Hunger (2008)

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Movie
German title hunger
Original title hunger
Country of production Great Britain
original language English
Publishing year 2008
length 92 minutes
Age rating FSK 16
Rod
Director Steve McQueen
script Steve McQueen,
Enda Walsh
production Robin Gutch ,
Laura Hastings-Smith
music Leo Abrahams ,
David Holmes
camera Sean Bobbitt
cut Joe Walker
occupation

Hunger is the directorial debut of the British artist Steve McQueen , published in 2008 , who also wrote the script together with Enda Walsh . The film deals with the hunger strike called by IRA member Bobby Sands in Maze prison in Northern Ireland in 1981.

action

The inmates in the maximum security wing of Maze Prison want to be recognized as political prisoners. In protest, they refuse to wear prison clothes, smear excrement on the walls of the cells, and do not wash. The prison guards and specially called police officers regularly abuse the inmates. One of the guards, Ray Lohan, is then shot dead by an assassin. In a conversation with the priest Moran, Bobby Sands announces that he will be going on a hunger strike with other prisoners to enforce their demands. Moran describes this as suicide and tries to dissuade Sands from the idea, but Sands replies that it is murder because her legitimate demands are not heeded and is determined to sacrifice his life for his political goals if necessary. After nine weeks he dies of malnutrition. In his last moments he encounters himself as a child. His parents are still visiting him. Pictures of flying ravens symbolize his death. The film ends with guards taking Sands' body away on a stretcher.

background

The core of the film is the conversation between Bobby Sands and the priest Moran, which was shot in a 17-minute long sequence . Leading actor Michael Fassbender lost 20 kg of weight during the filming under medical supervision in order to realistically portray Sand's starvation.

Hunger celebrated its world premiere on May 15, 2008 at the Cannes Film Festival , where it was awarded the Golden Camera . In October 2008 the film was released in several European countries, and it was also shown in selected cinemas in the USA. In Germany it was first released on DVD in July 2009 and was released in several cinemas in August of the same year.

criticism

The reviews in English-speaking countries are mostly positive. In August 2009 Rotten Tomatoes had over 100 reviews, 90% of which gave the film a positive rating. The portal formulates as a consensus: “ Unyielding, uncompromising, lively and vital. Steve McQueen's ambitious debut is not for the faint of heart, but still a highly rewarding retelling of troubled times. "

The German-language reviews were above all positive. Mennan Yapo described the film in Der Spiegel as “ consistent, brutal and radical ” and a “sensual fusion of staging, acting, image composition and sound design that casts a spell over the audience ”.

Susan Vahabzadeh commented in the Süddeutsche Zeitung : “ The way McQueen sometimes concentrates on a scratch on the skin, on falling breadcrumbs, trivialities - that is pure observation, that has a peculiar beauty of the kind that brings you to sleep; because this observation is aware of the value of life in every moment. "

The media policy journal M - Menschenmachen Medien judged: “'Hunger' [...] is one of the most unbearable, scary and at the same time great films of the past few years, where you often want to look the other way, but cannot escape the pull of history with the tortured protagonists and is deeply impressed by their strengths of character. "

The detailed design was also received negatively, for example with Armond White , who rated the film more as a highly cultural self-adulation and as a flat attempt to fluff a more secular plot with religious references.

Awards (selection)

British Academy Film Awards 2009

  • Best Young Talent (Steve McQueen)

British Independent Film Awards 2008

Chicago International Film Festival 2008

  • Gold Hugo (Steve McQueen)
  • Silver Hugo: Best Actor (Michael Fassbender)

European Film Award 2008

  • European Discovery of the Year (Steve McQueen)

Cannes International Film Festival 2008

London Critics' Circle Film Awards 2009

Los Angeles Film Critics Association Awards 2008

Stockholm International Film Festival 2008

  • Best Actor (Michael Fassbender)
  • Best Directing Debut (Steve McQueen)

Sydney Film Festival 2008

  • Official Competition Award (Steve McQueen)

Toronto International Film Festival 2008

  • Discovery Award (Steve McQueen)

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Release certificate for hunger . Voluntary self-regulation of the film industry , June 2009 (PDF; test number: 118 362 DVD).
  2. ↑ Cristina Nord: Movie "Hunger" by Steve McQueen: Shit on the walls. the daily newspaper, August 12, 2009, accessed on August 25, 2009 .
  3. ↑ a b Mennan Yapo: Plea for film culture: Saving the cinema on a hunger strike. Spiegel Online, August 18, 2009, accessed August 25, 2009 .
  4. ^ Hunger Movie Reviews. Rotten Tomatoes, accessed on August 25, 2009 : “Unflinching, uncompromising, vivid and vital. Steve McQueen's challenging debut is not for the faint hearted, but still a richly rewarding retelling of troubled times. "
  5. ↑ Susan Vahabzadeh: The final weapon is the self. Süddeutsche Zeitung, August 20, 2009, archived from the original on September 9, 2009 ; Retrieved August 25, 2009 .
  6. ↑ Kirsten Liese: Memorial against inhumane conditions In: M - Menschenmachen Medien , edition 8/9 2009, p. 25
  7. ^ White, Armond (March 18, 2008). "Steve McQueen's Hunger" ( Memento of the original from April 23, 2009 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , New York Press . Retrieved April 16, 2009 @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.nypress.com