I saw this movie when it got out and I remember that I decided to watch it because the topic was very provocative and of course, when I heard Michael was in it. Before that I saw him in a Poirot movie and I was instantly interested in seeing the other things he's done. Physically, he's my dream man, but it's his raw talent that really got me to appreciate him as an actor!😊
+James Bond How kind of you. I have an inkling this'll be the type of film that suits my criteria, along with Bronson. Recently tried to download the torrent of the movie 'Bronson', but didn't find any feasible ones, on katproxy at least. Have you seen it?
Good afternoon. Enclosed is a recent journal I wrote to myself a couple of weeks ago. Ever since I wrote it, I haven't been able to shake Michael's voice in my head and thought that maybe if I share this with someone "out there in the real world," there could perhaps be a sort of release emotionally for me. As I was driving home from work today, I thought that due to the depth of understanding Michael brings to his characters, then at least perhaps he would be able to shed light on the questions that I have that can never be answered by the person from whom I seek answers. I don't naively believe that this will get to Michael, but seeing as this email is being directed to someone who's familiar with Michael's work I thought that perhaps there'd be someone out there who might understand where I'm coming from. At any rate, thank you in advance for taking the time to read the entry below. Entry: "I have a strange feeling with regard to you. As if I had a string somewhere under my left ribs, tightly knotted to a similar string in you. And if you were to leave I'm afraid that cord of communion would snap. And I have a notion that I'd take to bleeding inwardly." Watching and listening to Michael Fassbender deliver these lines in a film version of Jane Eyre started a tumult of days spent revisiting my past, binge watching everything Michael Fassbender, and re reading Charlotte Bronte's novel by carrying a hardcover copy of the Bronte Sisters' novels anthology to a cafe in the middle of the week and being absorbed and transfixed as I read. The way Fassbender portrayed Rochester haunted me no end, and for the first time in my life I was driven to go back to the original text simply because an actor had brought life to a book that had erstwhile been sitting on my shelf collecting dust. It struck me that anything that can speak to the depths of my heart must surely be a gift from God. Surely, that type of talent must come from somewhere divine, regardless if what is being expressed may be of vile content on some level. I've been driving around being warmed by the sun feeling as if a tightly shut door has broken open by force, revealing unvisited memories of the past that I thought I was well rid of. Add to this, my sudden desire to look over pictures I've taken over the last few years which led me to looking at the photos on Chris' computer that I haven't looked at for years. What is it all about? And then purely by accident, I came across a short video Chris took of himself singing part of a song that he loved: We Crawl by Polyphonic Spree. An omen of sorts perhaps. His eyes were vivid blue, full of feeling. And as I journeyed back in time, I realized that Chris loved me. And when I looked at the photographs when I traveled to Australia to help assuage the devastating pain that I was going through during that awful fall of 2009, I was reminded that I loved Chris. It was heartbreaking to realize, now some nine years later, how utterly destroyed I looked. I was a mere 95 pounds. I looked at the photos of me spreading Chris'ashes on the Pacific Ocean, on a stretch of The Great Ocean Road, surrounded by my Australian family. Sitting here now writing this, I can feel the pain as if I am bleeding internally. But how could that have been love? The man I was in love with, I never really knew. He was a criminal or was exploring that path and I never knew anything about that side of him. Though at times I doubted it would ever be the case, I am better off now. I have lived to tell my uncommon tale of woe and have even managed to gain back those deeply broken shards of myself. Movies in my mind play of me driving alone on the Pacific Coast Highway in June of 2010, despite having to spend a night in jail the day before I left . This is due to the fact that I reacted to an email I came across sent to Chris by a woman he was having an affair with while he was with me. Such a vile letter to come across in the midst of my grief trying to settle his affairs. Another movie plays in my head; I'm driving alone in the Isle of Skye district in Scotland August of 2011. I felt as if I could shed more layers of pain and regret and embrace whatever the future holds for me. July 2012, the trip to Cape Breton and driving along Cabot Trail listening to some fantastic music that I can't quite remember now. I've never been afraid to go it alone in strange places. As a matter of fact, it is while I'm away on these trips that I've been revived internally. The apparent link between Chris and Michael Fassbender is the connectedness I feel toward these two men even though they are obviously so far out of my reach, one because he is dead, the other because he is a movie star and does not and will never ever know of my existence. What good can come from travelling down these paths? I know not. But it does not fill me with fear nor dread. I have loved well, been brought low by lost love, and still I live. I want to move from RIP to LIP: Rest in Peace while I Live in Peace. There are pictures I must utterly remove from my computer. But shockingly, there are those that I've happily looked at of late knowing that I was loved, however imperfectly. Looking at our online wedding day album, it saddens me to know that ignorance is bliss, truly. I was happy and yet the foundation of my happiness was a sham. I married Christopher Alexander on August 1, 2009. Six days later I found him in my basement, in the prostrate position, dead from an apparent overdose of oxycontin, or so said the official autopsy report that arrived in the mail on November 17th of that same year. Thus began the most difficult and heartbreaking year of my life.
