By Reece Beckett
“I was a painter before, and it was always about the frame, of course. But within this frame, somehow, because of movement, because of things passing through the frame, it seemed to have a life bigger than the actual frame itself. That’s the thing that gave me passion to sort of want to make films.” - Steve McQueen
Steve McQueen is a British filmmaker, a man who is at this point three films into his career, with a fourth coming this year. It isn’t often that you come across what seems to be a perfect filmography, films that are consistently impossible to find flaws in, however I believe that McQueen has accomplished this. He made his first feature length film in 2008, after spending 15 years (at least) making his own short films. He has continued to make features for the last decade, even winning Academy Awards for his latest film, 12 Years A Slave.
His first film, Hunger, faced much critical acclaimed upon its release, even winning The Carl Foreman Award at the Bafta’s, The award for a British director in their debut film. The film was even given a release on The Criterion Collection, a company “dedicated to gathering the greatest films from around the world.”
There are many parts of his three films that seem to cross over. For example, all films centre around one male character: Bobby Sands in his first film, Hunger, released in 2008, Brandon in Shame, released in 2011 and Solomon Northup in his most well known film, 12 Years A Slave. This may seem like something you could attach to many different filmographies, however something that I noticed was the fact that in all three of these films, this one man is used as a symbol for a much bigger conflict. In Hunger, Bobby Sands is representative of the IRA hunger strike of 1981, in Shame, Brandon represents sexual addiction in general, and of course in 12 Years A Slave, Northup represents the overall conflict of slavery.
Steve McQueen is a British filmmaker, a man who is at this point three films into his career, with a fourth coming this year. It isn’t often that you come across what seems to be a perfect filmography, films that are consistently impossible to find flaws in, however I believe that McQueen has accomplished this. He made his first feature length film in 2008, after spending 15 years (at least) making his own short films. He has continued to make features for the last decade, even winning Academy Awards for his latest film, 12 Years A Slave.
His first film, Hunger, faced much critical acclaimed upon its release, even winning The Carl Foreman Award at the Bafta’s, The award for a British director in their debut film. The film was even given a release on The Criterion Collection, a company “dedicated to gathering the greatest films from around the world.”
There are many parts of his three films that seem to cross over. For example, all films centre around one male character: Bobby Sands in his first film, Hunger, released in 2008, Brandon in Shame, released in 2011 and Solomon Northup in his most well known film, 12 Years A Slave. This may seem like something you could attach to many different filmographies, however something that I noticed was the fact that in all three of these films, this one man is used as a symbol for a much bigger conflict. In Hunger, Bobby Sands is representative of the IRA hunger strike of 1981, in Shame, Brandon represents sexual addiction in general, and of course in 12 Years A Slave, Northup represents the overall conflict of slavery.
This shows McQueen’s clear understanding of what makes cinema really tick. There isn’t any need for large scale action, and the closest he ever comes to this is in Hunger, in which a brutal scene plays out in just one take, following the prisoners as they are harshly beaten and searched. This scene isn’t only horrific to view, and extremely uneasy, but McQueen even justified both sides of the fight. It would’ve been almost too easy to victimise Sands and the other prisoners, however during this fight, and throughout the film for that matter, we are shown that life isn’t too much better for the officers. In the beating scene, we see one officer traumatised by what he is seeing, and his own actions, hiding behind a wall as the violence continues on the other side of it.
This idea of ignorance is another recurring theme in McQueen’s filmography so far. In Shame, Brandon ignores his sisters frequent cries for help, he ignores her calls and he ignores his own addiction. He seems to not pay attention to anything other than his sexual satisfaction, consumed by his addiction to a point that he no longer views what he is doing as wrong. His addiction has engulfed him in a bubble, one that he cannot break out of.
Ignorance is also seen in 12 Years A Slave, not only from the general public towards the slavery, but also towards the emotions of these characters. For example, there is a scene wherein Northup is left to hang, and the shot lingers on his hanging body as we see life simply continue in the background. A harsh and disgusting moment, difficult for anyone to see.
