He may have broken through as a writer who just happened to be a hunky leading man, but the guy who also handled behind-the-scenes work on <em>Gone Baby Gone</em>, <em>The Town</em>, <em>Argo,</em> and now <em>Air</em> has nothing to prove. </span></span></p> <p> </p> <p><img src="https://www.highbrowmagazine.com/sites/default/files/6bestfilms23.jpg" /></p> <p> </p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif"><strong>1)</strong> <a href="https://www.highbrowmagazine.com/24073-oppenheimer-demonstrates-cost-genius-and-ambition" style="color:#0563c1; text-decoration:underline"><strong><em>Oppenheimer</em></strong></a></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif">Christopher Nolan can do moving, understated thrillers (<em>Insomnia</em>), crowd-pleasing blockbusters (<em>The Dark Knight</em>), and mind-bending special-effects extravaganzas (<em>Inception</em>). He can also bridge the gaps, as he has with <em>Oppenheimer</em>. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif">Nolan’s meditation on the father of the atomic bomb is tense, dramatic, and beautifully crafted from the first frame to the last. Much credit goes to Cillian Murphy, whose interpretation of the title character is worthy of an Oscar, and Robert Downey Jr., whose reading of Lewis Strauss reminds us that he is so much more than Iron Man. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif">But this film is too good to give the cast all the credit. As always, Nolan sets his tone quickly, then builds to a climax that is every bit as tense and exciting as those in Downey’s superhero films. When Nolan made his other historical epic – <em>Dunkirk</em> – he relied on subtlety. Here, his approach is more straightforward and, I daresay, the results are even more effective. <em>Oppenheimer</em> is as brilliant as the scientist himself -- and much less controversial. </span></span></p> <p> </p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif"><strong>Author Bio:</strong></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif"><strong><em>Forrest Hartman is</em> Highbrow Magazine’s <em>chief film critic.</em></strong></span></span></p> <p> </p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif"><strong>For Highbrow Magazine</strong></span></span></p> <p> </p> </div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-tags field-type-taxonomy-term-reference field-label-above"><div class="field-label">Tags:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/best-films-2023" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">best films of 2023</a></div><div class="field-item odd" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/best-movies" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">best movies</a></div><div class="field-item even" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/oppenheimer" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">oppenheimer</a></div><div class="field-item odd" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/barbie" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">barbie</a></div><div class="field-item even" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/killer" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">the killer</a></div><div class="field-item odd" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/michael-fassbender" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">Michael Fassbender</a></div><div class="field-item even" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/holdovers" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">the holdovers</a></div><div class="field-item odd" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/alexander-payne" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">alexander payne</a></div><div class="field-item even" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/across-spiderverse" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">across the spiderverse</a></div><div class="field-item odd" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/saltburn" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">saltburn</a></div><div class="field-item even" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/american-fictions" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">american fictions</a></div><div class="field-item odd" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/new-films" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">new films</a></div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-author field-type-text field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even">Forrest Hartman</div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-pop field-type-list-boolean field-label-above"><div class="field-label">Popular:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even">not popular</div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-bot field-type-list-boolean field-label-above"><div class="field-label">Bottom Slider:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even">In Slider</div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-videos field-type-video-embed-field field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"> <div class="embedded-video"> <div class="player"> <iframe class="" width="640" height="360" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/lALMdJf6UUE?width%3D640%26amp%3Bheight%3D360%26amp%3Bautoplay%3D0%26amp%3Bvq%3Dlarge%26amp%3Brel%3D0%26amp%3Bcontrols%3D1%26amp%3Bautohide%3D2%26amp%3Bshowinfo%3D1%26amp%3Bmodestbranding%3D0%26amp%3Btheme%3Ddark%26amp%3Biv_load_policy%3D1%26amp%3Bwmode%3Dopaque" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe> </div> </div> </div></div></div> Fri, 29 Dec 2023 18:53:25 +0000 tara 12902 at https://www.highbrowmagazine.com https://www.highbrowmagazine.com/24284-best-films#comments Director Steve McQueen Presents a Controversial Anti-hero in “Shame” https://www.highbrowmagazine.com/director-steve-9mcqueen-presents-84controversial-anti-hero-shame <div class="field field-name-field-cat field-type-taxonomy-term-reference field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><a href="/film-tv" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">Film &amp; TV</a></div></div></div><span class="submitted-by">Submitted by tara on Wed, 12/28/2011 - 10:32</span><div class="field field-name-field-image field-type-image field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even" rel="og:image rdfs:seeAlso" resource="https://www.highbrowmagazine.com/sites/default/files/styles/large/public/field/image/mediumshamemovie.jpg?itok=WteGzEDR"><img typeof="foaf:Image" src="https://www.highbrowmagazine.com/sites/default/files/styles/large/public/field/image/mediumshamemovie.jpg?itok=WteGzEDR" width="480" height="360" alt="" /></div></div></div><div class="field field-name-body field-type-text-with-summary field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even" property="content:encoded"><p>  </p> <p> Some of the best movies have no villain  or hero. Director Steve McQueen’s main character Brandon, played by Michael Fassbender in what ought to be an Oscar-winning performance in “Shame,” is neither. This kind of ambiguity greatly enriches the film. Several classics achieve a similar effect, including Guido in Fellini's “8 ½,” and, more recently Johnny in Sofia Coppola’s “Somewhere.”  