Review of Hunger (2008) by Thegodfatherson — 22 Oct 2013
One of the duller things about discussing this film would be to trudge through the issue of whether it glamorises terrorists. It doesn't. McQueen's movie, starring Michael Fassbender as Sands, paints the hunger strike as tragic but quite without tragic grandeur.
It shows how dysfunctional and despairing the whole remorseless process was: how the Irish republican movement, angry and frustrated, chose to put self-harm at the centre of its mythology. The spear of the 32-county nation stabbed itself, in displays of passive-aggressive victimhood whose function was to motivate a new generation of fighters who would be every bit as resentful as their forefathers.
The movie shows Sands himself as an intelligent, motivated man, but one who long ago hardened heart and mind to the consequences of violence. It's slow but effective.
This review of Hunger (2008) was written by Thegodfatherson on 22 Oct 2013.
Hunger has generally received very positive reviews.
Was this review helpful?
