November 3, 2008
Hunger, set in 1981 in the Maze Prison, Belfast, is not for the faint hearted. Directed by the Turner Prize winning Steve McQueen, it is a visceral and unrelenting portrayal of the struggle of Republican inmates to secure the rights of political prisoners, and all that represented in terms of legitimising their aims. In Bobby Sands, they found a leader who became a martyr to the cause, embarking on a hunger strike that led to his death 66 days later.
When MP David Davies recently claimed that the film was sympathetic to the aims of the IRA, however, he was clearly talking from ignorance. (I wrote to Mr Davies and asked whether he had seen the film – he admitted that he hadn’t). Instead, McQueen creates a film which immediately captures the utter brutality of the conflict between prisoners and prison staff, an endless battle of wills. There are points when it is difficult to watch as the authorities resort to paramilitary policing to try to force prisoners to end their ‘dirty’ protest. We are plunged into a world of darkness, disgust and violence, and McQueen refuses to draw back from the utter horror of the situation. He also shows a keen sense of theatre in essentially framing the film around one pivotal scene of dialogue, that between Sands and a priest. It is beautifully lit, intelligently written and brings as much understanding as the audience needs to the reasons for Sands’ hunger strike, and the political situation of the day. The film neither romanticises nor condemns Sands’ actions, but instead places you directly inside a distorted world where the means always justify the ends.
Hunger left me shocked and, ultimately, saddened, but it’s an important film and deserves a bigger audience than it will probably get.
When MP David Davies recently claimed that the film was sympathetic to the aims of the IRA, however, he was clearly talking from ignorance. (I wrote to Mr Davies and asked whether he had seen the film – he admitted that he hadn’t). Instead, McQueen creates a film which immediately captures the utter brutality of the conflict between prisoners and prison staff, an endless battle of wills. There are points when it is difficult to watch as the authorities resort to paramilitary policing to try to force prisoners to end their ‘dirty’ protest. We are plunged into a world of darkness, disgust and violence, and McQueen refuses to draw back from the utter horror of the situation. He also shows a keen sense of theatre in essentially framing the film around one pivotal scene of dialogue, that between Sands and a priest. It is beautifully lit, intelligently written and brings as much understanding as the audience needs to the reasons for Sands’ hunger strike, and the political situation of the day. The film neither romanticises nor condemns Sands’ actions, but instead places you directly inside a distorted world where the means always justify the ends.
Hunger left me shocked and, ultimately, saddened, but it’s an important film and deserves a bigger audience than it will probably get.