Thursday, March 7, 2013

The Excruciating Details of Death by Starvation

J. Hoberman reviews Hunger, screened tomorrow, Friday, 7:30 at Page Hall:

"Perhaps because of McQueen's experience making video installations, Hunger is a compelling drama that's also a formalist triumph. The opening close-up of prisoners rhythmically banging their cups is held long enough to establish the movie as something percussive, deliberate, cool, and object-like. McQueen is not just remarkably sensitive to duration, structure, and camera placement, he brings those issues to the forefront without mitigating the power of the situation being represented. In a way, the movie is also an installation—as intensely visceral as it is rigorously detached."

http://www.villagevoice.com/2009-03-18/film/the-excruciating-details-of-death-by-starvation-in-hunger/full/