I Stand Alone in Shame

I’ve recently watched two pretty disturbing films. Shame, directed by Steve McQueen has been released on the art house circuit as of late, whilst I Stand Alone is an older film, directed by Gaspar Noé (of Irreversible infamy) which I hired from my favourite DVD-rental outlet, The Majestic*.

Shame centers on the outwardly successful yet secretly sex-addicted life of Brandon Sullivan, played by Michael Fassbender. The movie chronicles Brandon’s descent into chaos and ever-greater perversion as a result of his manic-depressive sister’s (re)entry *ahem* into his regimented life. The film starts off on a solid footing with great cinematography, risqué penis-shots and a story line which keeps you guessing (and you sit there thinking “hell yeah this is what an art-house film is supposed to be”).

However, as Brandon’s perversions intensify (as do the seemingly unrelenting sex scenes) you get fed up with wondering what the root of his addiction is. There are undertones of childhood abuse and/or incest in the film but these aren’t even partially resolved. This “not-knowing”, coupled with scenes which extend far too long, ultimately caused me to lose any sympathy for the protagonist. By the end of the film he was no longer Brandon but rather Michael Fassbender acting as Brandon which made me super uncomfortable (almost as much as the excruciating sex-scenes did).

The film had all the right ingredients: a stellar cast, a provocative idea and great cinematography but the final product flopped. By the time the credits were rolling I waited until every last person had left before I walked shame-facedly out of the cinema following the audience’s collective (nightmarish) wet dream.

I was really apprehensive about watching another one of Gaspar Noé’s films, since I’ve only just recovered from watching Irreversible (four years ago). I Stand Alone is a crazy film, but an art-house-crazy-pulls-out-all-the-right-stops-but-watch-once-and-never-again kind of film.

It stars Philippe Nahon as a horse-meat butcher whose business went insolvent a few years prior. The Butcher has a seemingly autistic daughter who is institutionalized and a pregnant nagging-country-bumpkin-girlfriend with whom he lives in close, depressing confines under her mother’s roof. Following the Butcher’s horrifically violent attack on his girlfriend, he flees for the solace of Paris.

What is crazy about this film is the fact that, objectively, nothing much actually happens in it. What makes the film so powerful and visceral however, is the fact that it is governed by the Butcher’s bitter, violent, misogynistic and increasingly neurotic internal dialogue which blasts like rapid-fire at the audience and over otherwise banal events. The violence and vulgarity of the Butcher’s thoughts, combined with Noé’s combative filming techniques and editing made me feel as if I had been through a boot camp by the end of the film. Similarly to Shame the film keeps you guessing but its execution of this questioning process is seamless and engages the viewer as opposed to alienating him/her.  

While both films encompass similar themes, I Stand Alone is, in many ways, a lot more subtle and intelligent than Shame (and consequently a lot more disturbing). When all is said and done, I’d like to say they’re both worth watching, but all I can say is that they should both be watched (only once) for very different reasons.   

*34 Gleneagles Rd, Greenside, JHB. (011) 486-3648, majestic@telkomsa.net.