Controversial Films for 2012

(Written for MSN's New Thinker's Index with Hyundai website, originally published here.) 

With awards season upon us, we look at the films that could be raising controversy over the year ahead.

W.E.

Madonna and film have had an up and down relationship over the years. Whether this look at the relationship between Wallis Simpson and King Edward VIII, her second outing as a director, is an up or a down is hard to fathom. Many of the reviews have been scathing, while others have been talking about it in terms of awards. But what will the movie-going public think?

Shame

Shame is already one of the most talked about films of the year, both in terms of awards and its bold subject matter: man-of-the-moment Michael Fassbender plays a 30-something New Yorker unable to manage his sex life and urges. Such is the studio’s faith in the quality of the film, they were unfazed by the normally damaging NC-17 rating it was given in the US.

Girl Model

It’s all glamour and gloss seen from the outside, but this documentary sheds a different light on the world of modeling. We meet model scout Ashley, who searches the countryside in Siberia for new talent, as well as one of her finds, 13-year-old Nadya, as she starts out on the journey to catwalk success. Debate about exploitation of children is sure to ensue.

Into the Abyss: A Tale of Death, A Tale of Life

Another documentary guaranteed to kickstart debate – this time about the continually contentious issue of capital punishment. German film auteur Werner Herzog introduces us to two men convicted of triple homicide, as well as a host of people whose lives have been affected by the crime. It’s already winning plaudits from critics and film festivals alike.

The Dictator

Sacha Baron Cohen returns to “tell the heroic story of a dictator who risked his life to ensure that democracy would never come to the country he so lovingly oppressed”. Supposedly based on the novel Zabibah and the King and by Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein, Cohen has undoubtedly made another film that will thrill and shock in equal measure.

Magic Mike

Based on Channing Tatum’s brief experience as a stripper before he was famous, Erin Brockovich director Steven Soderbergh’s latest film sees the actor playing an ‘exotic male dancer’ who teaches new recruit Alex Pettyfer how to hustle, both on and off the stage. The mix of naked men and supposedly seedy lifestyle will certainly raise eyebrows and make headlines.

The Bourne Legacy

A blockbuster Hollywood franchise doesn’t normally court controversy, but the latest Bourne film has had fans frothing at the mouth. There’s no Matt Damon, no Jason Bourne even. Though Bourne regulars Joan Allen and Albert Finney return, new leading man Jeremy Renner plays another assassin called Aaron Cross. Fans say it’s not Bourne without Bourne.

Argo

With his period of embarrassing movie flops now long behind him, Ben Affleck takes on the minefield issue of the relationship between Iran and the west in his latest directorial effort Argo. Affleck plays a CIA agent who rescues six US diplomats from Tehran during the 1979 Iran hostage crisis by claiming they were scouting for locations for a sci-fi film.

Red Dawn

A remake of the 1984 classic war film in which a bunch of American teenagers fight back against an invading Russian army starring Patrick Swayze and Charlie Sheen. The new version – starring Thor’s Chris Hemsworth – originally had China invading the US, but concerns from distributors forced the production company to change to the even more unlikely North Korea.

The Master

Scientology has long been a controversial subject and, although upcoming film The Master is not explicitly about the much-discussed belief system, comparisons have already been drawn. Philip Seymour Hoffman plays a charismatic intellectual who launches a faith-based system, only to have it questioned by his right-hand man Joaquin Phoenix.