Shame Film Analysis

The award winning novelist, Ann Patchett, once stated, “Shame should be reserved for the things we choose to do. Not the circumstances that life puts us through.” This remark has a strong correlation to many themes in the film Shame. The film Shame was produced in 2011, directed by Steve McQueen, with the screenplay written by both Steve McQueen and Abi Morgan. The film is about a seemingly successful man with a dependency on the feeling of pleasure. Brandon's sex addiction is the only thing that keeps him balanced, while at the same time causes him to endure some self hatred. Brandon realizes his self hatred when he has to face his addiction head on after a elongated visit from his sister, Sissy.The director makes it apparent that both Brandon and Sissy receive their problems from their

She desperately looks for someone to confide in. She is constantly looking for reassurance of her behavior. Throughout the film Sissy turns to three different men looking for acceptance. In the beginning of the film, the first night McQueen introduced us to Sissy we can hear her sort of whining on the phone. The audience is to find out that it was her boyfriend on the phone. McQueen and Morgan do not provide any dialogue between the two, but instead focus on Sissys script. While on the phone Sissy was whining, “ I love you… I don’t have to go out.” At this point Sissy is showing that she needs some kind of emotional ease, this shows through the desperation she yields to be with a man that does not want her around. Sissy seeks for both physical and emotional comfort. She shows this when she is trying to get her boyfriends to spend time with her, but he is trying to avoid having to spend time with her. She is forcing herself on to this man and the relationship; this is where the feeling of confinement appears.Sissys desperation grows and one can simply see it through her actions. Sissy is desperate for approval and acceptance from