Hungry for Hunger?

There’s been a lot of hype in the critical circles that count surrounding Steve McQueen’s latest venture Hunger. Heard of it? You probably have considering its had the best reviews of any film all year, excluding The Dark Knight and There Will Be Blood. Hunger is about the experiences of prisoners and prison guards during the 1981/82 hunger strikes in Belfast, Ireland. This film is raw, real and quite unsettling. I was surprised at how much main stream appeal this picture has had considering how avant-garde it is. The shots are long and linger on seemingly insignificant aspects of every day in a bid to underline how depressing the situation is for everyone involved. McQueen uses everything in his arsenal as a director and weaves a delicate web incorporating every aspect of life for the prisoners and the motivations behind their actions. Be warned: this film is not for the light hearted. For majority of the film there’s no dialogue besides a sentence here and there and maybe the odd scream. The living conditions the prisoners had to endure were disgusting and McQueen doesn’t skimp on the details. In the last third of the film you watch a man starve to death step by agonizing step. Personally I was disappointed. Hunger isn’t supposed to be entertainment, it’s supposed to be a message film and deliver the audience with McQueen’s message on the situation in Ireland in the 80s. But I think there’s dozens of message films out there who deliver their specific political message in a more effective manner. I mean, did we really have sit through a five minute scene where we watch a prison guard sweep piss and bleach down a hallway? All the way down the hallway? Don’t mistake me, I think Hunger is a powerful film and has a valid message. I just don’t think it’s as good as everyone has made it out to be. I felt like McQueen was trying to manipulate the audience with some of the camera angles used and overall Hunger is a very one sided affair. Hunger has flaws. You should still go and see it though for no other reason than to catch what I thought was the pinnacle of the film: a 21 minute dialogue exchange between a prisoner and priest. The scene is a straight shot with no cut aways and the audience is drawn in to a heated discussion between the prisoner and priest as one tries to justify his intentions of going on a hunger strike and the other begs him to have some regard for life. Undoubtedly this is one of the most powerful scenes in any film all year and the dialogue is incredible. However, one scene (no matter how long) doesn’t make a good film and Hunger falls well below the bar.

On a completely irrelevant note I saw Madagascar 2: Escape to Africa and it was a joyful, hilarious, adventure! It’s not as good as other animated releases from this year like Wall E and it may not trump my all time favourites (The Incredibles, The Nightmare Before Christmas and Tim Burton’s Corpse Bride) but it was seriously funny. There are more than enough jokes to please the kiddies and parentals but it’s the characters who steal the show. The penguins and king Julius are amusing to no end. If you’re looking for something light and not about people starving themselves to death then this is a worthy alternative.