Hunger (2008)

Directed by

Steve McQueen

Genre

drama film, prison film, historical film

Country

United Kingdom, Ireland

Runtime

1h 32m

Rated

NR

Rating

7.2 of 10 from 1,223 voters

Elsewhere

IMDb

How it feels

A historical drama about IRA prisoners in the Maze Prison in 1981. It follows Bobby Sands as he leads a hunger strike to regain political status.

intensebleakslow-burnvisceralquietly devastatingaustereclaustrophobicharrowing

What happens

Hunger is a 2008 historical drama film about the 1981 Irish hunger strike. It was directed by Steve McQueen (in his feature directorial debut) and starred Michael Fassbender, Liam Cunningham, and Liam McMahon. It premiered at the 2008 Cannes Film Festival, winning the prestigious Caméra d'Or award for first-time filmmakers. It went on to win the Sydney Film Prize at the Sydney Film Festival, the Grand Prix of the Belgian Syndicate of Cinema Critics, best picture from the Evening Standard British Film Awards, and received two BAFTA nominations, winning one. The film was also nominated for eight awards at the 2009 IFTAs, winning six at the event. The film stars Fassbender as Bobby Sands, the Provisional Irish Republican Army (IRA) member who led the second IRA hunger strike and participated in the no wash protest (led by Brendan "The Dark" Hughes) in which Irish republican prisoners tried to regain political status after it had been revoked by the British government in 1976. It outlines events in the Maze Prison in the period leading up to the hunger strike and its aftermath. (from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA)

Trailer

More like this

• Some Mother's Son (1996)
• In the Name of the Father (1993)
• Bobby Sands: 66 Days (2016)
• Maze (2017)
• 81 (1996)
• H3 (2001)
• Silent Grace (2001)
• The Hill (1965)