The Hunger
Encyclopedia
The Hunger is a 1983 British horror film
and the directorial debut of Tony Scott
. It is the story of a love triangle
between a doctor (Susan Sarandon
) who specializes in sleep and aging research and a counter-culture vampire
couple (Catherine Deneuve
and David Bowie
). The film is a loose adaptation of the 1981 novel of the same name
by Whitley Strieber
, with a screenplay by Ivan Davis and Michael Thomas. The cinematography
was by Stephen Goldblatt
.
The film was screened out of competition at the 1983 Cannes Film Festival
.
) is a beautiful and dangerous immortal
vampire, promising specially chosen humans eternal life as her vampire lovers. As the film begins, her current vampire companion is John (David Bowie
), a talented cellist
she married in 18th century France. The films opens in a night club in New York to a live performance from Bauhaus
(who coincidentally covered Bowie's Ziggy Stardust in their later album). In the present day, they live together in an elegant New York
townhouse posing as a wealthy couple who teach classical music.
Periodic killing and feeding upon human victims allows Miriam and John to possess eternal youth, or at least that is what John was led to believe. John begins aging rapidly. He realizes that Miriam knew that this would happen, and that her promises of "forever and ever" were only partially true. He will have eternal life, but not eternal youth and vitality. Feeling betrayed, he seeks out the help of Dr. Sarah Roberts (Susan Sarandon
), who specializes in the study of premature aging disorders, hoping she will be able to help reverse his accelerating decrepitude. Sarah assumes that John is a hypochondriac or mentally unbalanced, and ignores his pleas for help. As John leaves the clinic in a rage, Sarah is horrified to see how rapidly John is aging. She tries to help, at which point John rebuffs her.
In a last attempt to regain his youth and vitality, John murders and attempts to feed upon a young female violin student of Miriam's whom she was grooming to be her next consort when she came of age, but to no avail. As John's aging advances, he begs Miriam to kill him and release him from the agony of his now decrepit body. Weeping, Miriam tells him that there is no release. After John collapses, Miriam carries him into the attic and places him in a coffin. There are stacks of other coffins and Miriam asks them all to "be good to him tonight." Miriam's former vampire lovers are doomed to suffer an eternal living death, helplessly moaning and trapped in their coffins.
Meanwhile, Sarah eventually comes looking for John at his home, but only finds Miriam. It becomes clear that the two women feel a mutual attraction, and Miriam acts upon this, as she now feels alone after losing both her former lover and the young girl she was grooming. In a memorable scene during a piano adaption of The Flower Duet
, Sarah says: "Are you making a pass at me, Mrs. Blaylock?" Miriam softly replies: "Miriam, please." They have a sexual encounter during which, without Sarah being fully aware of it, Miriam bites her arm and a blood exchange occurs in which some of Miriam's blood enters Sarah's body. Later, Miriam attempts to initiate Sarah in the necessities of life as a vampire, but Sarah is repulsed by the thought of subsisting on human blood. Still reeling from the effects of her vampiric transformation, Sarah allows Miriam to put her to bed in a guest room. Sarah's partner, Tom (Cliff DeYoung
), arrives on Miriam's doorstep, trying to locate the missing Sarah. Miriam informs him that Sarah is in the upstairs bedroom. Sarah, starving and desperate, tries to resist the urge to kill Tom but, in the end, gives in to temptation. Sarah then joins Miriam by the piano and Miriam assures her that she will soon forget what she was and come to love Miriam. As the two kiss, Sarah drives Miriam's ankh-knife into her own throat, attempting to kill herself, as she forcibly holds her mouth over Miriam's mouth, forcing Miriam to ingest her blood, possibly working on a hunch regarding the 'blood borne metabolic aging disease' and 'host' relationship she was told about affecting her own blood. Miriam carries Sarah upstairs, intending to place her with her other boxed lovers. There is a rumbling and the dry mummies of Miriam's previous lovers emerge from their coffins. The mummies drive Miriam over the edge of the balcony. As she rapidly ages, the mummies fall and become dust, ostensibly providing the trapped souls with release.
As the film draws to a close, a real estate agent is showing the deserted townhouse to prospective buyers. Sarah is now in London, standing on the balcony of a chic apartment tower (one of the three towers of the Barbican
), in the company of an attractive young man and woman. She is serenely admiring the gorgeous view as dusk falls. From a draped coffin in a storage room, Miriam repeatedly screams Sarah's name (an overlay of the audio from earlier in the film).
