Shame's tragedy

A man in his own apartment having a shower after a nightstand.
The camera follows his naked body. 
Repetitive situation, repetitive scene.
His body, his computer with pornographic images and sexy video chat. 


The phone is ringing. It is Sissy, his sister calling to know about his brother.

They have a difficult relationship and their miss-understood love causes a lack of confidence and balance in their life. 
Sissy is a singer, self-harmed and unstable. Brandon is a successful thirthy-ish man with a strong sex addiction. He is not able to have a normal partner to love and share time together because he is not able to love. Mainly he doesn't love his self and his only source to be alive is sex. Brutal and physical sex with attractive prostitutes and anonymous encounters.
No feeling, no sensitive thoughts, no passion. Just shame.

In this film sex becomes the only way to communicate with the world, as working, as eating. It symbolises
a condition of human being in a post-modern world where people are not able to be happy, relax, managing their stress and problems.
Bodies without souls are the only survivors in a New York painted in grey, blue and dark colours, where everything is gone quickly, in a subway stop.  The City that never sleep is the perfect location for that distressing story. Clubs, drugs, sex and work are the main characters. And the subway underlining the busy and frenetic rhythm of life.

Brandon is selfish and introvert. He suffers from lack of love and his traumatic past and relationship with his sister has influenced whole his life. His behaviour.
Brandon is a desperate man seeking sex feedback in any place. His glacial eyes need love but they can see just ugliness.

Brandon and Sissy

When Sissy came to his place he can't accept her and all the time he is nervous and irritated. He forced her to go out, knowing she has mental problems and she is very fragile. After the last annoyed argument she tries to make a suicide.
Brandon feels guilty and cries under symbolic raining.
However we do not know if the purification is done. the last scene shows him in the subway looking a girl in ambiguous way. But he is still in his seat and does not have action. He is still alone.

Steve Mc Queen has made an amazing film with a particular use of camera in shallow deep focus. Photography is masterly and gives us the impression of emptiness in a full and frantic environment.
The camera is the fragmented view of Brandon, it is his metonymy.
The music is a mix of harmonic, rock and blues and it suits perfect to represent the psychological drama of the protagonist.