BlazeLime Strong and Moving!

GurlyIamBeach Instant Favorite.

Tymon Sutton The acting is good, and the firecracker script has some excellent ideas.

Rosie Searle It's the kind of movie you'll want to see a second time with someone who hasn't seen it yet, to remember what it was like to watch it for the first time.

Claudio Carvalho In 1890, in Christiania, the penniless aspirant writer Pontus (Per Oscarsson) is unemployed and starved, and near to be evicted from his poor room in a low-budget boarding house. The lonely Pontus has written an article and his hope is that the editor of the local newspaper buys his literary composition to raise money to have a meal and pay his debts to his landlord. However, Pontus is too proud and arrogant to accept any charity or money in advance and despite his poor appearance, he insists to tell other people that he does not need any alms. Further, his honesty does not allow him to keep a change wrongly given to him. The hunger Pontus is becoming delusional and having daydreams due to the lack of food. When the weirdo Pontus sees the gorgeous Ylajali (Gunnel Lindblom) walking on the street with her sister, he flirts with her. Sooner the editor asks him to rewrite his article in an appropriate language of newspaper and Ylajali dates him, and it seems that his dreams will finally come true. "Sult" is an impressive, depressive and heartbreaking character study of one of the most complex characters I have ever seen. The viewer does not have information about the past of Pontus, but his behavior indicates that he was from the aristocracy of the upper-classes that has moved to Norway expecting to become a successful writer but that is actually a loser. Or that he feels superior to the other people and also inferior, at the same time. His personality is contradictory since even under a deep starvation,he keeps his self-esteem, pride and arrogance, capable to hock his jacket to give a handout to a beggar. Pontus does not give-up and only when he indirectly receives money from Ylajali, he is capable to return to his country. I have never read the novel of Knut Hamsun, but it certainly might be a depressing story. Per Oscarsson has one of the best performances I gave ever seen and participates in every scene through his presence, his visions or his feelings. My vote is eight.Title (Brazil): "Fome" ("Hunger")

Howard Schumann At first glance, Pontus (Per Oscarsson) looks like a well-groomed businessman but on second look, there is something not right. His smile reveals a core of rotting teeth and his manner seems odd. He follows two young women on their walk through the city of Christiana (later Oslo) in Norway in 1890, yet keeps telling one of the women that she has dropped her book. He stops a policeman to inquire about the time, but insists that the officer is in error. Based on Norwegian author Knut Hamsun's psychological novel of the same name, Henning Carlsen's Hunger probes the inner working of the mind of a talented young writer living in poverty and on the verge of insanity.Shot in black and white, the film captures the bleakness of a world looking for a soul. Oscarsson totally captures the struggling author in a magnificent performance for which he won the award for Best Actor at the Cannes Film Festival. Not only is he in every scene in the film, but the film can scarcely even be conceived of without his presence. Pontus wanders the streets of Christiana moving from a semblance of rationality to hallucinatory madness yet still retaining his dignity and cool intelligence. Though he is reduced to trying to sell his glasses, the buttons from his jacket, and his only overcoat in order to stay alive, he refuses assistance from friends, and when he does come into a bit of money, he promptly gives it away. Though his poverty and suffering appears to be self-inflicted (there are hints he could go home to a cottage in the country), psychologically he is not in full control.Pontus has submitted an article for publication and his hopes are bound with the editor's decision. Told to come back the next day at 3:00 PM., the hours go slowly as he tries to negotiate renting a room with the promise to pay the next day. The editor at last recognizes his talent but tells him to tone his article down and bring it back the next day, at which time there will be some money waiting for him. Asked by the editor whether he needs money, his pride does not allow to admit the obvious and he refuses help, seemingly attached to his deprivation as if he has staked out a position that he must defend at all costs.He is moved almost to tears when a lovely blonde he names Ylajali (Gunnel Lindblom) takes an interest in him but apparently his presence in her home does not fit her picture of the romantic starving artist and the relationship ends quickly. Staying alive by scraping meat from dog bones, Pontus grasp on reality slowly fades but he maintains his dignity while refusing to compromise with the world, yelling insults to God for the mess he is in rather than seeking to find a way out. Oscarsson's portrait is unforgettable and makes what could have been a very depressing film into a tribute to the worth and dignity of every human being, regardless of their circumstances. Hunger is a classic film worthy of Bergman and Bresson.

romarblanc This movie left me speechless..., simply said. It's amazing how Per Oscarsson portrays that starving writer trying to live in 19th century Oslo. He is convinced he is a genius so he tries unsuccessfully selling his works and nobody cares of it. He is unable to find another job... It's strange but although he suffers from paranoia and then he finds himself absolutely good, you cant sympathize with him..., there is a moment in the movie actually great: he is eating a bone and then he gets ill..., and he starts crying..., that moment is... i have read the novel and i know how difficult is to show in images a novel that is whole a monologue...; I think that Oscarsson is a cold performer..., i mean: he is a Great actor in this movie..., but the way he portrays the writer doesn't make you feel anything for him..., in the novel and in the movie you know that he cames from the country..., so this is a story about a man who fights against everything and everybody in order to achieve his goals..., at the end he heads for a sea trip... Read the novel, feel it, watch the movie, feel it... Beautiful black and white photography with sharp contrast.

locdawg Excellent performances by Per Oscarsson, who portrays the starving writer who wanders the streets of Cristiania in search of love and a chance to get his work published. I really liked the way it was filmed, and how we get to look into Oscarssons mind through pictures and music.