, of the Chicago Sun-Times
, described the film as "an agonizingly bad vampire movie". Camille Paglia
writes that The Hunger comes close to being a masterpiece of a "classy genre of vampire film", but that it is "ruined by horrendous errors, as when the regal Catherine Deneuve is made to crawl around on all fours, slavering over cut throats."
However, the film has found a cult following
that responded to its dark, glamorous atmosphere. The Bauhaus
song "Bela Lugosi's Dead
" plays over the introductory credits and beginning. The film is popular with some segments of the goth subculture
and inspired a short-lived TV series of the same name
.
announced it planned a remake
of the film with the screenplay written by Whitley Strieber
.
Horror film
Horror films seek to elicit a negative emotional reaction from viewers by playing on the audience's most primal fears. They often feature scenes that startle the viewer through the means of macabre and the supernatural, thus frequently overlapping with the fantasy and science fiction genres...
and the directorial debut of Tony Scott
Tony Scott
Anthony D. L. "Tony" Scott is an English film director. His films include Top Gun, Beverly Hills Cop II, The Last Boy Scout, True Romance, Crimson Tide, Enemy of the State, Spy Game, Man on Fire, Déjà Vu, The Taking of Pelham 123, and Unstoppable...
. It is the story of a love triangle
Love triangle
A love triangle is usually a romantic relationship involving three people. While it can refer to two people independently romantically linked with a third, it usually implies that each of the three people has some kind of relationship to the other two...
between a doctor (Susan Sarandon
Susan Sarandon
Susan Sarandon is an American actress. She has worked in films and television since 1969, and won an Academy Award for Best Actress for her performance in the 1995 film Dead Man Walking. She had also been nominated for the award for four films before that and has received other recognition for her...
) who specializes in sleep and aging research and a counter-culture vampire
Vampire
Vampires are mythological or folkloric beings who subsist by feeding on the life essence of living creatures, regardless of whether they are undead or a living person...
couple (Catherine Deneuve
Catherine Deneuve
Catherine Deneuve is a French actress. She gained recognition for her portrayal of aloof and mysterious beauties in films such as Repulsion and Belle de jour . Deneuve was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Actress in 1993 for her performance in Indochine; she also won César Awards for that...
and David Bowie
David Bowie
David Bowie is an English musician, actor, record producer and arranger. A major figure for over four decades in the world of popular music, Bowie is widely regarded as an innovator, particularly for his work in the 1970s...
). The film is a loose adaptation of the 1981 novel of the same name
The Hunger (novel)
The Hunger is a novel by Whitley Strieber. The plot involves a beautiful and wealthy vampire named Miriam Blaylock who takes human lovers and transforms them into vampire/human hybrids....
by Whitley Strieber
Whitley Strieber
Louis Whitley Strieber is an American writer best known for his horror novels The Wolfen and The Hunger and for Communion, a non-fiction account of his perceived experiences with non-human entities. Strieber also co-authored The Coming Global Superstorm with Art Bell, which inspired the film about...
, with a screenplay by Ivan Davis and Michael Thomas. The cinematography
Cinematography
Cinematography is the making of lighting and camera choices when recording photographic images for cinema. It is closely related to the art of still photography...
was by Stephen Goldblatt
Stephen Goldblatt
Stephen Goldblatt, A.S.C., B.S.C. is a cinematographer, noted for his work on high-profile action films as well as for his recent collaborations with director Mike Nichols....
.
The film was screened out of competition at the 1983 Cannes Film Festival
1983 Cannes Film Festival
- Jury :*William Styron *Henri Alekan *Yvonne Baby *Sergei Bondarchuk *Youssef Chahine *Souleymane Cissé *Gilbert de Goldschmidt *Mariangela Melato *Karel Reisz...
.
Plot
Miriam Blaylock (Catherine DeneuveCatherine Deneuve
Catherine Deneuve is a French actress. She gained recognition for her portrayal of aloof and mysterious beauties in films such as Repulsion and Belle de jour . Deneuve was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Actress in 1993 for her performance in Indochine; she also won César Awards for that...
) is a beautiful and dangerous immortal
Immortality
Immortality is the ability to live forever. It is unknown whether human physical immortality is an achievable condition. Biological forms have inherent limitations which may or may not be able to be overcome through medical interventions or engineering...
vampire, promising specially chosen humans eternal life as her vampire lovers. As the film begins, her current vampire companion is John (David Bowie
David Bowie
David Bowie is an English musician, actor, record producer and arranger. A major figure for over four decades in the world of popular music, Bowie is widely regarded as an innovator, particularly for his work in the 1970s...
