HUNGER (Denmark-Nor-Swe / 1966)



Based on Norwegian Nobel Prize-winning scribe Knut Hamsuns landmark semi-autobiographical novel of the same name, Hunger (Sult) is an engaging and timeless effort about a starving artist who refuses to compromise his prideful dignity. Directed by Danish filmmaker Henning Carlsen, this Scandinavian co-production -- the very first between Denmark, Norway and Sweden -- is set in 1890 Kristiania (now Oslo), where we find our desolate protagonist, Pontus (Swedish actor Per Oscarsson), practically living in the streets. Emaciated to the point of near-incapacitation, Pontus is a writer, perhaps a great one, without a kroner to his name, but he refuses to disclose his dire predicament to a soul, and shuns those who gather so anyway and attempt to help. Carlsen strives to honor the fierce subjectivity of Hamsuns first-person novel, reportedly a 200 page interior monologue, with a uniform visual approach (Pontus vision becomes ours). While wandering the overcast streets, Pontus is smitten by a young bourgeois woman (noted Swedish actress Gunnel Lindblom) who also shows some interest in him. But even in his current state (and quite possibly due to its effects on his withering mental health), hes unable to fully grasp the social differences which exist between them, and thus ends up behaving irrationally. The films most moving moments are perhaps the rare occasions when Pontus adamant demeanor gives way to frustration -- he breaks down in a lonesome alley after struggling to devour a discarded bone. Primarily shot on-location in Old Oslo, Hunger appropriately features stark b&w cinematography (Henning Kristiansen) and an ominously repetitive score (late Krzysztof Komeda), both underlining the plight of its subject. But it's Oscarssons intense, Cannes award-winning performance which truly allows the film to reach a certain depth and definition.

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*HUNGER premiered at Cannes '66 (in-competition). DVD info to follow.