Shame

Not the Ingmar Bergman or Michael Fassbender films of the same title, this Australian drama focuses a female lawyer who decides to stay overnight in an unfriendly rural town while her motorcycle is fixed. Concerned about the apparent lawlessness in the town with an ineffectual police sergeant in charge, her stay soon becomes longer as she tries to convince a local teenager to speak out against those who have wronged her, leading to division and unease in the sleepy town. The messages at hand are hardly subtle and the pro-feminist angle is certainly nothing new, however, the film gets good mileage from its portrait of a town so cut off from the world that they believe themselves to be beyond the law, instead deciding their own regulations and ideas of right and wrong. When she is almost assaulted at night, the lawyer is told to simply "stay off the street" at night despite her protests that "I am a citizen; I have every right to do what I chose", while "these things happen" is the attitude of one local woman, dismissive of the charges that the lawyer wants her teen client to bring. A more interesting film may have probed into whether the lawyer created more harm than good by opening up a can of worms in regards to lawlessness in the town, but the film makes for decent viewing either way with Deborra-Lee Furness and Simone Buchanan both in fine form as the main female characters. While more eerie nighttime shots would have helped, the film is nicely photographed too on-location in Toodyay - less than an hour away from where I currently reside.

The story starts out with a lone woman (Ester Cartel) on a motorbike traveling the open roads in outback Australia. She unfortunately becomes involved with circumstance (in the wrong place at the wrong time scenario)….she drops her bike, which causes substantial damage. Arriving at the nearest township she encounters an ugly dominate force amongst the local young males. With her bike out of commission she has no other alternative but to seek accommodation (for a while) with the family of the mechanic from where she has ordered parts for her bike.

Gradually she learns that the population of this quaint little town consists of social bigotry, chauvinism, and apathy. Women are on the menu and the 'boys' think they can do anything they like to them without being punished. The so-called law enforcement is led by an incompetent police captain and the parents to these louts show no disciplinary measures to curb their children's behaviour. It sure does demonstrate how a small community can become feral out of pure boredom.

If you're looking for big screen names you probably won't find them in this production, I'm certain they're not well known outside Australia. One exception though would be Debra Lee Furness (the main character); she's married to Aussie actor Hugh Jackman. The entire cast pulled their weight to create a film with a fair bit of 'clout' and it made quite a noise when it was released. It certainly doesn't depict the idyllic country life associated with much of Australia and it wasn't afraid to show a different side either...(whether it's true or not is another thing).

The reason why I liked the film so much was because of the leading character. She was strong and defiant in what she thought was right, very similar to Ellen Ripley from Alien. I don't know why I find strong female characters so appealing, more than likely I'm fed up with the usual woman in distress roles.

Watch this if you enjoy strong female roles such as; Erin Brockovich, or G.I Jane.

...this is director Jodrell's best work. Also known for some HALIFAX instalments, Jodrell has created a near-brilliant masterpiece from what is essentially an unoriginal story which could have easily been made into a non-consequential telemovie (notably, similar themes are dealt with in NATURAL JUSTICE: HEAT, a 1996 telemovie starring Claudia Karvan as the motorbike-riding lawyer based on the series of the same name). Furness, while not perhaps the best choice to play the lead role, ends up fitting nicely, with her tough-looking exterior (and shocking 1980's hair!!). She's a barrister, roaming the outback on her motorbike, when she comes across a small town which is hiding a shocking secret: seems the town's "lads" have been having more than a little "fun" with some teenage girls. Thing is, the local constabulary would much rather sweep it under the carpet than have to lock his mates up, and the girls have enough trouble convincing their own families of the truth, let alone the parents of the "nice, good boys" who have "never been in any trouble." Stereotypes abound here, but that's okay, it actually adds a dimension to the story and really lets us get angry at the characters. And just when you think you're hooked, Jodrell manages to pull in a bit of THE CARS THAT ATE PARIS and even MAD MAX to spice things up a bit... SHAME is an unconventional, highly emotive and stunning piece of work from a little-known director who, by these standards, deserves to be up there alongside Peter Weir and Scott Hicks as the most successful Australian filmmakers. Rating: 8/10.

It's funny i normally watch a trailer before i watch the movie but i saw this on prime and just automatically saw the blurb and i took a chance i am so glad I did! An amazing cast, it was so real and brought such important struggles to life that girls and women and men struggle with on a daily basis i didn't expect that ending at all i was just left in shock and crying my eyes out, just fantastic!

Powerful but restrained acting highlights this story of a lawyer who happens upon a family whose daughter has been blamed for her own gangrape, on the old theory that she must have asked for it. The characters gradually and quite believably overcome their natural tendencies toward denial and passivity in the face of overwhelming circumstances. There is a refreshing absence of crusading spirit and rhetoric such as you usually get in films dealing with themes of this kind. Rather, quiet, inner heroism emerges quite naturally from the various characters as they deal with the specific problems that have come upon them. Beautifully done, wonderfully and subtly acted. Watch it.