Hunger (1966)
Based on Norwegian author Knut Hamsun’s semi-autobiographical 1890 novel of the same name, Danish writer-director Henning Carlsen’s HUNGER is a late-19th-century story that feels bracingly modern in its riveting first-person depiction of existential angst and urban psychosis. Swedish actor Per Oscarsson won the Best Actor prize at Cannes for his role as an aspiring young writer who stubbornly embraces his romanticized self-image as a starving artist, drifting around Oslo assailed by hallucinatory visions and unsettling encounters. It’s filmed in luminous monochrome with fluid camerawork that nods to the French New Wave.
Per Oscarsson, Gunnel Lindblom, Birgitte Federspiel
- Notes From Duke JohnsonI added this film to my list because when I mention it to people, no one has ever heard of it. And it’s incredible! Per Oscarsson gives one of the best character performances of all time. He’s like the Daniel Day-Lewis of the 1960s. Oscarsson won several awards for his performance, including best actor at Cannes. It co-stars one of Ingmar Bergman’s muses, Gunnel Lindblom; Krzysztof Komida, who scored Roman Polanski’s early films, composed this one as well; and some crew members also worked on Bergman films. So why has no one heard of this movie?! I discovered it when I worked at a video store in West Hollywood in 2006. It just showed up on the shelf one day, having been released on DVD for the first time. It’s mesmerizing. The whole film feels like a dream.
