Hunger

Aroview: Combating harrowing subject matter with formal brilliance, this masterful examination of extreme resistance concerns the 1981 IRA hunger strike and its chief martyr, Bobby Sands, who starved himself to death inside the walls of the notorious Maze Prison.

Regularly shifting perspective to disparate points of view (the beleaguered guard, the new inmate, the riot squad member, the prison orderly), dir. McQueen’s unorthodox storytelling approach is accompanied by virtuoso camera work and a grueling physicality not recommended for the timid. As much of an endurance test as a potent political statement (crystallized in a 20-minute ideological debate between Sands and his priest), the film’s sheer uncompromising will rewards what is nothing short of an arduous viewing experience.

NZ International Film Festival 2008

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