The Hunger - dir. Tony Scott - 1983 - UKThis was taken from my other (myspace) blog and edited a bit. I begin the synopsis with "on a happier note," because I was ranting about my dislike for Joanna Newsom.
On a happier note, I rediscovered my love for Tony Scott's The Hunger today. Should I be surprised? Of course not. The Hunger opens with a daunting title sequence with Peter Murphy and Bauhaus staring frighteningly into the camera through a fence, surround by both darkness and blinding white light, as chain-smoking, sun-glasses-donning Catherine Deneuve and David Bowie seek out their prey. There's something even sexy about the top billing of Ms. Deneuve in one of her more respectable English-language features. When you hear Bauhaus playing "Bela Lugosi's Dead" and you see in white capital letters CATHERINE DENEUVE and DAVID BOWIE, you know you're in for a special treat (this one happens to be a flesh-eating treat). I could attempt to dissect my feelings for The Hunger critically, but The Hunger, as my friend Bradford agrees, is nearly beyond such criticism. It appeals to a particular niche of film viewers, and you pretty much know who you are before you go in. Bauhaus fans, vampire fanatics, folks that want to see Deneuve fuck Susan Sarandon, goth heads, whatever. I like to think I am all of the above and, at the same time, none of the above. Conceptually, all sound lovely, but in lesser hands, The Hunger would have been a massive turd. Instead, it's richly-textured, haunting beauty, loaded with as many shots as you could ever want of Bowie or Deneuve smoking sullenly behind translucent drapery. The Hunger, might I add, is pretty hot too. When Deneuve and Bowie claim their prey during the opening scene, they fuck (and kill and eat) their victims separately, but the way Scott edits the scene, it's like one big, blood-spattered, pansexual orgy (with a little monkey action to boot). Deneuve's coldness cannot be matched here, and I can't imagine any other actress playing Miriam. If you think you'll like The Hunger, you probably will. If you want to get sexy, drink red wine, play Mask on vinyl and watch The Hunger with me, please do so.
1 comment:
You JUST realized I spelled that wrong? I noticed it after my first post. Frankly, too much work to fix it. It's slang anyway, HO.
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