The Descendants

Following Paul Giamatti and Thomas Haden Church’s tumultuous road trip through California’s wine country in Sideways, it should come as no surprise that in Alexander Payne’s latest film, The Descendants, there’s trouble in paradise on the tropical island of Hawaii. Payne’s latest tale about male, mid-life crisesis less gritty and far softer than his previous films. It is a heart-rending and comical portrait of a father, husband and lawyer struggling to negotiate his way through the ethical dilemmas thrust upon him by accidents of history, geography and fate.

Although Payne succeeds in capturing the tragi-comedy of Matt’s situation, setting it against the picture perfect scenery of Hawaii in order to remind us that the grass is rarely greener, The Descendants didn’t quite live up to all the hype. It is by no means a bad film. In fact, it’s actually quite a good film, but there are moments where the script is clunky and over-wrought, and where the issues which are initially presented as a problem cease to be of any significance, such as Alex’s supposed substance abuse problem. What is exceptional about The Descendants, however, is the performances. Clooney gives a subtle, comical and affecting portrayal of a man muddling his way through the complexities of life, for which he has received ample and deserved praise. But it is the younger members of the cast who really stand out. Woodley and Miller are great as Matt’s precocious but vulnerable daughters, giving credible performances throughout, while Nick Krause often steals the scene, sometimes in moments of slapstick comedy, other times in moments of true sincerity.

Shame

Although Shame is not a film you would probably watch again in a hurry - those of a sensitive disposition look away now- Steve McQueen’s daring and bleak portrayal of a New York sex-addict is an intimate and provocative look at human nature.

Michael Fassbender gives an outstanding performance as Brandon Sullivan, a successful thirty-something executive living in a comfortable Manhattan apartment overlooking the river. Despite the seemingly lacquered exterior of his life, every decision Brandon makes is dictated by an apparently uncontrollable and insatiable need for instantaneous sexual gratification. His life has become a veritable tug of war between maintaining his cool façade publically and indulging his heightened sexual impulses behind closed doors. When we first meet Brandon he has been able to indulge his desires undiscovered – downloading copious amounts of porn, paying for prostitutes and masturbating in the office toilets. But with the arrival of his estranged sister, Sissy, played by Carey Mulligan, Brandon’s addiction becomes exposed in a devastatingly raw portrayal of a man trapped in a viciously salacious cycle.

Every scene in Shame is shot by McQueen with purpose and intent. His voyeuristic camera focuses in on the intimacies and intricacies of Brandon’s addiction, exposing the audience to the lengths he will go to assuage his carnal desires. As to be expected in a film about sex-addiction there are some intensely explicit scenes throughout the film. But these are not meant to excite or titillate, and essentially, Shame is a film about intimacy; or rather, the palpable lack of it in Brandon and Sissy’s lives. McQueen directs our attention to the lack of intimacy through a series of exceptionally long still shots which force to audience to concentrate completely on the characters’ vulnerability. In an exceptional scene, Sissy sings a mournful rendition of ‘New York, New York’ in a suave jazz bar. At a nearby table Brandon sits listening to every heart-rending phrase as a tear rolls silently down his cheek. It is evident that these two troubled souls are destined for self-destruction, and Shame ends right where it started, with temptation staring Brandon seductively in the face.

Shameis not a quaint story with a beginning, middle and end; it is not the biography of how Brandon became a sex addict; nor is it is it the retrospective success story of a man who has overcome his addiction. Rather, it is a snapshot into the life of a man who isn’t quite sure how his seemingly natural desires came to rule his life to the point where intimacy and emotion have given way to isolation and self-loathing. With Fassbender and Mulligan giving such candid performances, and McQueen making such bold moves as a director, Shameis a memorable experience, that is, if you can stomach it.