The things they say....Hunger

http://cockburnlibraries.blogspot.com/2009/12/scene-library-hunger.html

The film is harrowing but unforgettable with an outstanding portrayal of Bobbie Sands by Michael Fassbender.

http://odessatucson.wordpress.com/2009/12/17/hunger-full-of-s$#!-but-not-in-a-bad-way/

Sands, played brilliantly by recent QT Basterd Michael Fassbender

It is not a film which sets out to make a star of its lead (although Fassbender’s performance is so good it made him one anyway)

McQueen has worked wonders on page and screen here, but perhaps his masterstroke was the casting of Michael Fassbender as the starving protagonist Sands. During the aforementioned discussion with Father Moran, the German-born actor not only delivers a pitch-perfect Belfast twang, but also exudes a physical and mental toughness which makes the man himself seem as unshakeable as his beliefs.

Just half an hour later we see a skeletal Sands lying on his prison hospital bed, a shadow of himself, dreaming of his youth as his adult life begins to ebb away. Fassbender not only clearly lost scary amounts of weight for these sequences, but also displays the unerring tenacity of Sands

McQueen has not only called attention to Fassbender’s talents as an actor

9/10 – A deeply troubling portrayal of a nation in a time in crisis, told through the frontline protesters who chose to risk their lives in the name of republicanism, anchored by the fantastic Fassbender

http://www.soundonsight.org/top-10-international-films-of-the-decade/

The physical transformation of Michael Fassbender as Sands seems to sear the bitter violence of the inextricable conflict onto his very flesh, so visually harrowing is the frittering of his body.

http://deadshed.blogspot.com/2009/12/hunger.html
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A quality slice of 'Brit grit' from a director of focussed vision (Steve McQueen) and a lead actor of dedicated skill (Michael Fassbender - read 'talented actor, and deliberately emaciated).

So yeah, Hunger is a thankfully withdrawn affair when it comes to the politics, as withdrawn as the camera is itself - our view into this world - which in one stand-out sequence in the middle of the film, watches Fassbender's protesting prisoner converse with a priest over twenty minutes.

The final passages in the film - at which point Fassbender's dedication to his art is displayed in his shockingly emaciated frame. If you were stunned by Christian Bale in The Machinist, you'll just be utterly baffled by how on earth Fassbender was able to survive his extreme slim-down.

http://www.slantmagazine.com/film/features/2009yearinfilm.asp

Hunger implicates its audience as witnesses to its dramatization of the 1981 hunger-strike death of Irish republican prisoner Bobby Sands, underplayed with iconic force by Michael Fassbender

http://media.www.districtchronicles.com/media/storage/paper263/news/2009/12/27/Politics/On.Film.And.On.Point.The.Years.Best.Movies-3851656.shtml

Michael Fassbender as the emaciated Sands turns in the most challenging male performance of the year.

http://www.nowtoronto.com/movies/story.cfm?content=173023

... with Michael Fassbender burning holes in the screen as a self-martyring Bobby Sands.

http://host.madison.com/entertainment/movies/reviews/article_0b926fb8-be4e-5474-aa13-c1302a969dc5.html

If you liked Michael Fassbender as the upright British commando in “Inglourious Basterds,” be sure to catch his spellbinding performance as an Irish Republican Army prisoner on a hunger strike in this drama.

http://onemillionfilmsbc.blogspot.com/2009/12/hunger.html

Michael Fassbender plays Sands with all the vehemence and conviction necessary to take home every award in the book, and every actor in this minimal dialogue, exhausting, heart-wrenching tour de force delivers the goods in every way possible.

Fassbender delivers a powerhouse performance that will endure for all time, a true embodiment of a zealot willing to take his vision beyond the limit.

http://yourmoviebuddy.blogspot.com/2009/12/2009-year-in-review.html

As strike-initiating martyr Bobby Sands, rising star Michael Fassbender gives a fearless, indelible performance.

http://wweek.com/editorial/3608/13527/

Michael Fassbender delivers the performance of the year

http://inleaguewithpaton.blogspot.com/2009/12/review-of-decade-part-1-100-best-films.html

The film is not presented as a conventional narrative – but rather juxtaposes its scenes of desperation and rage against a crucial and brilliant central scene, in which Bobby Sands (convincingly portrayed by Michael Fassbender)

http://chadhartigan.wordpress.com/2009/12/31/best-films-of-the-decade-part-five/

Structured in a completely unique way where the protagonist switches from reel to reel before settling on a spectacular Michael Fassbender who carries us through a gutting finale.

http://www.eyeforfilm.co.uk/feature.php?id=757

Michael Fassbender's intense commitment to the central role (for which he lost nearly two and a half stone) makes the charismatic and undeniably principled Sands all the more compelling, though we are never allowed to lose sight of the ugly reasons for his incarceration.

http://sansbroccoli.com/2010/01/wills-favorites-of-09/

-Michael Fassbender, Hunger: This guy has had a great year. Both Hunger and Inglorious Basterds featured this phenomenal actor, whose performance in each made the respective film immensely better. His role as Bobby Sands is one of those perfect performances, much like Mickey Rourke in last year’s The Wrestler. His commitment to the role makes Christian Bale’s weight loss in The Machinist look like Sandra Bullock in All About Steve. It’s a travesty that he’ll get passed up for an Oscar nomination, but this performance will live on in the hearts and minds of those who’ve witnessed his sheer power on screen.

http://www.soundonsight.org/the-100-best-films-of-the-decade-part-9/

However the best scene in Hunger comes when McQueen sets aside his artistic eye for a 20-minute long steady take turning it into a two-person character piece. Michael Fassbender’s physical commitment to the role is frightning and outdoes even Christian Bale in The Machinist (in terms of weight loss) and ultimately Hunger is a cinematic punch to the gut.

http://kylestamourbrennan.wordpress.com/2010/01/03/best-seen-in-09-so-far/

Featuring an intense performance by Michael Fassbender, Hunger is an unflinching, transcendent depiction of what a human being is willing to endure to be heard.

http://www.tribune.ie/article/2009/dec/27/the-greatest-films-of-the-decade/

Michael Fassbender is unforgettable as Bobby Sands.

http://nuitssansnuit.blogspot.com/2009/12/kino-uber-alles.html

Michael Fassbender as Bobby Sands reaches the edges of what is possible in acting, in a good and in a bad sense, but the effect is stirring.

http://carlosdev.wordpress.com/2010/01/07/hunger/

The acting is very solid, but Fassbender and Cunningham elevate. Their scene together may be one of the best I’ve seen this year.

The scene between Fassbender and Cunningham is the highlight of the movie.

http://kathiesmith.blogspot.com/2009/01/best-of-2009-movies.html

Michael Fassbender's performance as Sands is captivating, and his talent only becomes more apparent the more we see of him (Inglourious Basterds, Fish Tank.)

http://cinemapunkofmd.blogspot.com/2010/01/top-50-films-of-past-decade-that-stuck.html?zx=f52836d3e59cfc73

26. HUNGER- Michael Fassbender is great as Bobby Sands.

http://alflim.info/100-greatest-film-themes

Michael Fassbender’s physical commitment to the role is frightning and outdoes even Christian Bale in The Machinist (in terms of weight loss)

http://wasteyouryouth.co.uk/featured/bumper-film-reviews/

It is brutal and extremely grim film but tells the story with an even-handed quality and the acting, particularly from Michael Fassbender as Sands, is excellent. The 17-minute unbroken scene between Fassbender and Liam Cunningham is a real highlight.