Hunger

[w/o horse]

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0986233/
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0986233/trailers

Not an adaptation of the Knut Hamsun novel, by the way.  And not directed by the dead Steve McQueen, by the way, this film opens today in LA.  When it played here for the AFI Fest it was all I heard anyone who saw the movie talk about.

[gob]

It's very classy. Top drawer film. Albeit pretty, pretty, pretty grim.

SPOILER I SUPPOSE:

This film is a very strong contender for the accolade of most bodily fluids in a motion picture.

You can completely tell that the director has up until this point made his living as an artist and that's for the most part a good thing.
The film's approach of forgoing a traditional structure in place of studying a series of well chosen moments in very intimate detail and often without dialogue, for me worked a treat.
And Michael Fassbender owns as Bobby Sands, he completely went for it physically and the effect of that is immeasurable on the film. Whilst I was very moved by it all I felt myself struggling to invest 100% emotionally in the characters and story but I feel that the film if not encourages, then at least gently leads the audience to do so with its very observational, deliberate style.
It also manages to avoid being too on-the-nose politically, and whilst it's clear that Sands is the hero I think he and his choice are imperfect enough to allow for an objective appreciation of the events depicted. Having said that, one of its greatest strengths is its ability to follow characters and put you in their shoes in a superbly subjective way.
Great imagery, very strong performances and a director to watch for the future.

[matt35mm]

Yeah I liked it a lot.  Definitely beautiful imagery created out of a very ugly time and place.  I liked how they drifted from one character to another--Bobby Sands doesn't really stand out at all as the hero or anything until close to the end.  The camera generates a lot of power by just lingering on images for a very long time.

The scene with Sands and the Priest or whatever is really well shot and acted.  But it was strange for me because Sands goes on to tell a story in the form of a monologue that is very similar to the story in the form of a monologue in the short film I just made (Animal Brains).

[©brad]

Trailer here.

Cast: Michael Fassbender, Liam Cunningham

Director: Steve McQueen

Premise: HUNGER is the stunningly assured debut feature from Turner Prize-winning visual artist Steve McQueen. Winner of the 2008 Cannes Camera d'Or among other top international prizes, the film is a work of astonishing precision co-written by acclaimed Irish playwright Enda Walsh and starring Michael Fassbender (300, Tarantino's upcoming INGLOURIOUS BASTERDS) in an unflinchingly passionate turn. In 1981, a deadly serious battle takes place in the infamous H-block of Belfast's Maze Prison. Republican inmates, led by Bobby Sands (Fassbender), refuse to eat until the British government acknowledges the IRA as a legitimate political organization. Steve McQueen's commanding direction captures the phsyical details of their struggle. Is it suicide or martyrdom?

Holy hell. This is one of the most powerful films I've seen in quite some time. It's brutal and uncompromising and at the same time very elegant and beautiful. And the sound! Good god. There are moments of silence in this that are so arresting and poetic, particularly one sequence towards the end involving a cross-dissolve that is paralyzing in its power. There's also an 18-minute scene of dialogue all done in one take that should be immediately inducted into the canon of fucking amazing movie scenes.

Go see it.

(apologies/thanks to whoever merged this)

[Pozer]

why do i keep clicking on this in On Demand/IFC In Theaters with my thumb readied to press OK/SELECT but instead just stare at the word BUY for some time 'til i decide to move my thumb down diagonally to the exit button and go make myself a sandwich instead?

[wilder]

Just saw Hunger.

I can't recommend this enough and found it extremely inspiring. As gob said, much of it plays out almost as a silent movie, and it's one of the most deliberate and specifically shot English language films I've seen in years. It alternates between scenes of violence and silence (passivity vs action) in a really hypnotic, rhythmic fashion that feels almost like music. It achieves something I think a lot of us look for...an invisible glue holding a movie together that just "feels right" and transcends concrete structure. It's what I feel movies do best as a medium, and very few films seem to get there. Parts of TWBB do it...Terrence Malick certainly does it. I'm thinking specifically of the scene with the riot police inside the penitentiary growing louder and louder, beating one prisoner over and over...it becomes a total visceral experience but communicates something beyond the surface meaning of the images on screen.

I really like it when a movie is working for me on all cylinders and I can't exactly explain why. Maybe it's something I'll come back to in the future and see under the skirt of, like when you're younger and can't completely understand the mechanism that makes a movie you love tick...that mystery fuels your interest and you revisit the movie over and over until you start to understand the tricks and the mystery is gone...and then start going deeper and looking for films that can still pull the wool over your eyes with their technique.

Hunger really blindsided me.

[Alexandro]

I saw it twice last year and it only became more powerful the second time. Can't believe it made almost no noise internationally.

[cronopio 2]

hunger massively altered the way i see movies lately. it's a personal favorite. if you haven't seen it, do.

[Pubrick]

Can't believe it made almost no noise internationally.

maybe the generic sounding title had something to do with it or the lack of major stars in a debut film from someone who sounds famous but then you realise has been dead for 30 years.

i liked it.

i'm anxious to see what this guy does next as this felt like a display of technical bravado and commanding directorial control over performances that was meant to show us he's got the chops to do something really impressive. oh apparently he's got something coming this year..