France and Britain’s different attitudes to sex are often joked about, but the marketing campaign for Steve McQeen’s hotly anticipated film seems to have taken them quite seriously.
The poster we’ve all been teased with for Shame so far is a minimalist image of a bed, which is subtly suggestive of the film’s sex addiction theme and also rather beautiful. Here it is you’ve missed it so far:
But now the French have got hold of the idea and, living up to stereotype, have sexed the whole thing up, sticking a naked torso under Fassbender’s duvet:
The colouring is brighter which, along with the skin on display, certainly makes for an eye catching poster. It changes the tone considerably though, moving away from the almost foreboding sense of ‘shame’ displayed in the original poster. The French one is more jovial and also sexually enticing. Rather than suggesting trauma and conflict, French audiences might be expecting a comedy full of copulation.
Not that I’m complaining, it’s a very nice poster and I’d actually quite like a copy on my wall.