The last scene in "Shame" when Brandon is running in the street and breaks down is still in my head because of the way Fassbender so effectively shows how trapped Brandon is by his addiction. Seeing it made me watch "Hunger" and read about the time known as the Troubles in England and Northern Ireland in the same way seeing "Shame" interested me in reading about sexual addiction. "12 Years a Slave" is another McQueen masterpiece, and I hope that it encourages people to better inform themselves about the institution of slavery.
I loved the train scene. Like a ruthless predator patiently hooking on to his prey, a women already in a vulnerable state. I find Michael to be incredible intense in whatever role the takes on. The scenes where he gets brutal with his sister actually scared me. I surely will keep following his career. And yes, he's insanely sexy, I won't deny. But calling him a sex-symbol is doing this amazing actor great injustice.
Fabienne G. get the fuck out of here with that shite,he sensed she was a vulnerable woman, that was two people hooking up on sheer physicality, vulnerable?????
Exactly my point. When we just talk about how incredibly attractive he is, we tend to overlook the fact that he is an amazingly talented actor.... And of course one of the finest of this time.
She didn't seem vulnerable at all to me... In fact I couldn't believe her innocent act for a second and I thought that that was exactly the point: to make you see that he does some bad things, yes, and he's being disrespectful for women and mostly for himself but at the end of the day, when everyone else is playing a game and wearing a mask and are busy hiding and seeking (hence the New York New York 'character' his sister is playing and the boss who complains about his filthy computer but cheats on his wife) he's the most honest person on screen. Because he acts on his instincts, again, it doesn't matter if he's morally right or not, in his shoes, when he's telling his sister that there's a difference between saying and doing, he's basically telling himself to stop. Through her. And I think that's brilliant. And truly, hats off to Michael. Extraordinary performance.
Brad Pitt and George Clooney. Neither of their roles were remotely as challenging as the role of Brandon in Shame and neither of their performances (or any of their past performances for that matter) came close to being as heart-wrenching, compelling, transformative, mesmerizing and convincing at Michael Fassbender's performance. He is a far superior actor. Pitt and Clooney's abilities in acting aren't even in the same realm as those of Michael Fassbender. Forgive me. I'm obsessed with this film
@@larapalma3744 Exactly, and agreed, but truthfully, when it comes to looks, Michael Fassbender is just as good looking as Brad Pitt or George Clooney imo. Michael just doesn't have as much of the bad boy vibe to be viewed as "hot" or in the good looking Hollywood group of men as Pitt and Clooney would fall into. Just my opinion and theory though. I've always felt that Fassbender was hot though.
@@larapalma3744 Pitt's got a sex appeal, but his face is honestly not all that (particularly his nose). There are more handsome men but Pitt just has that sex appeal and swag, so he's viewed as super good looking, even though there are more handsome men in Hollywood than Pitt.
