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Worth Watching - Sept 25: Steve McQueen's Hunger Trailer

by Alex Billington
September 25, 2008

The first trailer for Steve McQueen's critically acclaimed drama Hunger has debuted. Michael Fassbender stars as Irish Republican Army (IRA) member Bobby Sands in a riveting and spine-chilling true story about the last six weeks of Sands' life during a hunger strike in prison in 1981. The film is receiving phenomenal praise from critics around the world, although I personally hated it. If it deserves any awards, they would be for its cinematography, which was remarkably inspiring. But as for the remainder, it is truly painful to watch. However, I think the film has enough cinematic value to be called a work of art by others. This trailer is an impressive introduction to the the film and should help it build a considerable audience.

Watch the first trailer for Steve McQueen's Hunger:

Hunger is both written and directed by first-time filmmaker Steve McQueen. The screenplay was co-written by both McQueen and Enda Walsh. The film first premiered at the Cannes Film Festival earlier this year, where it went on to win the coveted Camera d'Or award. IFC Films is distributing the film here in the US. Hunger is expected to start hitting limited theaters sometime later this year.

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CHACK

"Visually stunning, a work of art" and no doubt a very important film.....but for who?, I for one do not need reminders of what the IRA stood for. Is the film made for historic reasons, are we supposed to be sympathetic to jailed terrorists all because they didn't want to wear prison uniforms and do the prison jobs and socialise with other terrorists in jail? In 81 when he died Sands death only increased IRA recruitment. You want films about triumph of the human spirit then watch something else, beneath the bobby Sands story is nothing but misery for the families destroyed by the IRA.
http://www.myspace.com/kevjohnphotography kevjohn

@1, yes because we should never make films about people we don't like.
http://www.gmanreviews.com gmanreviews

I'm not saying this movie won't be good, I'm probably going to still watch it. And I don't know what the IRA is or what this movie really s about other than what is said in the post. But this trailer really is a bad trailer. It sure as hell isn't making me very anxious to see it. Right now, this is one of those movies that if someone gave me a DVD it would sit on the shelf for a few months before I actually got around to it.
http://notyou.com Not You

whats the movie about?
Conrad

I live in Toronto and I couldn't not hear about the buzz around this at the TIFF. I hear its quite extraordinary on all levels. But I must ask you Alex, you say this movie "is truly painful to watch" - what do you mean exactly?
twispious

wow this got some hyperbolic reviews,but the trailer's really lacking in substance.
brad

I kind of liked the trailer actually at least compared to most trailers with some dumb guys voice saying absurd cliches." but in any case trailers are almost never good, and furthermore how could a trailer "have substance" its not a movie. its a trailer.
MBD

Worst trailer ever. I'll pass.
Shelby

yo numba 7 i kno its a trailor and not a movie but still come'on put some good jamz in the background besides the one piano note and little more action in the trailor besides all the reviews ...then maybe ill actually get up and go see this flick!
cooldude

Movies are for telling stories. Whether we like them or not, stories need to be told. Not every movie made can be a "triumph of the human spirit". Each story has a side. Each side has the right to be told. I'll be seeing this movie.
kevC

Never heard of this movie til now and I usually steer clear of movies that are painful to watch but "last six weeks of Sands' life during a hunger strike in prison" got me kinda excited. Then I watched the trailer and, that shot of the dude's bloody knuckle and of the other guy crying then the knees shaking, looks veeery interesting!
nyjam

Just saw this magnificent film—The director Steve McQueen is a true artist and he handles this disturbing (and, as some of the other comments suggest) still politically controversial material with great restraint, humanity and tenderness. Rich with sometimes poetic, sensual and often brutally violent detail, the work has a gripping, continually surprising narrative momentum, astonishing visceral energy and a transcendent, almost mystical formal beauty. See this film, no trailer could do it justice.
Peecat

I caught HUNGER at a film festival this past September and it blew me away. The visuals are stunning, as is the fact that there is very little dialogue during its entire duration, save for a conversation scene in the middle (part of which contains a nearly 10-minute one-take shot). For those thinking the trailer is too obscure, the film's elliptical nature is why the trailer is constructed in this manner. For the most part, the director merely observes the actions of a few characters involved on both sides of the issue at hand. In that way, it made me think of certain narrative tactics in THE BATTLE OF ALGIERS where the lines are frequently blurred between what we think of as the antagonists and the protagonists, and violence and its aftermath are shown equally on both sides. The brutality in HUNGER is sometimes difficult to watch; harder still are the moments towards the end of the movie when the prisoner's strikes are played out before the camera. However, I highly recommend you see this film, not just for the political and social issues it raises, but also simply to witness first-time feature director Steve McQueen's vision. Personally, I plan on seeing it all over again when it hits theaters in general release.