Film Excess - Free Ukraine - Stop Putin - End the war NOW!!: Hunger (2008)

2/22/2022

Hunger (2008) - McQueen's overrated feel-bad debut

♥

+ Most Overrated Movie of the Year

Star Michael Fassbender lights a cigarette on this gloomy poster for Steve McQueen's Hunger

The Troubles, Northern Ireland, 1981: Over 2,100 Irishmen are killed in the course of battle. We follow the Irish inmates in one prison holding IRA terrorists. One of them begins a new hunger strike and dies, and they consequently have demands met.

Hunger is written by Enda Walsh (Weightless (2017)) and English master filmmaker, debuting co-writer/director Steve McQueen (12 Years a Slave (2013)). It is based on the real-life 1981 Irish hunger strike and 'dirty protest' in the Maze Prison.

This could perhaps have been a good film, but what McQueen has made is a stubby, icy cold cornfield of a picture. The first half is rife with ridiculously disgusting scenes with piss and shit on the walls, food on the floor, maggots and cavemen-like prisoners, who are beaten to a pulp, almost entirely without dialog. This has the effect of leaving the viewer exhausted and totally apathetic as to every one involved, when they actually start talking together, which culminates in a grotesquely long conversation scene told in just two shots. SPOILER After this, Hunger's 'hero', Bobby Sands, the IRA hunger strike prisoner portrayed by Michael Fassbender (300 (2006)), starves himself to death.

Some call this uniquely negative experience film high art. - I call it a feel-bad turkey.

Related posts:

Steve McQueen: 2013 in films - according to Film Excess [UPDATED V]

2013 in films - according to Film Excess [UPDATED II]

12 Years a Slave (2013) - The inhumanity of slavery portrayed forcefully in awesome film
2011 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED III]

Shame (2011) or, That Empty Sex

2008 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED III]

Watch a trailer for the movie here

Cost: Estimated 1.5 mil. £, approximately 2.04 mil. $

Box office: 3.1 mil. $

= Big flop (returned 1.51 times its cost)

[Hunger premiered 15 May (Cannes Film Festival, out of competition) and runs 96 minutes. The film opened #95 to a 1k $ first weekend in 1 theater in North America, where it peaked at #61 and in 11 theaters, grossing 154k $ (5 % of the total gross). The film's biggest markets were the UK with 1.2 mil. $ (38.7 %), France with 834k $ (26.9 %) and Italy with 397k $ (12.8 %). It won 1/2 BAFTA nominations, 3/7 British Independent Film awards, 2 prizes in Cannes, 1/3 European Film award nominations, was nominated for an Independent Spirit award, among many other honors. Roger Ebert gave it a 3.5/4 star review, translating to 4 notches over this one. McQueen returned with 3 shorts prior to his theatrical return with Shame (2011). Fassbender returned in Eden Lake (2008); Liam Cunningham (Game of Thrones (2012-19)) in Paris Noir (2008, short), Atlantic (2008, short) and theatrically in The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor (2008). Hunger is certified fresh at 90 % with a 7.80/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

What do you think of Hunger?

No comments:

William Friedkin has died

Born in Chicago, Friedkin accrued TV credits prior to his advance to the big screen as the director of Good TImes (1967), The Birthday Party (1968), The Night They Raided Minsky's (1968) and The Boys in the Band (1970) before his major breakthrough, The French Connection (1971), for which he won his only Oscar. He followed it up with the even bigger smash, The Exorcist (1973), arguably the best horror film of all time, for which he was Oscar-nominated. Later credits include Sorcerer (1977), Cruising (1980), To Live and Die in L.A. (1985), Rampage (1987), Rules of Engagement (2000), Killer Joe (2011) and The Devil and Father Amorth (2017, documentary). Friedkin passed away at age 87. R.I.P.

Louise Fletcher has passed away

Born in Alabama to deaf parents, Fletcher got her first credits in late-1950s TV-series.She took a 10 year-long sabbatical to devote her time to motherhood after the release of A Gathering of Eagles, but then came back and soon saw her career's most important part, as Nurse Ratched in One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (1975), for which she won her sole Oscar. Later credits include Exorcist II: The Heretic (1977), The Lucky Star (1980), Brainstorm (1983), Two Moon Junction (1988), Cruel Intentions (1999), A Perfect Man (2013) and many more. Fletcher passed away at age 88. R.I.P.

Jean-Luc Godard has passed away

Born in Paris, France, Godard lived much of his life in Switzerland. He wrote for French film criticism magazine Cahiers du Cinema and became foundational for the New French Wave that inspired new waves in scores of other countries across the world with his Breathless (1960). Later credits include A Woman Is A Woman (1961), Vivre Sa Vie (1962), Le Petit Soldat (1962), Contempt (1963), Alphaville (1965), Pierrot le Fou (1965), 2 or 3 Things I Know About Her (1967), Weekend (1967), Every Man for Himself (1980), King Lear (1987), Century of Cinema (1995, documentary), Goodbye to Language (2014) and many more. Godard died of assisted suicide at age 91. R.I.P.