Michael is kind of raw, Keep it real. I think that what stands out the intensity of expression. Brad and clooney are more lean, softer.. more into romance or mainstream kind of films.
I love the great relationship between Steve and Michael. That's what makes his three films collaborations so enormous. Many directors/actors should learn
I think Steve McQueen is brilliant. Not in the British meaning where you mean: "just fabulous" but in the genuine, "extremely intelligent- genius" way.
@@danielcastillo9587 well widows is definitely a feminist-ic spin on the killing imo, it's a really good film and has some really interesting sequences.
I didn't mean financially. Lots of people don't understand the film and all they think of it is just shock film. Some people aren't mature enough to watch the flick with an open mind. I seen dozens of opinions that trash it for being nothing but trash. People don't really dig deeper for what the movie is trying to convey. They don't even recognize he couldn't have sex with the black woman because he had feelings for her. Some people even say he was a racist. idiots
I don't get why their so adamant about denying Brandon's incestuous desires. They're obviously there. Otherwise the audiences wouldn't notice it. You say you make films for intelligent audiences, but you don't want to give them credit when they show that intelligence and figure your film out.
I think a lot of people misunderstood this film. One of the things nobody seemed to pick up on is that he physically can't have sex in any kind of meaningful way. There has to be an element of shame involved, because his early sexual experiences clearly involved a great deal of shame. It's sometimes known as a madonna/whore complex. That's why he wasn't able to have sex with that girl, it wasn't because of the coke, it was because it was mildly meaningful.
Gotta say. After watching "Hunger" I became hooked on McQueen and Fassbender. The simple, beautiful, evocative and painful film that it was, both emotionally and physically, CHANGED me. No film has ever done that before. Made me see the world in a different light. That is what art is SUPPOSED to do. This director and actor bring the best out in each other and I looked forward to every film they create. A masterpiece.
It was beautiful to watch and listen how close to each other's ideas they are to one another. As an aspiring filmmaker, this is the type of actor/director relationship that I personally believe makes movies great.
A great truthful interview! Please let the world see this interview and take notice of the style and fantastic questions that are being asked..................
I agree with you strongly but he's not African American. He's not American and I think Fassbender's snub at the oscars gave him the platform to say what needed to be said about our mindset as Americans towards film which is that we're prudes and we award the wrong things. I just raise the point cause I couldn't see him /wanting/ to be referred to as an American. I can't see any non-American wanting that.
i first saw this film last year and i loved it, so much so that i showed it to my family. they didn't share the appreciation for it. but they never really had any kind of appreciation for art.
they look more at things for what they are. they see music as just music, film as just film, and books as books. they don't care about deeper meanings or anything. the only art they recognize as art is paintings or drawings.
Why not? I watched this film with my dad when it came out, he loved it! Such great cinematography and narrative structure is involved. You can see the amount of effort and care that was put into this film. It does everything it can in the media's power to express the story of Man's struggle in life around that time period. If anything this movie is a learning tool to be humble and remember those who are much worse off than any such as we. I know thats not the only meaning it has but that is just one of many, so it just brings the question of 'why wouldn't you show this to your family?'
I love artists they're so interesting. You could talk to Steve about anything and you know he'd be right there with you. Jung, Renaissance art, evolution, religion, anything...
I enjoyed the book "12 Years a Slave" 30 years ago, so I was anticipating the movie, but not really caring if they told the story that I embraced. We've all seen what can happen there. However, I was completely blown away, and wanted to see every project that Steve McQueen had his name on. I'm not at all surprised that he is such an intellectually spiritual individual.
Omfg thank you for saying that! I fell in love with this movie and I hate how people can't see the beauty and rawness in the performance that Michael is giving. It's an emotional movie, not a physical one
I had thought this too after Hunger, Shame and 12 Years a Slave. Fassbender went X Men, Alien and never went back really. Hope they reconnect to make another movie. Steve McQueen was dead on about Carey Mulligan though, her depth and range as an actress has proven in her choices.
