Hunger

Release Year: 2008

Director: Steve McQueen

Review: Prison is brutal.  Starvation is even worse. 'Hunger' is a visually arresting, painfully authentic, peek into the 'blanket', 'dirty' and hunger strikes of Irish republican prisoners during the 1980's.  I'm not up with European history.  I knew little about the political turmoil in Ireland at the time, and certainly nothing of the hunger strike.  The film doesn't go out of its way to set the political climate up.  You enter the prison in the middle of the strike.  Instead of taking sides, it shows both vantages.  Opening with both a prison guard entering the prison showing up for work, and a new inmate, being booked into prison, and entering the strike. These were the only two entry ways into the hell.

Director Steve McQueen does not shy away from any scene that is too brutal, too disturbing, or too disgusting.  The 'blanket' strike came about when the prisoners refused to wear prisoner uniforms, opting instead to go naked, with only a blanket.  The 'dirty' strike meant they refused to shower, smeared their waste on the prison walls, and emptied their urine into the hallways.  Its a completely incomprehensible lifestyle, and not a situation that one would think any human could possibly survive in.  It was crucial that McQueen show the details of this lifestyle.  He had to force the audience to understand how committed these prisoners were to their cause.  It were these details which were essential to understanding the mindset of these individuals who would later go on to participate in the hunger strike.  McQueen delivers, almost revels in, these shots of inhumanity.  It is raw, it is cold, but it is honest.

The visual style is the important element in the film.  McQueen comes from an art background, specifically in experimental films, with 'Hunger' being his first full length feature.  This aspect came through in his effort, and not always in a positive light.  He is very methodic in his framing, feeling completely content to find an ideal camera location, and without moving the camera, have a scene unfold in front of it.  He explained in an interview that his painting background influences his work.  That he frames shots like a painting, only film is more powerful since movement is capable.  Very often this effect is seen.  The static camera focuses on a mundane, but highly stylized scene, and it just sits there for a long time, with very little going on.  A beautiful painting, with just a hint of life, which we are forced to look at for extended periods of time.  The pacing is very slow, the scenes very deliberately executed, and little is said.  McQueen focuses on feeling rather than narrative or action. Giving the theme, this atmospheric approach is effective.

As beautiful and meticulously framed as the film is, it all would have fallen completely flat without believable acting.  Fortunately great acting is in no short supply.  The physicality and sheer unpleasantness which the movie demands it put its actors through is a testament to the talent of the actors for pulling it off.  Given that there isn't much dialog, the actors had to show great subtlety resulting in powerful performances, led by Michael Fassbender.  His physical acting and the emotional range he can show without uttering a word was stunning.  There was nothing easy about the acting in this film.  This point is no more evident than in the 17 minute, uncut, all dialog conversation which carries pivotal information about the motivation of the strikers.  Without this scene being delivered perfectly by Liam Cunningham and Michael Fassbender, the movie would lose its purpose.

As much as I appreciate the environment which McQueen creates, I wish there was more background given and a proper narrative intertwined.  Going in I didn't know much about the situation going on in Ireland, and I didn't know any more after watching the movie.  It could have been much more powerful had more context been given.  McQueen sacrificed content for style.  It felt like he got lost in mundane details which derailed the flow and took away from the plight of the prisoners.  'Hunger' is a visually haunting film, which is difficult to watch, but then again, that was the point.
Rating: 3.5/5