McQueen’s earlier work, strangely, doesn’t seem to show any ignorance or the representation of a conflict through a single person, instead McQueen’s 1993 short film, titled “Bear”, shows two men, totally naked, fighting and embracing each other. This film communicates strange connotations of homoeroticism, violence and race rather than being more character based. Though “Bear” may differ from his other work, I find it interesting that the men fight whilst naked, which once again is in all of McQueen’s films. In Hunger and 12 Years A Slave, nudity is included to show vulnerability and helplessness, whilst in Shame, it is used as a horrific reminder that whilst Brandon is so addicted to his sexual fantasies, he is also incredibly vulnerable to his addiction, overpowered by it... whenever Brandon is naked, he seems to feel free, something rather tribal which is a similar ideology to what we see in “Bear”.
Strangely, McQueen also made a short film heavily inspired by Buster Keaton. The film, titled “Deadpan” is a recreation of the iconic Buster Keaton stunt wherein a house falls onto Keaton, however he narrowly survives as a hole lands over him. This one stands out compared to McQueen’s other films, basing itself off of a comedic genius rather than the rough conflicts that he usually focuses on, however, it still makes sense considering that McQueen could have learnt his excellent visual style from Keaton.
I find it incredible how McQueen isn’t afraid to let the camera linger. The most obvious example of this is in Hunger, a film with many excellent long takes, however the one that comes to mind first to me is a scene when we see a prison cleaner, mopping up urine. The shot lasts over a minute, uncomfortably dragging out this simple job and reminding the viewer that the prisoners aren’t the only ones suffering through their actions and protests, it’s a harsh reminder that with the way things are in the story, there is no winner, there is no clear-cut protagonist.
This idea of ignorance is another recurring theme in McQueen’s filmography so far. In Shame, Brandon ignores his sisters frequent cries for help, he ignores her calls and he ignores his own addiction. He seems to not pay attention to anything other than his sexual satisfaction, consumed by his addiction to a point that he no longer views what he is doing as wrong. His addiction has engulfed him in a bubble, one that he cannot break out of.
Ignorance is also seen in 12 Years A Slave, not only from the general public towards the slavery, but also towards the emotions of these characters. For example, there is a scene wherein Northup is left to hang, and the shot lingers on his hanging body as we see life simply continue in the background. A harsh and disgusting moment, difficult for anyone to see.
McQueen’s earlier work, strangely, doesn’t seem to show any ignorance or the representation of a conflict through a single person, instead McQueen’s 1993 short film, titled “Bear”, shows two men, totally naked, fighting and embracing each other. This film communicates strange connotations of homoeroticism, violence and race rather than being more character based. Though “Bear” may differ from his other work, I find it interesting that the men fight whilst naked, which once again is in all of McQueen’s films. In Hunger and 12 Years A Slave, nudity is included to show vulnerability and helplessness, whilst in Shame, it is used as a horrific reminder that whilst Brandon is so addicted to his sexual fantasies, he is also incredibly vulnerable to his addiction, overpowered by it... whenever Brandon is naked, he seems to feel free, something rather tribal which is a similar ideology to what we see in “Bear”.
Strangely, McQueen also made a short film heavily inspired by Buster Keaton. The film, titled “Deadpan” is a recreation of the iconic Buster Keaton stunt wherein a house falls onto Keaton, however he narrowly survives as a hole lands over him. This one stands out compared to McQueen’s other films, basing itself off of a comedic genius rather than the rough conflicts that he usually focuses on, however, it still makes sense considering that McQueen could have learnt his excellent visual style from Keaton.
I find it incredible how McQueen isn’t afraid to let the camera linger. The most obvious example of this is in Hunger, a film with many excellent long takes, however the one that comes to mind first to me is a scene when we see a prison cleaner, mopping up urine. The shot lasts over a minute, uncomfortably dragging out this simple job and reminding the viewer that the prisoners aren’t the only ones suffering through their actions and protests, it’s a harsh reminder that with the way things are in the story, there is no winner, there is no clear-cut protagonist.
