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DRAMA l—llS'l'ORY HUNGER (15) 95min «no
In 1981. IRA member Bobby Sands allowed hrs body to become the ultrrnate rnstrurnent of protest when he led the Ma/e prrson hunger strrke rn order to wrn polrtrcal status for rrnprrsoned members of the IRA. Drrected by Turner Prr/e Wrnnrng artrst Steve McQueen and wrrtten ralong Wrth McQueen) by lrrsh playwrrght Enda Walsh, Hunger rs the story of the last srx weeks of Sands' lrfe.
Unburdened by the tradrtronal rules of frlm storytellrng. McQueen takes hrs trrne brrngrng Sands rlvlrchael Fassbenderr rnto the frame. Frrst we meet dehumanrsed prrson guard Ray Lohan rStuart Grahamr and t'aeces smearrng drrty cell prrsoners Davey Grllen and Gerry Campell rBrran lvlrllrgan and Lram lvlclvlahonr before berng rntroduced to Sands rn a ‘.'.’ltll’|‘.'/llt(l of all too naturalrstx: vroience. McQueen contrnues to usurp any expectatrons of what a prrson drama should be wrth rr‘tense attentron to detarr. 'ong srlent takes. dralogue heavy states and nruch more.
ere two other great artrsts who became frirnmakers ~ Julran Schnabel and Jean Cocteau. McQueen brrngs ascetrcrsm and an other worldlrrress to storres guantrt’red by tragedy and loss. Hunger rs a brave and unforgettable frlrn. one trhged wth thematrc
my
prescrence and the [)OilirCS of belrei ACTION The major plus is Mathieu Almalric’s turn as the exemplrtred re a stunnrng central SOLACE villain Dominic Greene. He heads an organisation that sequence between Sands and Catholic exploits energy resources for financial and political priest Father Moran rl :am Director Marc Forster has said in interviews that he gain who are behind an American approved coup in Cunnrngbamr. lPaul Dale: agreed to do Bond because the producers asked him Bolivia. Yep, screenwriter Paul Haggis continues the I Selected release from /'rr (3r Oct. to make an art house version. Well, if this is art house condemnation of American foreign policy that he See feature. page l8. then the Pope is atheist, Quantum of Solace starts touched on in his last directorial effort In the Valley of with a trademark action sequence involving cars Elah. burning rubber around narrow roads and then The influence of Jason Bourne on the Bond series proceeds to jump from one thrill to another, while that was apparent in Casino Royale is continued in moving through locations like pages in a travel both 007’s identity crisis and the tone and aesthetic; brochure. Forster has obviously instructed his editor to make Forster, whose work includes Finding Never/and, more cuts than a manic hairdresser. Those that have The Kite Runner and Monster’s Ball always makes not seen Casino Royale will be undone by the films about people coping with death, which is references to Vesper and her suicide as well as by the probably why he was approached to direct Bond 22, importance of some returning characters. but here he seems compromised by the need to get While the overarching themes are intriguing, some to the action sequences and retain traditional of the plot points don’t make much sense and there’s elements of the Bond franchise, including sexy Bond no explanation of what the hell the Quantum of gals (in the form of Gemma Arterton and Olga Solace is. Perhaps confusing the audience is what Kurylenko) and M (Judi Dench) trying to keep 007 Forster meant when he said he was making an art under control. house picture. (Kaleem Aftab)
{XXLUME NlARY OF TIME AND THE CITY (12A) 73min 0...
'lne great but r'eLIgrously underfunded Brrtrsh lrlrrrnnrker ler'ence Davres l[)rs.ta/rt l/o/ces. Sfrll l Ives. lire long Dav Closes. [he House of Mrrt/rr returns to hrs L,r\.'erpool home wrth thrs laser‘atrng subjectrve docurrrenfary.
Made and reieasen to cornc'de ‘.’.’|ll‘. l r\./erpoo!'s current l uropean ()aprtal of Culture status. Of l/me and the City rs the unusual fusron of the 'ryrrcal and rdrosyncratrc (3P0 irlms of Humphrey Jennrngs lrnost not:ceably ‘.'.rartr.'ne taxonrrtes [ rsten to {fir/tare and A Drar‘j/ for Trmotlnxr y/rth a low budget modernrty fa"‘rlrar rn everytlnng frorn corporate vrdeo. a'chrve based documentarzes and the short rlocumentarres ot the Brztrsh Free Crnema 'rro\./em<;-rrt ‘bart:cu!arly l.rndsa§. Anderson's 191315 0 Dreamland;
It's a brave gan‘rbet rn a culture bred on celebrrty 'rnd realty lV. but one that largely works. even r‘ thrs rs a film whrc'n wrli wrn as many detractors as t w:ll tans. [Dawes tells hrs unrgue story of growrng up rn wartrme l .\er'poo! wrtlr all rts ; ssocrated deprrvatrons and freedoms ~ hrs longrng for a past of Peggy lee and [)orrs Day tunes rs echoed by a penchant for guotrng Chekhov ar‘d lS lllrot. Refusing to ever rrrake an easy obserxatron rfootball and l'he Beatles are dealt \.'/rtt‘. n derlsrve terms:. the M .. frlrn as both a testament to a troubled lie and a ii()tii)i(i(i (:rty 'llte eiocutron of brtter ' UVE RPOOL asexualrty arxd urban drspiacernent has rarely been better annotated. rPauI l)aler I Giff, Glasgow," Cameo. [ drnburg/r and selected release from in (3/ ()ct. See rntervrew, left.
130 Oct l3 Nov 7008 THE LIST 43