The St. Louis International Film Festival (SLIFF) just began a few days ago, and already a handful of films from all over the world were screened at Tivoli (Loop), Plaza Frontenac, WashU, Webster, and other locations. Yesterday I went to see Steve McQueen’s new film Shame that’s due for release the first week of December. McQueen, a renowned UK-based media artist who generated buzz a few years ago winning the prestigious Turner Prize in the arts, is also active in film-making. His previous film Hunger, a depiction of Bobby Sands during the 1981 Irish Hunger Strike, catapulted both McQueen and actor Michael Fassbender into spotlight, for good reasons.
Although I’ve only seen one scene from Hunger–the long take of Bobby Sands in his prison–I had a strong impression from his unwavering confidence in both his actors and powerful, often haunting images he was able to capture. In the same veins, Shame, about a reserved but handsome New Yorker who suffers from sex addiction, is able to directly penetrate into the characters’ psyche without unnecessary, comforting filters. Fassbender’s and Carey Mulligan’s phenomenal performances in the film (in one scene, Mulligan has the whole stage to herself as she sings “New York, New York” to a crowd of socialites in an upscale hotel) will be talked about for a long time when the film receives wide release in December. It’s a deeply moving character-study, one that delves into its dark subject and reveals its not-so-pretty crevices in a subtle, understated manner.
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