Maze Prison in Northern Ireland, 1981. The infamous H-Blocks is where Irish republican prisoners are on the Blanket and No-Wash protest. It is a living hell for both prisoner and prison officer as the H-Block leader, Bobby Sands, pursues various tactics to help his fellow republicans re-establish their political status. In order to create real change, Bobby leads a Hunger Strike to protest for special category status for republican prisoner.
I won't deny that Hunger is masterfully shot. Despite all the horrific incidents and situations depicted, visually, this film is beautiful. There's no question about that. It has a sleek and polished minimalistic look that I love. Also, the message of the film is very powerful and the story (which I wasn't familiar with) deserves to be told, at least so that people are aware of it and therefor there's less of a chance of such a tragedy happening again. Plus, the acting is absolutely superb. Regardless of all these positive aspects, the film is very uneventful and the pace is almost unbearable and that, completely diminished my experience watching this film. I was constantly reminded of Gus Van Sant and his painfully long shots.
Clearly, I'm part of the minority because Hunger was critically acclaimed. But that doesn't surprise me, shock is a very effective tool. And while sometimes shock is absolutely necessary to make a point or convey a specific message, in this case, I think there should have been perhaps a little more focus on the plot itself because in the end, Hunger feels more like a disturbing sensory experience then a story per se.
6/10
I won't deny that Hunger is masterfully shot. Despite all the horrific incidents and situations depicted, visually, this film is beautiful. There's no question about that. It has a sleek and polished minimalistic look that I love. Also, the message of the film is very powerful and the story (which I wasn't familiar with) deserves to be told, at least so that people are aware of it and therefor there's less of a chance of such a tragedy happening again. Plus, the acting is absolutely superb. Regardless of all these positive aspects, the film is very uneventful and the pace is almost unbearable and that, completely diminished my experience watching this film. I was constantly reminded of Gus Van Sant and his painfully long shots.
Clearly, I'm part of the minority because Hunger was critically acclaimed. But that doesn't surprise me, shock is a very effective tool. And while sometimes shock is absolutely necessary to make a point or convey a specific message, in this case, I think there should have been perhaps a little more focus on the plot itself because in the end, Hunger feels more like a disturbing sensory experience then a story per se.
6/10