Steve McQueen is known as one of the best visual artists in the United Kingdom. Maybe that's why his first feature film, Hunger, is such a powerful, brutal, and brilliant film. Combing the shot composition of Stanley Kubrick, the patience of Jean-Pierre Melville, and the visual violence of Park Chan-Wook, McQueen's film will shock you, make your stomach hurt, but ultimately make you question the importance of a political statement.

     Hunger is a look at the 1981 Hunger Strike led by Bobby Sands in the Maze Prison. Under the cruel rule of Margaret Thatcher, political prisoners from the IRA had been classified as criminal prisoners instead, and denied many rights. This led to extreme measures from the prisoners, including refusing the bathe or wash, and wiping their excrement across the walls. Trust me—if you thought Columbia University’s own hunger strike for the Core last year was a brilliant piece of political expression, these guys gave it all, ending with 10 dead.

    But as always is the case, one could make a film about a powerful subject and turn it into a disaster, especially a story as fragile as this one. Not McQueen. First of all, the film is made up of almost no dialogue. The film relies on our visual senses to piece the story together. There is one exception—a 22 minute uncut take of Sands discussing his motives with a priest. And because of McQueen's background, each shot has impeccable composition. He knows how to use space and framing to create the most awe dropping shot.

    But what will scare some people (and some walked out tonight, and many were simply covering their eyes), is the sheer brutality of the film. McQueen never turns the camera away. He shows us everything—the beatings, the scars, the blood. It may be called perverse filmmaking by some, but he is trying to shed the truth on the situation. And while it is more of a visual film, it is thought provoking none the less. What are we willing to sacrifice for something? During the conversation between Sands and the priest, the priest asks him if he is simply on a suicide mission. Sands is unsure. And of course this film, though set in the past, is about our present. What are we willing to give in order to have our freedom? Many of us simply go through the motions, and accept whatever fate comes upon us. And through McQueen's film, we are assaulted to rethink our decision.

Hunger is set for release by IFC Films in December

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