When there are characters in a film that audiences can neither fully look up to nor completely condemn, cinema really starts to resemble life rather than our construction of it.</p> <p>  </p> <p> As those two labels, hero and victim, interact with one another within the main character over the course of these films, the films remain unresolved, and thus lay the puzzle of their entanglements on us as the audience to think about and work out. This challenge, as the challenge presented by “Shame,” is thought-provoking, but far from simple.</p> <p>  </p> <p> McQueen’s new film is executed to a startling perfection. It reveals deeper truths about self-control and a lack hereof, and how self-control on the surface could be used to conceal a certain chaos and desperation within. The film shows in a remarkably vivid way what it is like to be lost and the desire to block out feelings. The film focuses on New York City as the perfect place to have and cover up all kinds of disturbing experiences, catering to both the pleasure and the privacy of the tortured individual. It also presents to the last detail the kind of show people put on for the opposite sex. What is perhaps most special to the film is how directly “Shame” presents its unsettling material, unapologetically putting the audience through a physical and psychological experience of addiction most of us can relate to, but many have not encountered.</p> <p>  </p> <p> “Shame” has been widely criticized for its combination of provocative material and a chilly, uninvolved style. Not only is the main character cold, but there is a similar crispness to the visual direction. McQueen offers no moral support or guidance through the sexual  and emotional maze we navigate with Brandon. However, this not necessarily a weakness of the film, but rather a strength. Sometimes the best way to endow a work with an ethical quality is not by example but by an excess of the opposite. The redemptive movies are often the ones in whose protagonists we see a flicker of ourselves and -- don’t want to see ourselves. It is a recognition that reveals the secret discomforts we strive vehemently to ignore. Thus McQueen shows us a main character we would prefer not to identify with, and this feeling can lead us to consciously want to widen the gap between ourselves and the person on the screen, through our words and actions, after we exit the theater. In this way, <em>Shame</em> is a call for compassion and sincerity done in a way that is more effective than a lecture or advice.</p> <p>  </p> <p> Other critics have been complaining that the film, rated NC-17, contains too much graphic sexual content and not enough emphasis on principles and analysis. <em>Films in Review</em> renounced it as “something of a dirty date that leaves you wondering what went wrong” while the <em>New York Times</em> states that McQueen is “dwelling on the facts of behavior and bodily experience”  and  <em>The Phoenix</em> notes that the director “doesn't go much below the surface in analyzing the obsessive, doomed conduct of his characters.” But it’s important to get to know the extremes by seeing them displayed in all their physicality and then confront them ourselves through the lens of our own moral compass, not one that is spoon-fed by a director, in order to gain more than a superficial understanding of the issue at hand.  The graphic side to the film gives audiences a better sense of what one may find when testing those boundaries or approaching the same brink. In “Shame” we are shown the full picture of a man’s actions and lifestyle, and are left to examine precisely what went wrong. A film that inspires us to reflect on these issues is taking the right approach.</p> <p>  </p> <p> By showing graphic material in a direct, rather insensitive and nonjudgmental way, the film becomes a call to acting with kindness, to loving lovers, to treating family members with care. Without these elements, the protagonist’s life falls apart completely. It seems that Brandon is using casual sex in an attempt to establish a sense of self-worth. Ultimately, “Shame” demonstrates how important cultivating that same feeling of self-worth is beyond the confines of other people, and how important it is to exist as a full-fledged human being even without others’ admiration, without sex, without money, and without any external source of affirmation. The frigidity of this film leaves us striving to be all the warmer, as we hope for the same transformation in Brandon himself.  We would like to see him move a little bit further from the villain he becomes at times and closer to the hero we would like to imagine.</p> <p>  </p> <p> <strong>Author Bio:</strong></p> <p> <em>Elizabeth Pyjov is a former Arts Editor of the Harvard Crimson, where she wrote Arts, News, Travel and Opinion pieces. </em></p> </div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-tags field-type-taxonomy-term-reference field-label-above"><div class="field-label">Tags:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/shame" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">Shame</a></div><div class="field-item odd" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/films" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">films</a></div><div class="field-item even" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/steve-mcqueen" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">Steve McQueen</a></div><div class="field-item odd" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/michael-fassbender" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">Michael Fassbender</a></div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-author field-type-text field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even">Elizabeth Pyjov</div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-pop field-type-list-boolean field-label-above"><div class="field-label">Popular:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even">not popular</div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-bot field-type-list-boolean field-label-above"><div class="field-label">Bottom Slider:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even">Out Slider</div></div></div> Wed, 28 Dec 2011 15:32:39 +0000 tara 365 at https://www.highbrowmagazine.com https://www.highbrowmagazine.com/director-steve-9mcqueen-presents-84controversial-anti-hero-shame#comments