), a talented cellist
Cello
The cello is a bowed string instrument with four strings tuned in perfect fifths. It is a member of the violin family of musical instruments, which also includes the violin, viola, and double bass. Old forms of the instrument in the Baroque era are baryton and viol .A person who plays a cello is...
she married in 18th century France. The films opens in a night club in New York to a live performance from Bauhaus
Bauhaus (band)
Bauhaus was an English rock band formed in Northampton in 1978. The group consisted of Peter Murphy , Daniel Ash , Kevin Haskins and David J . The band was originally Bauhaus 1919 before they dropped the numerical portion within a year of formation...
(who coincidentally covered Bowie's Ziggy Stardust in their later album). In the present day, they live together in an elegant New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
townhouse posing as a wealthy couple who teach classical music.
Periodic killing and feeding upon human victims allows Miriam and John to possess eternal youth, or at least that is what John was led to believe. John begins aging rapidly. He realizes that Miriam knew that this would happen, and that her promises of "forever and ever" were only partially true. He will have eternal life, but not eternal youth and vitality. Feeling betrayed, he seeks out the help of Dr. Sarah Roberts (Susan Sarandon
Susan Sarandon
Susan Sarandon is an American actress. She has worked in films and television since 1969, and won an Academy Award for Best Actress for her performance in the 1995 film Dead Man Walking. She had also been nominated for the award for four films before that and has received other recognition for her...
), who specializes in the study of premature aging disorders, hoping she will be able to help reverse his accelerating decrepitude. Sarah assumes that John is a hypochondriac or mentally unbalanced, and ignores his pleas for help. As John leaves the clinic in a rage, Sarah is horrified to see how rapidly John is aging. She tries to help, at which point John rebuffs her.
In a last attempt to regain his youth and vitality, John murders and attempts to feed upon a young female violin student of Miriam's whom she was grooming to be her next consort when she came of age, but to no avail. As John's aging advances, he begs Miriam to kill him and release him from the agony of his now decrepit body. Weeping, Miriam tells him that there is no release. After John collapses, Miriam carries him into the attic and places him in a coffin. There are stacks of other coffins and Miriam asks them all to "be good to him tonight." Miriam's former vampire lovers are doomed to suffer an eternal living death, helplessly moaning and trapped in their coffins.
Meanwhile, Sarah eventually comes looking for John at his home, but only finds Miriam. It becomes clear that the two women feel a mutual attraction, and Miriam acts upon this, as she now feels alone after losing both her former lover and the young girl she was grooming. In a memorable scene during a piano adaption of The Flower Duet
The Flower Duet
The Flower Duet is a famous duet for sopranos from Léo Delibes' opera Lakmé, first performed in Paris in 1883. The duet takes place in Act 1 of the three act opera, between characters Lakmé, the daughter of a Brahmin priest, and her servant Mallika, as they go to gather flowers by a river...
, Sarah says: "Are you making a pass at me, Mrs. Blaylock?" Miriam softly replies: "Miriam, please." They have a sexual encounter during which, without Sarah being fully aware of it, Miriam bites her arm and a blood exchange occurs in which some of Miriam's blood enters Sarah's body. Later, Miriam attempts to initiate Sarah in the necessities of life as a vampire, but Sarah is repulsed by the thought of subsisting on human blood. Still reeling from the effects of her vampiric transformation, Sarah allows Miriam to put her to bed in a guest room. Sarah's partner, Tom (Cliff DeYoung
Cliff DeYoung
Clifford Tobin DeYoung is an American actor and musician.DeYoung was born in Los Angeles, California. He attended California State University....
), arrives on Miriam's doorstep, trying to locate the missing Sarah. Miriam informs him that Sarah is in the upstairs bedroom. Sarah, starving and desperate, tries to resist the urge to kill Tom but, in the end, gives in to temptation. Sarah then joins Miriam by the piano and Miriam assures her that she will soon forget what she was and come to love Miriam. As the two kiss, Sarah drives Miriam's ankh-knife into her own throat, attempting to kill herself, as she forcibly holds her mouth over Miriam's mouth, forcing Miriam to ingest her blood, possibly working on a hunch regarding the 'blood borne metabolic aging disease' and 'host' relationship she was told about affecting her own blood. Miriam carries Sarah upstairs, intending to place her with her other boxed lovers. There is a rumbling and the dry mummies of Miriam's previous lovers emerge from their coffins. The mummies drive Miriam over the edge of the balcony. As she rapidly ages, the mummies fall and become dust, ostensibly providing the trapped souls with release.
