Seriously, this film wouldn't let you blink for seconds.
I honestly got attached to the whole story. I mean the writer of the novel made a nice move by devising a concept that fans wouldn't get tired of reading..and watching. However, I think it isn't necessary that the director made it child-friendly. It has stingy action-filled scenes and gore.
The nation of Panem has established a tradition for decades, the 12 districts must sacrifice a boy and a girl ages 12 to 18 for an annual event called the Hunger Games. All of the contestants must fight their chance to be recognized as the sole winner by surviving in the wilderness. They must win over physical limitations and emotional attraction.
Dubbed as the most provocative and compelling film of the year, Shame is a scandalous story of a pressing issue on addiction to sex. It was directed by Steve Mcqueen, one of the renowned kings of controversial films of this generation.
The subtle and explicit world of a New York bachelor, Brandon (Michael Fassbender), was presented as he battled against his strong obsession to carnal satisfaction from sex workers or any girl in the way. His mundane cycle was disturbed by the arrival of his little sister named Sissy (Carrie Mulligan) to his life. Regardless of place and time, Brandon never won over his aggression despite the fact that it was only temporary. He was out in the wild, hunting for pleasure and chasing for inner satisfaction. As he tried to create intimate connection to a co-worker, who is now his real-time girlfriend, he was haunted by the opposed force of his addiction. In this scene, it was revealed that he didn't have long-term relationships with women, four months as the longest of all. As the darkness of his addiction gradually taking over his life, it became a problem. Pornography and stranger sex were his escape from the taunting predicament of his past and present. He could not determine his own dilemma, until he discovered that his sister also needed attention. He felt self-abused. A prisoner of his own cell, Brandon cannot leave the pandemonium that his addiction has created. At the end of the story, Brandon still became unaware that he needed to seek professional help.
Some of the scenes in the movie, full frontal and creative sexual encounters, were profane and disturbing. Hence, the reviews committee decided to give it a rating of NC-17, only allowed to be premiered in some adult theaters worldwide. Most of the movie critics gave it positive reviews. Well, fair enough.
The leading actor, Michael Fassbender, known as the young magneto of X-men: First Class and the military officer with fake German accent in a war film Inglorious Basterds, invested his career for the success of this movie. He shifted his interest from Hollywood mainstream films to independent works. That was a risky move.
Carrie Mulligan, driven by her beauty and acting prowess, became known for her roles in critically acclaimed films An Education and Never let me go, alongside top-dog actors Peter Sarsgaard and Andrew Garfield, respectively. Her attributes as having an innocent and angelic face never became a hindrance of her change of characters.
In conclusion, Shame offers an introspective view of one's weaknesses and shortcomings without the feeling of disgust to self. It is an eye opener to society's filth of human becoming.
Circa midyear of 2011, I have watched Zack Synder's Sucker Punch which was created in a very promising style similar to 300 and Watchmen. Having said that, the combination of blue and orange in the screen of these films has been a plus for a moviegoer like me.
See?
Pleasing to the eyes, I never wonder why Zack Synder's original style of painting a movie has helped him strolled his way to the best directors of 2011 effortlessly. (I apologize for digressing from the subject of this entry).HAHA.
Emily Browning, a leading actress in Sucker Punch, has been changing character's clothes from a perky child actress to a full-grown and matured goddess actress. Again, she consistently showed this new skin to another masterpiece entitled, Sleeping Beauty. This independent film took a different perspective in portraying a classic story excluding the usual happily-ever-after, prince charming, and evil witch. Nevertheless, the concept of an innocent lady sleeping has been retained, I think. Surprisingly, this movie was even submitted as an entry to THE Cannes Film Festival. Yeah, BIG. Also, it means some scenes are NSFW to watch.
Here's a movie info from Rottentomatoes.com:
"Lucy (Emily Browning) is a young university student possessed by a kind of radical passivity. She lets a flip of a coin decide the outcome of a random sexual encounter and she displays an uncomplaining patience when facing the repetitions of her various menial jobs that fund her studies. One day she answers an ad in the student newspaper and interviews for a job to be a lingerie waitress. But she is secretly being initiated into a world of strange new work; one where she will have to give into absolute submission to her clients by being sedated; becoming a Sleeping Beauty. Eventually this unnerving experience begins to bleed into her daily life and she finally develops the will to break the spell by discovering what happens to her while she sleeps."
