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The Hunger
(directed by Tony Scott, 1983)
The Hunger is a beautiful, moving movie that unfortunately falls off track after David Bowie finishes his major scenes halfway through it.
Catherine Deneuve stars as an immortal, Egyptian vampire named Miriam Blaylock, who lives somewhat eccentrically in an upper class townhome in New York with her lover, John (David Bowie), a lover she chose in 18th century France. They pass off their existence as music teachers during the day, since apparently these vampires can stay out in the sunlight.
Susan Sarandon stars as Sarah Roberts, an author and researcher who studies aging. John the vampire is starting to age - rapidly - so he goes to Sarah for help, but she thinks he's crazy. Eventually he ends up aging so badly that Miriam has no choice but to lock up in a room with her former vampire lovers, all who aged grotesquely as well to the point that they are nothing but the living dead. With John out of the picture, Miriam sets her sights on a new lover - Sarah.
The Hunger opens with a powerhouse of an opening scene, in which John and Miriam choose victims to feed on at a Bauhaus concert while Bauhaus performs the very memorable song for this film, "Bela Lugosi's Dead", which plays during the opening credits. The moments focusing on John as he deals with turning into an old man are some of the strongest things the movie has got going for it -- in fact, this is one hell of a movie when it comes to showing us the nightmare of getting older. The most beautiful - and possibly even the most scariest - moment is just watching as Miriam puts John into a coffin up in her room with all of her other old lovers, who are each in their own coffin. Pigeons coo and flutter around; Miriam sweetly asks her coffin-bound lovers to "be good to him tonight": this is death, folks. Undead or not, we all end up as wasted as these worthless vampires.
Then comes the worst stuff. Susan Sarandon - that lesbian Transformer who also suddenly turned lesbian mid-movie in the recent film, Jeff, Who Lives at Home - has sex with Catherine Deneuve and becomes a vampire. Why is Susan Sarandon to go-to woman for cinema's surprise lesbianism moments? Do people feel safe with her thanks to Rocky Horror Picture Show or something? Seriously, folks, do not scream "SLUT!" when Janet Weiss appears at your next Rocky Horror midnight show - scream "LESBIAN!"
The lesbian sex isn't even the very worst part, though. The film basically collapses on itself in its conclusion. Things wrap up without much explanation or excitement. I just read that even Susan Sarandon herself is disappointed with the ending, which was changed from something else. To tell you the truth, though, in my opinion, the changed ending is better -- it's just not handled right. Right before the very end, we witness something quick and silly. A wrapping up of Miriam Blaylock's story. Complete with monsters. It just doesn't feel elegant and sophisticated. That's a shame because the majority of The Hunger is brilliant and unique. But maybe it's more of a problem with tone than execution -- although, maybe it's simply a mixture of both. I don't know. I just felt the ending was its biggest flaw.
I recommend The Hunger to everybody. See it before you die.
(directed by Tony Scott, 1983)
The Hunger is a beautiful, moving movie that unfortunately falls off track after David Bowie finishes his major scenes halfway through it.
Catherine Deneuve stars as an immortal, Egyptian vampire named Miriam Blaylock, who lives somewhat eccentrically in an upper class townhome in New York with her lover, John (David Bowie), a lover she chose in 18th century France. They pass off their existence as music teachers during the day, since apparently these vampires can stay out in the sunlight.
Susan Sarandon stars as Sarah Roberts, an author and researcher who studies aging. John the vampire is starting to age - rapidly - so he goes to Sarah for help, but she thinks he's crazy. Eventually he ends up aging so badly that Miriam has no choice but to lock up in a room with her former vampire lovers, all who aged grotesquely as well to the point that they are nothing but the living dead. With John out of the picture, Miriam sets her sights on a new lover - Sarah.
The Hunger opens with a powerhouse of an opening scene, in which John and Miriam choose victims to feed on at a Bauhaus concert while Bauhaus performs the very memorable song for this film, "Bela Lugosi's Dead", which plays during the opening credits. The moments focusing on John as he deals with turning into an old man are some of the strongest things the movie has got going for it -- in fact, this is one hell of a movie when it comes to showing us the nightmare of getting older. The most beautiful - and possibly even the most scariest - moment is just watching as Miriam puts John into a coffin up in her room with all of her other old lovers, who are each in their own coffin. Pigeons coo and flutter around; Miriam sweetly asks her coffin-bound lovers to "be good to him tonight": this is death, folks. Undead or not, we all end up as wasted as these worthless vampires.
Then comes the worst stuff. Susan Sarandon - that lesbian Transformer who also suddenly turned lesbian mid-movie in the recent film, Jeff, Who Lives at Home - has sex with Catherine Deneuve and becomes a vampire. Why is Susan Sarandon to go-to woman for cinema's surprise lesbianism moments? Do people feel safe with her thanks to Rocky Horror Picture Show or something? Seriously, folks, do not scream "SLUT!" when Janet Weiss appears at your next Rocky Horror midnight show - scream "LESBIAN!"
The lesbian sex isn't even the very worst part, though. The film basically collapses on itself in its conclusion. Things wrap up without much explanation or excitement. I just read that even Susan Sarandon herself is disappointed with the ending, which was changed from something else. To tell you the truth, though, in my opinion, the changed ending is better -- it's just not handled right. Right before the very end, we witness something quick and silly. A wrapping up of Miriam Blaylock's story. Complete with monsters. It just doesn't feel elegant and sophisticated. That's a shame because the majority of The Hunger is brilliant and unique. But maybe it's more of a problem with tone than execution -- although, maybe it's simply a mixture of both. I don't know. I just felt the ending was its biggest flaw.
I recommend The Hunger to everybody. See it before you die.