Wolfgang Petersen has died

James Caan has died

Caan was born the son of Jewish immigrants from Germany in New York. He got his start on TV in the early 1960s. His credits include El Dorado (1966), The Rain People (1969), Brian's Song (1971, TV movie), The Godfather (1972), - for which he earned his only Oscar nomination, - Slither (1973), The Gambler (1974), Funny Lady (1975), Rollerball (1975), Silent Movie (1976), Hide in Plain Sight (1980), - the only film he also directed, - Thief (1981), Misery (1990), Honeymoon in Vegas (1992), Bottle Rocket (1996), Eraser (1996), Dogville (2003), Elf (2003), Las Vegas (2003-07), Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs (2009) and many more. Caan passed away at age 82. R.I.P.

Jean-Louis Trintignant has died

Born in Vaucluse, France, Trintignant's theatrical debut as an actor was in If All the Guys in the World... (1955). Later credits include ...And God Created Woman (1956), The Seven Deadly Sins (1961), Inferno (1964), A Man and A Woman (1966), My Love, My Love (1967), A Man to Kill (1967), The Great Silence (1968), Z (1969), The Assassination (1972), Three Colors: Red (1994), Amour (2012), Happy End (2017) and many more. He also wrote and directed two films in the 1970s. Trintignant passed away at age 91. R.I.P.

Ray Liotta has died

Adopted from an orphenage at a young age, Liotta got hooked on acting in high school. He had various TV credits in the late 1970s and early 80s, with his film debut in The Lonely Lady (1983). Later credits include Something Wild (1986), Field of Dreams (1989), Goodfellas (1990), Cop Land (1997), Hannibal (2001), Blow (2001), Narc (2002), John Q (2002), Identity (2003), Observe and Report (2009), Youth in Revolt (2009), The Details (2011), Killing THem Softly (2012), The Place Beyond the Pines (2012), Shades of Blue (2016-18), The Simpsons (2018, TV-series), Marriage Story (2019), The Many Saints of Newark (2021), Black Bird (2022, TV-series) and many more. Liotta passed away at age 67 in his sleep while on production in the Dominican Republic. R.I.P.

Philip Baker Hall has died

Born in Ohio, Hall didn't start acting until he was 30. His long list of credits include Zabriskie Point (1970), Miami Vice (1987, TV-series), Midnight Run (1988), Ghostbusters II (1989), Cheers (1993, TV-series), Hard Eight (1996), The Rock (1996), Air Force One (1997), Boogie Nights (1997), Seinfeld (1991-98), Rush Hour (1998), The Insider (1999), Magnolia (1999), The Talented Mr. Ripley (1999), Bruce Almighty (2003), Dogville (2003), The Zodiac (2005), Zodiac (2007), Curb Your Enthusiasm (2004-09), Mr. Popper's Penguins (2011), Modern Family (2011-12) and many more. Hall passed away at age 90. R.I.P.

William Hurt has passed away

Born in Washington D.C., Hurt's first film role was the lead in Altered States (1980). Later credits include Body Heat (1981), The Big Chill (1983), Gorky Park (1983), Kiss of the Spider Woman (1985), for which he earned his only Oscar as Best Actor; Chilrdren of a Lesser God (1986), for which he was also Oscar-nominated; Broadcast News (1987), for which he was again Oscar-nominated; Smoke (1995), A.I. Artificial Intelligence (2001), A History of Violence (2005), for which he was again Oscar-nominated; The Good Shepherd (2006), Into the Wild (2007), Robin Hood (2010) and many more. Hurt passed away at age 71. R.I.P.

Ivan Reitman has passed away

Born in Chechoslovakia, now Slovakia, Reitman's family fled the Soviet regime to Austria, then Toronto, when he was 4 years old. Reitman broke into movies as a director with Foxy Lady (1971). Later credits include Cannibal Girls (1973), Meatballs (1979), Stripes (1981), Ghostbusters (1984), Twins (1988), Ghostbusters II (1989), Kindergarten Cop (1990), Junior (1994), Father's Day (1997), Evolution (1998), No Strings Attached (2011), Draft Day (2014) and more. Reitman's son Jason Reitman is also a great filmmaker. Reitman passed away at age 75. R.I.P.

Film Excess - Free Ukraine - Stop Putin - End the war NOW!!

Eagerly anticipating this week ... (6-24)

2/22/2022

Hunger (2008) - McQueen's overrated feel-bad debut

No comments:

Post a Comment

Eagerly anticipating this week ... (5-24)

My Blog List