Hunger (2008)
Strong themes and violence, nudity
| Director: | Steve Mcqueen |
| Actors: | Michael Fassbender, Liam Cunningham, Stuart Graham, Liam Mcmahon |
Hunger is an explosive, challenging and unforgettable feature film by the multi award winning creative team of British artist film-maker Steve McQueen and Irish writer Enda Walsh. The film is a highly evocative and provocative interpretation of the true story of a man who leads a hunger strike as a political tactic in a long running battle over prison conditions. He and his fellow prisoners demand to be treated as political prisoners and not as terrorists. Their demands are refused. He stays true to his word. He dies, as do nine other prisoners after him. Six months after his death the state begins to concede to their demands. But too late for the ten dead men. This man was IRA volunteer, MP, poet and hunger striker Bobby Sands.
| Status: | QuickPick |
|---|---|
| Run time: | 90mins |
| Origin: | UNITED KINGDOM |
| Aspect Ratio: | 16:9 |
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Member Reviews (20)
20 Member
Reviews
Steven Savona
says
It's a very grim film that packs a visceral blow. There is no nonsense here. Every shot means something. Unforgettable.
rrenton
says
Grat film
N/A
says
i hate movies where a worse than criminal scum becomes a hero, he was an iravolunteer, the ira killed many innocent english people and caused millions of pounds in damages from terorist attacs.
also if you want to starve yourself do it , t costs the taxpayers less then
prisoners should be treated like prisoners not heros
teamfassbender
says
A movie that any Fassbender fan should be. It's not for the faint hearted it is brutal, dark, sickening, disturbing and different.
I didn't enjoy it as much as would've liked to, but Fassbender makes you want to see how the character goes, and what struggles he goes through.
JenP
says
Wow. So interesting and so hard to watch. A real eye-opener to a period of modern British history you don't really hear or think about. Watched this with a girlfriend because we adore Michael Fassbender, and he does not disappoint. If you've heard about this movie, you've probably heard that he lost A LOT of weight to portray a man on a hunger strike, but the result of his efforts, and his subsequent portrayal of Bobby Sands has to be seen to be believed, I can't even begin to describe it. Slow and difficult but so well done, and an amazing cast all up.
darkwood1498
says
Harrowing, brutal, confronting, wonderful. Beautifully done. Certainly not for 'action' lovers. Sparse dialogue. Small parts of prison life filmed in their entirety - for example sweeping urine along a whole corridor, fondling a fly on the cell window, water-spraying faeces from a cell wall - the monotony of prison life exposed - lots of time to think, lots of time to build up mental resistance, a stubborn brick wall of resistance to the brutality of the prison guards and the furtherance of the cause.
Craig H.
says
I was disappointed with this in the end after expecting a lot. I didn't really like the whole 'arthouse' approach and was left feeling a bit confused on the subject even though I know a bit about it.
Andrew
says
Certainly not the feel good film of the year. Depressing, confronting at times but overall, an amazing acting performance. There is so little dialogue, the extended scene of Bobby talking with the priest is fantastic and comes just at the right time.
RoyF
says
A very good and amazing movie. from the acting and story and just seeing this actor taking a hunger strike and what happens ands not a pretty site. this is not an easy movie to watch but is an interesting one to watch.
Phili[p Smith
says
A bit slow and very morbid. Not a light hearted movie.
Brian M.
says
This is a grim film-with a capital G. Michael Fassbender is fantastic as the IRA prisoner Bobby Sands who went on a fatal hunger strike during the Thatcher years. He lost close to 50 kilos to do the final scenes. It's very hard to watch.
The movie is anchored by a static 10 minutes scene between Sands and the Irish priest to whom he confides his plan to starve himself. It is a brilliant scene. There are many long silent scenes that will bore some.
I watched this with the "subtitles for hearing impared" ON because I fould the accents at the beginning impenetrable. A strong three and a half stars.
Claire M.
says
I could only watch 30 minutes of Hunger, it looked amazing and it was obvious it was directed by a visual artist but I felt like I was being dragged along with no further understanding of the issues, situation or any feelings for the characters.
Great as an artisic installation but not if you like a narrative and character development...oh, or dialogue.
Lucy C.
says
This was filmed like a play and if you hadn't done your research you wouldn't have a clue what it was all about. There have been better movies on this subject.
William C.
says
This is worth watching,well written and acted - the long scene between the IRA priest and Bobby Sands is very strong; just doesn't quite work as drama
Mel B.
says
Great acting and well made, but it is exhausting to watch. Definitely not a feel good movie!
It's great to watch a movie that doesn't explain everything to you, but this requires a little too much background knowledge for an Australian raised audience, but have a quick read beforehand of wiki for '1981 Irish hunger strike' and take note of blanket protest and dirty protest and it will all make it much less confusing.
Sandy H.
says
Sorry guys...I did not like this one. I felt like the movie did not add anything to what I could have looked up on Wikipedia about the event.
Stuart R.
says
Harrowing account of the hunger strike by Republican Bobby Sands. Starts off with the dirty protests of the prisoners and goes through to Sands' hunger strike lasting 66 days. Well acted.
Tim B.
says
A superbly filmed and acted piece of cinema.
The last scenes in particular are hard to watch and I came away from the film with a sense of the futility of the whole IRA/GB conflict.
curls
says
This was an interesting movie, but the continued silence and lack of story or why they were protesting made it difficult to follow, the actor playing bobby sands was OK , but IMO was not an award winning movie.
Marg O.
says
Unforgettable film. Brutal and unflinching depiction of the last six weeks of the IRA protester Bobby Sands. Not for the faint-hearted.