@@brendantaylor3570 i do agree that Fassbender has made some bad choices recently but that happens in most actors careers; i do think tho that his work even in a big franchise such as the X-Men one is phenomal, he’s one of the few actors that was able to bring a depth even in that kind of characters, without a doubt one of the best actors of his generation
@Talli732 It's called letting individual members of the audience come to their own conclusion without being told, unlike much of film today. I like that they did that. Incestuous? Not necessarily; but, there was some abuse.
"Attack, soothe."; "Mmm...maniupulation." Lol. I love this adorkable guy to death. And when the camera got really up-close to Michael's face, who else imagined kissing him?
Love these two. still can't figure out for the life of me why Michael was so shocked at the sex scenes he was glad his mum wasn't there - duh Michael lol
Anyone else have a panic attack while watching this movie? It was the scene, with the blood. Almost made it all the way to the end, but blood makes me sick(usually only in real life). After all the other graphic scenes that preceded it did not illicit any kind of response, the scene with his sister got me. I think it was a combo of the emotion it made me feel and my aversion to blood, but I had a panic attack and had to go to the bathroom to throw up, then lie my face on the grubby tile floor for 10 minutes until the room stopped spinning. I could feel my heart in my head. I've never had that happen to me before. Amazing film.
This was quite an interview. Very inspiring and good learning for an aspiring filmmaker and actor like myself from two excellent talents in both fields. Glad I found this, it i amazing to listen to this two guys. I can't believe McQueen's only made TWO films, cause he talks likes he's been doing this for years
also there cud be another reason why he cudnt have sex with her, i think he didnt want her to be tht girl. the one he shud be banging against the glass and showing it off from outside, he had genuine feeling for her and he didnt want to fill his urge by using this girl, thts why he bought or got someother girl later on. plus he was jumped up on cocaine, you never know
Fantastic interview. We need more interviews like that, with good questions and interesting answers. Thanks for posting this. And I hope that Steve McQueen and Michael Fassbender will continue to work together. Steve is one of the best directors and Michael is probably the best working actor right now. The results of their collaboration so far are stunning.
I loveeeee Michael's sense of humour...it's brilliant! it's so fresh & unassuming, not full of ego. he obviously has an ego, like all of us. but he's always so honest & brilliant...& his smile & laugh is to die for! ;)
My goodness Mr. Fassbender has a million teeth!( that's a good thing) I love it when actors aren't afraid to smile during an interview. He seems very humble and friendly.
Fascinating film. Begs the question, what is causing the lead character to be a supposedly recklessly self-destructive sex addict? Surely, for our hunter gatherer male ancestors, there was an evolutionary advantage to being promiscuous: you would have more chances to reproduce with a variety of women, and thus successfully propagate a copy of your genes - which is the only thing that evolution cares about. We all carry a remnant of the promiscuous gene - as it was a successful reproductive strategy - but the version the lead character carries is amplified.
i LOVE that steve mcqueen is black. i had no idea. spike lee and tyler perry are up in their jock on race and mcqueen's all, "good luck with that, i'll be over here making films."
OK... And he didn't win the Oscar for Best Actor. So what does it mean that he didn't even get an Oscar NOMINATION? Did the Academy even SEE the movie??? What a total snub! What a joke! So mad about that.
Well, that's what I'm saying. I feel with the way Fassbender's character was so uncomfortable around her, and her sort of weird interactions with him(like getting in the bed for comfort I guess) and his own violent reaction to it, indicated some sort of sexual trauma that was connected to each other. If that makes any sense.
Well, a lot of people saw/enjoyed the film. It wasn't a HUGE mainstream success or anything, but films like this never are, because it has no family appeal. I don't really see a problem there. Also it didn't get any oscar nominations, but the oscars have been an absolute joke for years so I don't care about that.
