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Hunger
Starring: Michael Fassbender, Stuart Graham, Helena Bereen, Larry Cowan
Directed by: Steve McQueen
Produced
by:
Robin Gutch, Laura Hastings-Smith
Written
by: Enda Walsh
Distributor: IFC Films |
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It’s hard for
me to conjure up enough enthusiasm to write about Hunger,
British videographer Steve McQueen's film-debut about imprisoned
Irish Republican Bobby Sands' (Michael Fassbender) fatal
will-power during the 1981 IRA Hunger Strike, because I haven’t
come across a film so pointlessly grueling in a very long time.
Hunger isn't too concerned with the historical
details of the strike: Sands is provided four long takes (two of
which go on for so long they'll undoubtedly be praised by
film-school students even though McQueen merely employs a
stationary camera) to explain the cause and his passion for it
to a priest. These aren't involving on a content-level; they are
only worthy in that they prove actor Fassbender is a more
skilled thespian than his performance in 300 might’ve led
us to believe. Fassbender is able to command the screen for long
stretches of time, a skill that will undoubtedly prove useful in
better future efforts. Keep an eye out for him.
The rest of the movie consists almost exclusively of
shot-after-shot of Sands' body as he grows progressively weaker
from not eating. It's a painful and tedious experience—and not
in the way McQueen wants it to be. The fact that he puts the
viewer through hell proves nothing because it doesn't lend to an
enhancement of his narrative. In fact, more times than not, it
feels like McQueen is indulging in brutal imagery because it
looks cool—he sure likes extreme close-ups of flesh—not
because it portrays a hunger-strike experience in a painfully
authentic manner. I tired of the experience very early on
because it didn't teach me anything valuable and there was no
reason for me to be taking part in it.
-Danny Baldwin, Bucket Reviews
Review Published on: 11.2.2008
Screened on: 11.7.2008 at the
ArcLight Cinemas in Hollywood, CA.
Hunger is Not Rated and runs 96
minutes.
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