Brandon, played brilliantly by Michael Fassbender who also stars in Venice competition contender A Dangerous Method, is a 30-something New Yorker who is a sex addict. His sexual appetite dominates all other areas of his life as he coldly seduces women, masturbates compulsively and collects pornography on his office computer. His apartment is stylish but cold and empty of human touches as his life is empty of emotion. But the balance of his life changes when his mixed-up younger sister, Sissy, played by Carey Mulligan, moves in as she has no where else to go. Brandon’s cold but ordered existence is upset by the appearance of his sister who begins an affair with his married boss, and spirals out of control.
This is a film about sex, raw coarse and impersonal, that does not shy away from portraying it on screen. According to McQueen: “We witness and are becoming desensitised to to the sexualisation of society. It is this “elephant in the room” that I wish to explore.”
Brandon is handsome and stylish with the right clothes and outwardly he is a success. But underneath lurks a terrible anger and chaos that drives his constant need for sexual release. Fassbender has all the right attributes to play this character. It is a tour d’ force for the actor who also won critical acclaim for his role as Sands the Irish hunger striker in McQueen’s Hunger. It is Fassbender’s powerful performance that gives the film its hard core and its powerful impact.
Despite her distress Mulligan shines in a pivotal scene in a night club where she signs New York, New York. While Fassbender dominates the film Mulligan proves a strong player in her role as the younger sister. It is obvious that the two siblings share some terrible family history hidden away in some deep closets. It is Sissy’s appearance in his life that triggers his shame.
The high – or low - point of the film comes when Brandon embarks on a destructive erotic marathon that endangers his life and also the film’s chance for any kind of decent censor’s rating in the US market.
Speaking at the press conference McQueen said that the character of Brandon was both “unfamiliar and extraordinarily recognizable.” He described the use of any kind of alcohol, drugs or sex to get a certain kind of high as a way of numbing inner pain that we don’t want to deal with.
McQueen is stylish and accomplished filmmaker visually and in cinematographer Sean Bobbitt he has found the right partner for his bold and sensual style.
Credits
United Kingdom
Director: Steve McQueen
Screenwriters: Steve McQueen, Abi Morgan
DoP: Sean Bobbitt
Production: See-Saw Productions
Cast: Michael Fassbender, Carey Mulligan, James Badge, Nicole Beharie