Fassbender lol. Let me just pretend that I don't know that you were talking about Nicole Beharie. I "Who's that, Nicole?" *Looks around innocently. Please child. Don't act. We can see right through you haha
lol the first time i watched the scene, i thought he came early, and tht was it, and then the girl says, "its ok" and "it happens". i didnt even have the thought in the back of my head tht brandon cud was even be racist, he just genuinely liked her, and its was prolly new for him to actually date someone and not sleep with her the first night, let alone kiss her. i think she was the only girl in a long time tht he had a decent conversation with and not get sexually aroused.
True, however. American films are much different from ones that are made in the UK. Even Steve McQueen mentioned in an interview how he was surprised when he came to the US to cast the film. He didn't understand why the casting people disagreed w/ him about casting a black woman as a lead love interest.
um, wrapped up ion themselves? pompous, i suppose. basically, they're men trying to make a political statement, where as steve mqueen is trying to make great movies. his race doesn't factor in to it. thar's something i agree with because i think your race doesn't matter.
Erm, this film hits the nail on the head with an increasingly disconnected male section in their 30-40s, who have watched too much porn, done too much coke, had too much meanless ex, and their morality had changed, lacking emotion....and I speak from experience here. Lost my lady through going online for cheap thrills, and when she searched my porn history...well, I'll let you think about what was one there...
nope. its about how all humans are animals and give into desire eventually. the end when the woman who was turned off by michael's stare finally gave in is the most powerful moment in the film. we al eventually give in to sin
Steve is great. Hunger was fantastic. But have you ever considered that maybe you just don't see what I see? Art can be interpreted different ways. the most powerful point of the film was the end. In the beginning that same woman was turned off by him But after it seems Brandon will be getting better he sees the same woman and she smiles at him. That is the point of the film for me. We all give into sin. Brandon is no different than us. We are all beasts of pleasure. No one is digging deep.
Steve and Michael are great at what they do. Michael should have 2 Oscars one for 12 years a slave and Shame both relevant, truthful films, hard to watch but life was and is not pretty. The interviewer was going to make an ass of himself, so Steve and Michael took over.
When you think about it before you see it your thinking oh another sleazy sex movie but this had so much great emotion and acting was really not what i expected
The Oscars are a joke sometime. This was Gary Oldman's 1st nomination this year. I met Oldman and he stated how incredibly political it is to get a nomination and essentially you have to have a team working around the clock to petition to get it. Sad, but that is how the process works.
“Shame” is the only film that left me so affected viscerally that I felt like a different person. I’ve watched this film at least ten times and it never fails to move me. Fassbender is stellar and McQueen is a genius.
Same. It's just one of those films which don't leave you after the texts roll at the end. Everything about it is so well crafted and unique. Have you seen "Joker" from2019 and "The Hours" from 2004 ? If you haven't then you are in for a wild ride and pleasant surprise.
Ah, fair enough. I hadn't really seen anybody trash it for anything other than having supposedly "suffocating puritan undertones", which I thought was a pretty silly thing to say. I think some critics just like to try and be different, and when they know somethings really good, but they don't quite get it, they try and say something controversial or provocative about it. Oldboy recieved the same treatment, and as a result is probably the most underrated film ever.
These questions "shame" the movie and the artists here -- makes me wonder how these interviewers get their jobs. The low point is when he's asking them if they're trying to make "movies that are open to multiple interpretations"!
The movie is redolent of another masterpiece -- "Sex, Lies & Videotape". I hope McQueen retains his visceral edge, and doesn't end up scaling up like Soderbergh.
Very disturbing movie so had to watch it again and read about it. Was truly surprised when I watched an interview with Michael and could not believe how different he is from his character. Superb and did not mind the nudity. Looking forward to McQueen/Fassbender movies in the future.
@Talli732 I think they're trying to leave it for the audience interpretation and not imposing their opinions to the characters. I personally appreciate that especially when I still haven't seen it >_< I remembered Michael saying in one interview that he said something about his character and McQueen later told him he shouldn't for that reason.
