TIFF 2011 Buyer’s Club: #7. Steve McQueen’s Shame

#7. Shame
The Gist: Scripted by Abi Morgan and McQueen, the story, said to focus on human need, will see Fassbender as Brandon, a New Yorker dealing with his complicated sex life and whose life spins out of control when his sister (Mulligan) comes to stay.

Director: Steve McQueen (Breakout debut film was Hunger)
Sales Agent: Hanway Films
Selling Point/Suited For: Brando delivered an Academy Award-nominated performance for his pass me the butter Euro film, if the Academy can separate the condition/exploits and ugliness of the character from the actor’s performance, then this should be a golden ticket Best Actor nomination perf for Michael Fassbender. Why isn’t this film higher on the list? The knock against it is there are only a few distributors who care about award season prestige, and even less folks who don’t mind butting heads with rating boards and don’t mind to really work for a tiny profit. How it plays in Venice (and perhaps Telluride) will determine it’s immediate future and value.