For my second viewing of video artist Steve McQueen’s
Hunger, I was prepared. I had two cats for my lap, a bowl of ice
cream, some hot chocolate, and a big warm blanket… and even with all
those reassuring comforts, it was still hard to take. If you want to
know why, here’s as good of a description as any: On an enjoyability
level, Hunger is basically The Holocaust: The Irish
Version.
Set in Belfast’s Maze Prison—where Irish political prisoners
were held—Hunger not only details the horrors inmates
suffered at the hands of the guards, but also those they inflicted upon
themselves as a protest of their treatment. Led by Bobby Sands
(300‘s Michael Fassbender), Provisional Irish Republican Army
detainees mounted a prolonged protest to acquire special status as
political prisoners. In addition to refusing to wear uniforms (instead,
prisoners wore blankets) and living in squalor (they slept alongside
maggots), Sands and his followers staged a hunger strike in 1981, which
resulted in Sands’ death 66 days later. Nine other prisoners died after
him. At the time, the strike garnered international attention, and IRA
recruitment soared.
Hunger is unflinching, uncomfortable, horrific, and brutal.
But it’s also damned good. Using very little dialogue, McQueen’s slow
and achingly detailed direction makes for a deeply moving and
melancholy film. McQueen’s art background is evident throughout, as he
studies small, quiet moments of prison life between loud, angry clashes
of violence. And Fassbender is amazing as Sands, who wastes away in
agony, holding onto his beliefs—the only things that define him
as human in such an inhumane place.
A feel-good film it ain’t—but if you can stomach watching
people get beaten, shit being painted on walls, and men starving to
death, Hunger is a sparse, affecting, and beautifully filmed
work. It might be poor form, but trust me when I say you’ll want to
have some comfort food nearby when you’re watching Fassbender devolve
into skin and bones.