Hunger (2008)
Biography, Drama |
Hunger is a historical drama film directed by Steve McQueen and starring Michael Fassbender, Liam Cunningham, and Liam McMahon, about the 1981 Irish hunger strike. It was written by Enda Walsh and McQueen.
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.
Prison officer Raymond Lohan prepares to leave for work; he cleans his wounded knuckles, checks his car for bombs, puts his uniform on, and ignores his comrades.
Davey Gillen, a new IRA prisoner, arrives; he is categorised as a “non-conforming prisoner” for his refusal to wear the prison uniform. He is sent to his cell naked with only a blanket. His cellmate, Gerry Campbell, has smeared the walls with faeces from floor to ceiling as part of the no wash protest. Gerry’s girlfriend sneaks a radio in by wrapping it and storing it in her vagina.
Prison officers forcibly and violently remove the prisoners from their cells and beat them before pinning them down to cut their long hair and beards, grown as part of the no-wash protest. The prisoners resist, with prisoner Bobby Sands spitting into Lohan’s face.
Director: Steve McQueen
Writers: Enda Walsh, Steve McQueen
Stars: Stuart Graham, Laine Megaw, Brian Milligan, Liam McMahon, Karen Hassan, Michael Fassbender, Frank McCusker
►Cast:
| Stuart Graham | … | Raymond Lohan |
| Laine Megaw | … | Raymond’s Wife |
| Brian Milligan | … | Davey Gillen |
| Liam McMahon | … | Gerry Campbell |
| Karen Hassan | … | Gerry’s Girlfriend |
| Michael Fassbender | … | Bobby Sands |
| Frank McCusker | … | The Governor |
| Lalor Roddy | … | William |
| Helen Madden | … | Mrs. Sands |
| Des McAleer | … | Mr. Sands |
| Geoff Gatt | … | Bearded Man |
| Rory Mullen | … | Priest |
| Ben Peel | … | Riot Prison Offficer Stephen Graves |
| Helena Bereen | … | Raymond’s Mother |
| Paddy Jenkins | … | Hitman |
| Liam Cunningham | … | Father Dominic Moran |
| Billy Clarke | … | Chief Medical Officer |
| Ciaran Flynn | … | Twelve Year Old Bobby |
| B.J. Hogg | … | Loyalist Orderly |
| Neal Hughes | … | Prison Officer |
| Larry Cowan | … | Prison Guard |
| Tom Dart | … | Guard |
| Denis Halligan | … | Naked Prisoner |
| Thomas James Scott | … | Riot Officer |
| Margaret Thatcher | … | Self – Prime Minister of the UK |
Sources: imdb & wikipedia