Hunger

Hunger (2008), Film 4 Cert:15


Dir. Steve McQueen
Michael Fassbender, Liam Cunningham, Stuart Graham, Liam McMahon.

McQueen tells the untold story of Bobby Sands. The story is a dramatisation of Sands’ (Fassbender) last 6 weeks in Maze prison, where he led the historical hunger strikes of 1981 in a bid to win political status. The film is based completely on Sands and his fight and struggle to maintain his beliefs in a hostile environment. Sands’ shares a cell with fellow Republican Gerry (McMahon) who seems unable to cope with life in prison, regularly mutilating himself in front of Sands. It is this and his ongoing battle with the enemy of the prison guards that fuels Sands to go on with his hunger strike despite the horrific consequences to himself.


McQueen does not hold back in depicting the last 6 weeks within Maze Prison, getting to nitty-gritty of the conditions and situations the prisoners faced. No stone is left unturned in terms of the violence and mental torture experienced, and at times it is difficult to watch. This however was sharply contrasted to the beautiful shots created by McQueen’s artistic eye. Dialogue is few in far between but instead the story is told visually; with at one point the static shot of the prison corridor being cleaned last nearly 10 minutes. Sparking two very differing reaction from ovations to walk outs, Hunger has undoubtedly made and impact.

Nothing less than a visual masterpiece, the untold story of Bobby Sands last 6 weeks of life is not glamorised but instead shared with a very true and realistic interpretation. McQueen doesn’t hint at violence he shows it; he doesn’t hint at intolerance he shows it. It is for this reason Hunger is simply unrivalled in terms of an honest, brutal, beautiful and poignant biopic of a human being whom opinion is very divided.