McQueen's feature debut tells true story of ultimate sacrifice
BY EMIL TIEDEMANN
Back in the '70s the IRA--an Irish republican paramilitary organization--had set out to "end British rule in Ireland" in order "to establish an Irish Socialist Republican," an ambitious feat that took five years before culminating in the infamous 1981 hunger strike by paramilitary prisoners at the Maze Prison in Lisburn, Northern Ireland.
This history lesson is essential to the compelling plot of the UK film Hunger, the feature directorial debut for Steve McQueen, formerly best-known for silent shorts like Bear (1993) and Deadpan (1997). McQueen outdoes himself with a raw and authentic take on the landmark hunger protest that ended with the deaths of 10 prisoners, including leader of the pack Bobby Sands.
Michael Fassbender (300, Eden Lake) embodies Sands in his most determined and valorous moments, as well as his most vulnerable and sequestered, inhabiting this role unlike almost any other Hollywood actor could. Fassbender even adopted a medically-induced crash diet that had him decay just as Sands had in the prison hospital, losing 40 pounds to come off as genuine as possible.
But it wasn't just Fassbender's physical capacity in the film, it was also his part in a scene in Hunger that will be remembered as the longest unbroken scene in mainstream cinematic history (pictured bottom right). For 17 and a half minutes Fassbender sits at a table, smoking cigarettes, telling of his intentions to starve himself to death to his priest, played by Liam Cunningham (The Escapist, Paris Noir). This mid-range dialogue stretch contrasts what McQueen displays prior and thereafter, as a movie capable with silence.
In preparation for the bold scene, which continued for another five minutes after the first uninterrupted 17, Cunningham actually moved into Fassbender's apartment, to practice the 28-page scripture as many as 15 times daily. Aside from the heavy Irish accents that muffled some of the conversation, it came together effortless and without fault.
McQueen borrows the artsy atmosphere of his short film past and spreads it throughout Hunger, in scenes as provocative and visceral as anything by veteran visual directors, such as a seemingly neverending shot of a lone prison guard sweeping away the urine spilled over by the captured guerrillas. There are more subtle moments of obscure charm as well, such as one in which a guard weeps behind a wall of his peers brutally beating naked prisoners, and another in which Stuart Graham's character (prison guard Ray Lohan) smokes from a cigarette, his knuckles bleeding, standing subdued in the midst of a sedate snowfall, each seized by cinematographer Sean Bobbitt (Oxygen).
Hunger ends with Sands' deteriration at the hands of his own beliefs, a skeletonized form of himself, suffering from kidney failure, stomach ulcers, and vile blood sores. 66 days into the
strike, Sands ceases to exist, and we believe the same could be said for the all-encompassing Fassbender, who looks like Sands must've, but we know that the actor is just that, an actor. The credits begin to roll.
Despite prolonged scenes and confined dialogue, Hunger does not linger, coming in at less than 90 minutes long. In fact, as pun-filled ironic as it may sound, McQueen's emotional epic of a film left me hungry for more.
4.5/5 stars
BY EMIL TIEDEMANN
Back in the '70s the IRA--an Irish republican paramilitary organization--had set out to "end British rule in Ireland" in order "to establish an Irish Socialist Republican," an ambitious feat that took five years before culminating in the infamous 1981 hunger strike by paramilitary prisoners at the Maze Prison in Lisburn, Northern Ireland.This history lesson is essential to the compelling plot of the UK film Hunger, the feature directorial debut for Steve McQueen, formerly best-known for silent shorts like Bear (1993) and Deadpan (1997). McQueen outdoes himself with a raw and authentic take on the landmark hunger protest that ended with the deaths of 10 prisoners, including leader of the pack Bobby Sands.
Michael Fassbender (300, Eden Lake) embodies Sands in his most determined and valorous moments, as well as his most vulnerable and sequestered, inhabiting this role unlike almost any other Hollywood actor could. Fassbender even adopted a medically-induced crash diet that had him decay just as Sands had in the prison hospital, losing 40 pounds to come off as genuine as possible.
But it wasn't just Fassbender's physical capacity in the film, it was also his part in a scene in Hunger that will be remembered as the longest unbroken scene in mainstream cinematic history (pictured bottom right). For 17 and a half minutes Fassbender sits at a table, smoking cigarettes, telling of his intentions to starve himself to death to his priest, played by Liam Cunningham (The Escapist, Paris Noir). This mid-range dialogue stretch contrasts what McQueen displays prior and thereafter, as a movie capable with silence.
In preparation for the bold scene, which continued for another five minutes after the first uninterrupted 17, Cunningham actually moved into Fassbender's apartment, to practice the 28-page scripture as many as 15 times daily. Aside from the heavy Irish accents that muffled some of the conversation, it came together effortless and without fault.
McQueen borrows the artsy atmosphere of his short film past and spreads it throughout Hunger, in scenes as provocative and visceral as anything by veteran visual directors, such as a seemingly neverending shot of a lone prison guard sweeping away the urine spilled over by the captured guerrillas. There are more subtle moments of obscure charm as well, such as one in which a guard weeps behind a wall of his peers brutally beating naked prisoners, and another in which Stuart Graham's character (prison guard Ray Lohan) smokes from a cigarette, his knuckles bleeding, standing subdued in the midst of a sedate snowfall, each seized by cinematographer Sean Bobbitt (Oxygen).
Hunger ends with Sands' deteriration at the hands of his own beliefs, a skeletonized form of himself, suffering from kidney failure, stomach ulcers, and vile blood sores. 66 days into the
strike, Sands ceases to exist, and we believe the same could be said for the all-encompassing Fassbender, who looks like Sands must've, but we know that the actor is just that, an actor. The credits begin to roll.
Despite prolonged scenes and confined dialogue, Hunger does not linger, coming in at less than 90 minutes long. In fact, as pun-filled ironic as it may sound, McQueen's emotional epic of a film left me hungry for more.
4.5/5 stars
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