Shame

source: Shame

Extremely low budget feature that has stereotypical themes of rape revenge (in a typical Australian outback setting) as a barrister arrives via motorcycle in a town that has a problem of lawlessness amongst some inhabitants. Some of a sexual nature that are covered up by other residents of the town, who should frankly know better. Don't get this Shame mixed up with the far superior 2011 version starring Fassbender and Mulligan. These other residents include rich parents, a dodgy policeman and scared victims. It isn't the best Ozploitation film I've watched. Simply watchable fare from 1988 that in a Netflix age of movies on demand is distinctly average.

In a remote Western Australian town packs of gang rapists go around harassing and assaulting the local girls while nobody (not even the law) lifts a finger. That is, not until lawyer Asta (Deborah-Lee Furness) comes limping into town on her broken motorcycle. When she discovers what is going on, the fiery counsellor is determined someone will pay. As the heroine who takes on the town, Furness fits the bill convincingly, while Simone Buchanan is suitably vulnerable as one of the latest victims, Lizzy. Tony Barry is strong as her tormented, scared father, and the support cast do well. "Shame" is one of those aggravating movies that makes you want to take a straight razor to the 'fun-loving lads' and perform some delicate surgery. In this light it has similarities to "The Accused" (though it has nowhere near the power of that shocking film). Director Steve Jodrell easily generates compassion for the young girls and hatred for the boys, and he has no trouble upsetting and infuriating his audience. Unfortunately he cuts himself off with a poor ending which leaves his viewers hanging. We don't see the perpetrators brought to justice, which leaves our thirst for vengeance unquenched. It's also hard to believe that so many women in the town would chose to ignore the problems. This point, coupled with the ambiguity of some pivotal characters, such as the police sergeant, take away from the picture's effectiveness. Western Australia is well photographed by Joseph Pickering. Saturday, July 15, 1995 - Video

...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.

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.

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!

Shame is about a female barrister whose motorbike breaks down in possibly the worst small town in Australia. Taking refuge with a family while waiting for spare parts to arrive, a traumatic personal experience and talking to other women in town uncovers a disturbingly sexist culture there. Basically, a large group of young men think they can get away with treating the female population like cattle, with unwanted overtures and lascivious remarks even ending in sexual assault sometimes. Needless to say, our new arrival isn't too happy with this situation and tries to change things... but with some very powerful people against her and a whole system of deniability in full effect, this won't be easy. If Shame succeeds in one thing, it's giving us possibly the most hateful selection of misanthropic bozos to ever fester together in a single place. Look at these boozed-up losers, hanging around in pubs all day catcalling unwilling women that have more class in their little fingers than the entire worthless lot combined. From the very first second, we can't wait for these pigs to finally get their comeuppance. And when that great moment finally arrives, the emotional catharsis afterwards might fool you into thinking you've watched a good movie. You haven't. The plot is too cluttered, the baddies too one-note, the acting from at least some of the cast isn't convincing enough. And for a film with such a serious subject matter, that could be a fatal flaw. Thankfully, one of those dodgy performances doesn't come from our lawyer protagonist, who just about holds everything together whilst everything else descends into absolute anarchy. It's probably worth one watch, but there was the potential here to create something truly special. As the title suggests, it's a shame. 5/10

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.

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 was made to watch this film in Grade 11 English to look at gender discourses. That was five years ago. To this day, I still remember the film and its horrific storyline. I felt compelled to go out and kill those bastard boys for what they had done to the poor girl. This movie made me angry. It still makes me angry, that people can think like they do in this film and think that it is OK to cover up a rape on a defenceless girl. Shame on the boys who committed this crime. Shame on the community who tried to cover it up. It's a shame that their aren't more heroines like Deborah-Lee Furness' character out there, and it's a shame that this movie is not more wide-spread throughout Australia and the world, because lessons can be learnt and should be learnt from this movie.