Pam Grady, Special to The Chronicle
Sunday, December 4, 2011
Michael Fassbender talked to sex addicts to gain insight for his second collaboration with Steve McQueen.
View Larger ImagesWhen asked how he prepared to get under the skin of sex addict Brandon in the downbeat drama "Shame," a deadpan Michael Fassbender responds that he practiced Brandon's erotic skills across New York City, an answer that elicits a laugh from the film's director and co-screenwriter Steve McQueen.
They are joking, of course, the pair's humor on this visit to San Francisco standing in stark contrast to the seriousness of their work together. "Shame" is their second collaboration. For their first, 2008's "Hunger," Fassbender had to lose 33 pounds to play emaciated, hunger striking IRA martyr Bobby Sands. With "Shame," while much has been made of the nudity that earned the film an NC-17 rating, it is Fassbender's emotional nakedness rather than his full monty that is arresting. Brandon is a slave to his compulsions, and his life is further thrown into disarray by a visit from his troubled younger sister Sissy (an equally haunting Carey Mulligan).
That rating may dampen the film's box office potential, but critically it is already a smash. At the Venice Film Festival, where "Shame" made its premiere, the film took home the CinemAvvenire Award and Fipresci Prize for best film and Fassbender won the Volpi Cup for best actor. It has been nominated for seven British Independent Film Awards, including best actor, best director, best British independent film and best screenplay, and the awards season is barely getting started.
"I've been coming to New York since '77, back when Elvis died. The majority of my family lived in New York for a while. It was always familiar to me," McQueen says. "But what was interesting about this, as far as New York City is concerned is that through Brandon's ritual, you see the city. Brandon runs through the city at night. It's so beautiful, just look at it.
"It's strange, isn't it? People in New York work and live in the sky and have those big windows. It's kind of crazy. What happens when you have that perspective on the world? It must make you feel very small. What happens in your head when you have that sort of view on the world?"
Fassbender adds, "To be so lonely, surrounded by millions of people, it kind of intensifies the loneliness. I think Brandon's sort of imprisoned in his body, in his condition, and New York is in some ways an enabler. He sort of negotiates New York. It almost like becomes his compatriot, his comrade in sexual arms."
The choice for who would play Brandon was a simple one for McQueen. The characters and their situations are very different, but the same thing that made Fassbender perfect for Bobby Sands also made him a fit to play the troubled Brandon.
"Michael can actually translate humanity and it's kind of shocking, because then you can see yourself," the 42-year-old director says. "I see actors in movies and they're so far from you, but with Michael you can actually project oneself onto that person, because you're seeing something you know within yourself. That is a beauty and it's a fragility, it's a sort of vulnerability.
"Michael is a man's man, but there's a huge feminity in him and what he does translates to audience, so you believe him," he adds. "There's also a situation where - we're not the prettiest people and sometimes when we look at ourselves we're not particularly attractive, and Michael can portray that."
They are joking, of course, the pair's humor on this visit to San Francisco standing in stark contrast to the seriousness of their work together. "Shame" is their second collaboration. For their first, 2008's "Hunger," Fassbender had to lose 33 pounds to play emaciated, hunger striking IRA martyr Bobby Sands. With "Shame," while much has been made of the nudity that earned the film an NC-17 rating, it is Fassbender's emotional nakedness rather than his full monty that is arresting. Brandon is a slave to his compulsions, and his life is further thrown into disarray by a visit from his troubled younger sister Sissy (an equally haunting Carey Mulligan).
That rating may dampen the film's box office potential, but critically it is already a smash. At the Venice Film Festival, where "Shame" made its premiere, the film took home the CinemAvvenire Award and Fipresci Prize for best film and Fassbender won the Volpi Cup for best actor. It has been nominated for seven British Independent Film Awards, including best actor, best director, best British independent film and best screenplay, and the awards season is barely getting started.
Cold shoulder
The idea for "Shame" began at a lunch between McQueen and screenwriter/playwright Abi Morgan. They began talking about the Internet, which led to pornography, which led to sex addiction. Their meal stretched out over 3 1/2 hours, and by the end of it, they had the start of the idea. The director thought he would make the film in his native London, but when he and Morgan started to research the topic, experts in London gave them the cold shoulder. In New York, though, their questions were welcomed, and out of that, New York emerged as the story's location."I've been coming to New York since '77, back when Elvis died. The majority of my family lived in New York for a while. It was always familiar to me," McQueen says. "But what was interesting about this, as far as New York City is concerned is that through Brandon's ritual, you see the city. Brandon runs through the city at night. It's so beautiful, just look at it.
"It's strange, isn't it? People in New York work and live in the sky and have those big windows. It's kind of crazy. What happens when you have that perspective on the world? It must make you feel very small. What happens in your head when you have that sort of view on the world?"
Fassbender adds, "To be so lonely, surrounded by millions of people, it kind of intensifies the loneliness. I think Brandon's sort of imprisoned in his body, in his condition, and New York is in some ways an enabler. He sort of negotiates New York. It almost like becomes his compatriot, his comrade in sexual arms."
The choice for who would play Brandon was a simple one for McQueen. The characters and their situations are very different, but the same thing that made Fassbender perfect for Bobby Sands also made him a fit to play the troubled Brandon.
"Michael can actually translate humanity and it's kind of shocking, because then you can see yourself," the 42-year-old director says. "I see actors in movies and they're so far from you, but with Michael you can actually project oneself onto that person, because you're seeing something you know within yourself. That is a beauty and it's a fragility, it's a sort of vulnerability.
"Michael is a man's man, but there's a huge feminity in him and what he does translates to audience, so you believe him," he adds. "There's also a situation where - we're not the prettiest people and sometimes when we look at ourselves we're not particularly attractive, and Michael can portray that."
San Francisco Chronicle
Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2011/12/01/PKJC1M2U7C.DTL#ixzz1faSSrjaD
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