We Have Seen “Shame,” And It Is The Sexiest Movie Of 2011

I first heard about Steve McQueen's "Shame" back in August, when photos of Michael Fassbender shooting sex scenes at New York City's Standard Hotel surfaced online—and few weeks later, I learned that indie darling Carey Mulligan would also be appearing (and undressing) in the film.

That alone was enough to pique my interest in the film (and learning that friend of Fleshbot DeeDee Luxe was in a threesome scene just put that desire over the top). Having seen the film this past weekend at the New York Film Festival, I can report that it does, indeed, live up to the hype—and then some.

If you've read any of the reviews of "Shame" that came out of the Toronto International Film Festival, you might find it strange to hear me referring to this film as sexy. In most reviews, the film is described as dark, harrowing, serious, and soulful—not quite the terms one normally associates with an erotically charged film. But it's largely because of the harrowing seriousness of the film that the eroticism has such an impact. It's not that this film is sexy in spite of being serious and sad; it's sexy because it is serious and sad.

It can be tricky to talk about nudity in serious cinema: one doesn't want to suggest that the mere presence of toplessness means a film is solely prurient ("Antichrist" can hardly be considered a light erotic romp); but the fact that a film is serious and high minded should not mean that it can't simultaneously arouse. "Shame" isn't some lighthearted sexploitation flick, and the fact that half its cast appears in various states of undress is not sufficient to make it a sexy film. But as an intense examination of a disconnected, tortured man who's only able to feel things when he's immersed in the sensations of casual sex, it manages to simultaneously feel incredibly sad and intensely erotic. And that is why I think it's the sexiest movie of 2011.