McQueen uses long takes in all of his films, whether it be the 20 minute conversation scene between Bobby Sands and a priest in Hunger, a phenomenal tracking shot that follows Brandon through the streets of New York as he jogs, trying to clear his head, in Shame, or some brutal takes in 12 Years A Slave, including one wherein Solomon Northup is forced to whip one of his friends to death.
Another thing that I noticed about Steve McQueen is that he never takes specific sides. Even in his short film, “Bear”, he never focuses specifically on one man more than the other, and this is something that continued throughout his filmography. In Hunger, the prison officers aren’t made out to be antagonists, in fact the first 10 minutes of the film focus on one prison officer, we see his bruised and cut hands, his difficult family life strained further by his job and the paranoia that the current politics caused for people. In Shame, Brandon is never looked down upon by the film, McQueen leaves everything to the audience, they need to decide. Even in 12 Years A Slave, McQueen doesn’t push either way. The film shows that not everyone was involved, only making the awful men villainous, whilst the majority of the characters sympathise with Northup and the other slaves. As McQueen himself said about 12 Years A Slave, “Everyone deserves not just to survive, but to live. This is the important legacy of Solomon Northup.”
One other thing that I noticed was the way that Hunger and Shame seem to connect. Whilst they focus on entirely different things, I notice a strange connection between Sands’ hunger strike to going ‘cold turkey’ from a drug, just as Brandon would have to in Shame. I may be reaching, however it seems strange that the two connect in such a way.
I also noticed an odd connection between McQueen’s Shame and Martin Scorsese’s New York, New York, made in 1977.
Though there are so many connections between Steve McQueen’s films, from the way that he chooses to portray his subject and the way that his films feel incredibly observant, their great variation in topics is what I find very interesting.
Though they are all upsetting topics, fuelled by conflict, there’s also a great range in the topics of choice, as I stated before with the great contrast between Hunger, and its protagonists choice to abandon a necessity of life, compared to Shame, in which the protagonist seems to have created an entirely new necessity in his own life.
Another thing that I noticed about Steve McQueen is that he never takes specific sides. Even in his short film, “Bear”, he never focuses specifically on one man more than the other, and this is something that continued throughout his filmography. In Hunger, the prison officers aren’t made out to be antagonists, in fact the first 10 minutes of the film focus on one prison officer, we see his bruised and cut hands, his difficult family life strained further by his job and the paranoia that the current politics caused for people. In Shame, Brandon is never looked down upon by the film, McQueen leaves everything to the audience, they need to decide. Even in 12 Years A Slave, McQueen doesn’t push either way. The film shows that not everyone was involved, only making the awful men villainous, whilst the majority of the characters sympathise with Northup and the other slaves. As McQueen himself said about 12 Years A Slave, “Everyone deserves not just to survive, but to live. This is the important legacy of Solomon Northup.”
One other thing that I noticed was the way that Hunger and Shame seem to connect. Whilst they focus on entirely different things, I notice a strange connection between Sands’ hunger strike to going ‘cold turkey’ from a drug, just as Brandon would have to in Shame. I may be reaching, however it seems strange that the two connect in such a way.
I also noticed an odd connection between McQueen’s Shame and Martin Scorsese’s New York, New York, made in 1977.
Though there are so many connections between Steve McQueen’s films, from the way that he chooses to portray his subject and the way that his films feel incredibly observant, their great variation in topics is what I find very interesting.
Though they are all upsetting topics, fuelled by conflict, there’s also a great range in the topics of choice, as I stated before with the great contrast between Hunger, and its protagonists choice to abandon a necessity of life, compared to Shame, in which the protagonist seems to have created an entirely new necessity in his own life.
Though McQueen’s cinematic career may be a mere three features long, I believe that he is one of the greatest contemporary directors, creating some of the greatest current films consistently, presenting beautiful and harsh films about real issues that people face, whether it be fictional or non-fictional. I believe that in McQueen, cinema has acquired yet another anthropologist, a man who cares endlessly for his peers, and wants desperately to acknowledge the pain that some go through.
Lupita Nyongo doesn't die in the whipping scene in 12 years a slave.
ReplyDelete