I was a bit unsure about this film beforehand, in case it just glorified Bobby Sands and the hunger strikers, just putting across that they were all heroes and the English are all bastards, but it didn't. The English still didn't come out of it very well, mainly because they were represented by the Tory government at that time and Margaret (milk snatcher) Thatcher. It did however, show some of the guards in the Maze prison to be human, without pulling back from the violence inflicted on the prisoners.
This is another superb film where the actor loses weight (in this case about 3 stone in 10 weeks) to play the part convincingly. Michael Fassenbender (Bobby Sands) is the actor in question, and is superb throughout. He has a zealous look about him during the first part of the film, and is totally convincing when he loses his weight (when Bobby is on the hunger strike). I do wonder if this may go too far one day, with actors competitiveness taking over, and them trying to outdo one another, may result in permanent damage (just as people trying to outdo Jackass will eventually (if they haven't already) end up killing themselves).
The film is very realistic and portrays what it must have been like in the Maze at the time, so much so in fact, I had flashbacks to my own dirty protest in Durham prison in the 1980's. There is also a great scene where Bobby talks to the priest (Father Dominic Moran, played by Liam Cunningham), which has one very long uninterrupted shot of them speaking to one another. That must have taken one hell of a lot of remembering and it is very impressive.
Another film well worth watching (just don't be eating something at the same time).
toodle pip
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