Film Review - Hunger

Hunger is not primarily a story of the Northern Ireland IRA martyr Bobby Sands, nor is it an exploration of a political debate that 30 years ago appeared so incurable.

Instead, Hunger is the story of men whose only tool available in protest is their bodies. The title sets the minimalist tone from which the film explores such basic human themes of desperation, strength of resolve, and plain stubbornness. Interspersed monologues by the British prime minister, Margaret Thatcher, illustrate that both sides could be unyielding.

Director and screen play writer, Steve McQueen, is a renowned visual artist, and the majority of the film is carried by incredibly powerful images, lingering, often from afar. However, for me, the most compelling scene was the 20 minute, sustained dialogue between Sands and the Maze prison priest as they discuss the pending hunger strike.

Regardless of ones side of the political divide, the strength of will and belief in their cause is undeniable. For this is no instant death in a suicide car bomb inferno, with the promise of a thousand virgins to follow. Just a long, slow, and unimaginably painful slide of the human condition.

Needless to say, it’s challenging viewing, and has been rightly described by some critics as a masterpiece.