In New York City, Brandon's carefully cultivated private life -- which allows him to indulge his sexual addiction -- is disrupted when his sister Sissy arrives unannounced for an indefinite stay.
First off - this is a tough movie to love. Perhaps that's not right...perhaps this is a tough movie to admit to loving given its gritty, seedy and cock-heavy nature. Whatever the reasons I do feel that praising this movie comes with a certain feeling that wasn't apparent with the likes of Drive. But love it I did.
I think what stood out for me overall was McQueen's accomplished direction for one so new to the game. His unashamed use of long, lingering shots which began with the opener, through to Carey Mulligan's singing and onto more complex ones such as the jogging sequence we for me marks of a man who is not afraid to try something new and rebuff conventions that have been stamped on mainstream film making. In fact, everything about this was counter to the rules and I cant help but feel that successful and pioneering films over the years have done just that.
Coming back to the Carey Mulligan song, I think it was perfectly judged to have such a fragile and 'laid bare' version, with such a close up and personal shot. To me it reflected her true personality perfectly and indeed, was so true to her that only the brother really saw it and was brought to tear. The choice of song I think was no coincidence either as I believe New York was a (all-be-it very understated) large part of the movie. We saw a real version, not the Hollywood one, and to a certain degree was the only relationship Fassbender's character had that was functional - he felt comfortable with the city, even though its many temptations were his downfall.
The central theme of Sex Addiction is one that might cause titillation (hehe) but one that is real and an original subject to tackle. I was a fan of not trying to resolve the movie with a traditional 'he gets cured' or 'he dies in a massive orgy' but instead showing us a window into someones troubles. The fact we dont know if he went for the married woman at the end is a way of saying "you aren't supposed to know, that's not the point". Again, brave film making decision but one I applaud.
Fassbender plays the role superbly, it's 'easier' to play people who are crazy but hard to play very calm, understated, unemotional characters. There were great snaps of his temper in bed and on the sofa that showed that he had a tipping point, always the sister, the one chick he couldn't bang.
Scoring this out of 10 is a hard on...one...but I reckon this is (almost) up there with Drive.
First off - this is a tough movie to love. Perhaps that's not right...perhaps this is a tough movie to admit to loving given its gritty, seedy and cock-heavy nature. Whatever the reasons I do feel that praising this movie comes with a certain feeling that wasn't apparent with the likes of Drive. But love it I did.
ReplyDeleteI think what stood out for me overall was McQueen's accomplished direction for one so new to the game. His unashamed use of long, lingering shots which began with the opener, through to Carey Mulligan's singing and onto more complex ones such as the jogging sequence we for me marks of a man who is not afraid to try something new and rebuff conventions that have been stamped on mainstream film making. In fact, everything about this was counter to the rules and I cant help but feel that successful and pioneering films over the years have done just that.
Coming back to the Carey Mulligan song, I think it was perfectly judged to have such a fragile and 'laid bare' version, with such a close up and personal shot. To me it reflected her true personality perfectly and indeed, was so true to her that only the brother really saw it and was brought to tear. The choice of song I think was no coincidence either as I believe New York was a (all-be-it very understated) large part of the movie. We saw a real version, not the Hollywood one, and to a certain degree was the only relationship Fassbender's character had that was functional - he felt comfortable with the city, even though its many temptations were his downfall.
The central theme of Sex Addiction is one that might cause titillation (hehe) but one that is real and an original subject to tackle. I was a fan of not trying to resolve the movie with a traditional 'he gets cured' or 'he dies in a massive orgy' but instead showing us a window into someones troubles. The fact we dont know if he went for the married woman at the end is a way of saying "you aren't supposed to know, that's not the point". Again, brave film making decision but one I applaud.
Fassbender plays the role superbly, it's 'easier' to play people who are crazy but hard to play very calm, understated, unemotional characters. There were great snaps of his temper in bed and on the sofa that showed that he had a tipping point, always the sister, the one chick he couldn't bang.
Scoring this out of 10 is a hard on...one...but I reckon this is (almost) up there with Drive.
8.2/10