HUNGER follows life in the Maze Prison,
Northern Ireland, with an interpretation of the highly
emotive events surrounding the 1981 IRA Hunger Strike led by
Bobby Sands. With an epic eye for detail, the film provides
a timely exploration of what happens when body and
mind are pushed to the uttermost limit.
Raymond Lohan wearily follows his normal routine: an
ordinary man doing the job of a prison officer in the Maze
Prison in Northern Ireland, 1981. Working within one of the
infamous H-Blocks, where republican prisoners are on the
Blanket and No-Wash protest, is a living hell for both
prisoner and prison officer.
A young, new prisoner Davey Gillen is brought into this
environment for the first time. Although terrified, Davey
resolutely refuses to wear the prison uniform - he is no
common criminal. So joining the Blanket protest, he shares a
filthy cell with another ‘non-conforming’ republican
prisoner Gerry Campbell. Gerry, hardened to the horrific
realities of Maze life, guides Davey through the daily
routine, he trains him how to smuggle items and exchange
‘comms’ (communications) with the outside world, passing
them on to their H-Block leader Bobby Sands at Sunday Mass.
The prisoners are persuaded to take up the prison regime’s
offer of civilian clothes – a potential breakthrough in
their struggle to regain political status – only for them to
be mocked by the ‘clown clothes’ handed out. A riot erupts.
In the mayhem, the prisoners destroy the clean cells they’ve
been moved to. The riot is violently crushed with beatings
and body searches. The violence spreads beyond the Maze; no
prison officer is safe and Raymond is shot dead.
Bobby Sands meets Father Dominic Moran. Once the initial
humorous banter is out the way, Bobby reveals that he is
going to lead a new Hunger Strike to protest for special
category status for republican prisoners. The conversation
immediately intensifies into a battle of words that
illuminates the prisoners’ determination to begin another
Hunger Strike through the priest’s questioning of motives
and morality. Bobby’s mind is unchanged and the strike will
begin.
Later, Bobby Sands has been moved to the hospital wing as
his condition deteriorates and where a friend and his
parents visit him. Bobby Sands is the first to die of ten
men.
© IFC Films. All
rights reserved
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