Shame

Dated, big hair, blurry, bad writing & screenplay, poor acting, sophomoric messaging & stereotyping, probably an insult to Outback residents. A feminist message cures all film ills? I don't think so. A shame that this film was made and a shame it was rated so highly. A shame I wasted my time.

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!

An excellent and absorbing Australian drama made and released in 1987, SHAME featuring Deborah Lee Furness is a genuine surprise powerhouse thriller. She plays a lawyer having a solo motorbike riding holiday when to her alarm, she gets trapped in a misogynistic country town. Local louts see her as "fair game" and then find the tables turned when her legal talons return to jail them for their brute behavior. A great role for any woman SHAME is well played by the talented and tough Furness. Interesting teen actor Simone Buchanan seen in the wonderful kids movie RUN REBECCA RUN is a local girl also terrorized by the boys.It is a combination of events against town women that sees Furness take a very tough legal stand, making the Civic leaders and their boozy blokes world accountable for this social damage. Possibly inspired by news items and well directed by Steve Jodrell, a (later) TV-only director SHAME did not get a big release thus crippling its initial available audience. Not screened on TV or profiled much after 1989, SHAME might benefit from a remake if the dynamics of this small taut film were slightly enlarged. Furness is the happy wife of Broadway performer and cinema X Man Hugh Jackman which is possibly why she is not seen on screens very often anymore.. A DVD release for SHAME is long overdue. A remake is also welcome. It is a good story and great pieces for strong unknown new actors. Other Australian films as strong similar references are THE BOYS and THE CARS THAT ATE Paris.

I remember watching this on tv several times in the 80's as a young girl just a few years younger than the character of Lizzie. I also lived in WA, so I have always found this grim and realistic to watch. Rewatched for the first time as an adult now in my 40's - I still find this a powerful and important film. It's obviously dated, but it is just perfect honestly. Once again I found myself near tears over Lizzie's fate and so angry that things like that can and do happen. I hope not to that extent in this day and age.

I always wondered if the film title was in homage of the 50's movie classic, since Shame's story line of the outsider showing up, fighting wrongs, and ultimately, helping a community get back their self-respect seems to have the same themes. This movie was re-made as a 1992 made for TV movie with Amanda Donahoe as the lead character and the locale changed to be the Pacific Northwest of the US rather than the outback of Australia. The theatrical film is the more powerful of the two. If you like this film, you might also enjoy the 1996 movie "Foxfire," where a teenage Angelina Jolie is cast as the trouble-making outsider showing up to help right wrongs.