Hunger (2008)
Director: Steve McQueen
Entertainment grade: B+
History grade: B+
Bobby Sands was a member of the Provisional IRA. He led a hunger strike against conditions in HM Prison Maze, Northern Ireland, in 1981.
Chronology
12 Years a Slave director Steve McQueen's first feature film opens with a prison warder (Stuart Graham) going to work. We see snatches of his day: checking under his car for bombs, washing his bloodied knuckles in a sink, smoking a cigarette outside in the snow with large sweat stains on his shirt for reasons yet unknown. The voice of Margaret Thatcher, the prime minister, is heard: "There's no such thing as political murder, political bombing or political violence. There is only criminal murder, criminal bombing, criminal violence. We will not compromise on this. There will be no political status." This speech on the treatment of Irish Republican prisoners was delivered on 5 March 1981, a few days after Sands began his hunger strike – but the film doesn't stick to a chronological timeline, so its repositioning here can be forgiven.
Politics
Indeed, after the speech excerpt, the film's narrative rewinds and begins again – filling in what happens to Davey Gillen and Gerry Campbell, two Republican prisoners (played by Brian Milligan and Liam McMahon). Hunger builds tension slowly and powerfully, retaining a dispassionate historical tone that would please many historians. The Troubles in Northern Ireland, like the Israel-Palestine situation or the dispute over Kashmir, is a subject on which it's almost impossible to say anything, however neutrally intentioned, without offending somebody. Fortunately, McQueen has an unusually steady hand and cool head as a director, and maintains his balance throughout – revealing both humanity and brutality on each side.
Imprisonment
Life in the Maze in 1981 was extreme for inmates and officers alike. Hunger shows dirty protests, beatings, cavity searches and degradation flowing all ways. This isn't the sort of movie most people would line up for a family Christmas or a first date – and if they do, you should probably make a run for it. The grotesqueries shown are largely accurate. Bobby Sands (played by Michael Fassbender in the film) had been "on the blanket" (refusing to wear prison clothes) since September 1977, and had participated in the no-wash and dirty protests too. Reports of conditions inside the Maze were corroborated by witnesses, notably Archbishop Tomas O'Fiach: "One would hardly allow an animal to remain in such conditions let alone a human being… The stench and filth in some of the cells, with the remains of rotten food and human excreta scattered around the walls, was almost unbearable. In two I could not speak for fear of vomiting."
Torture
Some viewers might question the violent washing and shaving meted out to Sands in the film, bearing in mind this line from the real Sands' own diary of the hunger strike, from 4 March 1981: "I got showered today and had my hair cut, which made me feel quite good." However, even if you take that at face value, he goes on: "Ten years younger the boys joke, but I feel 20 years older, the inevitable consequence of eight years of torture and imprisonment." Furthermore, his poetry recounts Maze prison life in lingering and graphic detail, matched by the film. At the same time, the film depicts horrific IRA violence, and records that 16 prison warders were killed by paramilitaries during the hunger strike.
More politics
The critical point in the strike was the by-election in Fermanagh/South Tyrone prompted by the unexpected death of MP Frank Maguire on 5 March. From his prison cell, Sands stood for the seat. Narrowly, and to many people's surprise, he won. Interestingly, the film pays no attention to his election, mentioning it only in a title card at the end. Instead, it is concerned with the internal dynamics both of Sands and of the Maze. Much of the film's third act is taken up with a long but beautifully written and performed dialogue between Sands and a priest, Father Dominic Moran (Liam Cunningham). Fassbender and Cunningham give terrific performances. The Sands who emerges is driven, obsessive and extremely complicated. In real life, Sands' diary refers to two such priests: Father Murphy and Father Toner. The film carries its unflinching style to the bitter end: Bobby Sands MP died in the early hours of 5 May 1981, after 66 days on hunger strike.
Verdict
Hunger is more of a mood piece than a straight history of the 1981 Irish hunger strike, but it creates that mood with impressive historical balance and haunting effect.