As the film draws to a close, a real estate agent is showing the deserted townhouse to prospective buyers. Sarah is now in London, standing on the balcony of a chic apartment tower (one of the three towers of the Barbican
Barbican Estate
The Barbican Estate is a residential estate built during the 1960s and the 1970s in the City of London, in an area once devastated by World War II bombings and today densely populated by financial institutions...
), in the company of an attractive young man and woman. She is serenely admiring the gorgeous view as dusk falls. From a draped coffin in a storage room, Miriam repeatedly screams Sarah's name (an overlay of the audio from earlier in the film).
Cast
- Catherine DeneuveCatherine DeneuveCatherine Deneuve is a French actress. She gained recognition for her portrayal of aloof and mysterious beauties in films such as Repulsion and Belle de jour . Deneuve was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Actress in 1993 for her performance in Indochine; she also won César Awards for that...
as Miriam Blaylock - David BowieDavid BowieDavid Bowie is an English musician, actor, record producer and arranger. A major figure for over four decades in the world of popular music, Bowie is widely regarded as an innovator, particularly for his work in the 1970s...
as John - Susan SarandonSusan SarandonSusan Sarandon is an American actress. She has worked in films and television since 1969, and won an Academy Award for Best Actress for her performance in the 1995 film Dead Man Walking. She had also been nominated for the award for four films before that and has received other recognition for her...
as Dr. Sarah Roberts - Cliff De Young as Tom Haver
- Beth EhlersBeth Ehlers-Personal life:Born in Queens, New York, Ehlers eventually moved closer to Manhattan and attended Satellite Academy, a performing arts school, as a child. Ehlers briefly attended Syracuse University before focusing on her acting career....
as Alice Cavender - Dan HedayaDan HedayaDaniel G. “Dan” Hedaya is an American character actor. He often plays sleazy villains or uptight, wisecracking individuals; three of his best-known roles are as Italian Mafia boss Tony Costello in Wise Guys, a cuckolded husband in the Coen brothers' crime thriller Blood Simple, and the scheming...
as Lieutenant Allegrezza - Suzanne BertishSuzanne BertishSuzanne C. Bertish is an English actress.A former member of the Royal Shakespeare Company, Bertish has appeared in many productions with them, including their marathon eight-and-a-half hour version of Charles Dickens's The Life and Adventures of Nicholas Nickleby, in which she played three roles...
as Phyllis - James AubreyJames Aubrey (actor)James Aubrey was an English stage and screen actor. He trained for the stage at the Drama Centre London. He made his professional acting debut in a 1962 production of Isle of Children. Aubrey made his screen acting debut in the 1963 adaptation of Lord of the Flies. Aubrey performed with the Royal...
as Ron - Ann MagnusonAnn MagnusonAnn Magnuson is an American actress, performance artist, and nightclub performer who first gained prominence in the 1985 film Desperately Seeking Susan...
as Young Woman from Disco - Shane RimmerShane RimmerShane Rimmer is a Canadian actor and voice actor, probably best known as the voice of Scott Tracy in Thunderbirds.He has mostly performed in supporting roles, frequently in films and television series filmed in the United Kingdom, having relocated to England in the late 1950s, initially performing...
as Jelinek - Bessie LoveBessie LoveBessie Love was an American motion picture actress who achieved prominence mainly in the silent films and early talkies. With a small frame and delicate features, she played innocent young girls, flappers, and wholesome leading ladies. Her role in The Broadway Melody earned her a nomination for...
as Lillybelle - John PankowJohn PankowJohn Pankow is an American film and stage actor. He is perhaps best known for a supporting role on the sitcom Mad About You .-Early life:...
as 1st Phone Booth Youth - Willem DafoeWillem DafoeWillem Dafoe is an American film, stage, and voice actor, and a founding member of the experimental theatre company The Wooster Group...
as 2nd Phone Booth Youth - BauhausBauhaus (band)Bauhaus was an English rock band formed in Northampton in 1978. The group consisted of Peter Murphy , Daniel Ash , Kevin Haskins and David J . The band was originally Bauhaus 1919 before they dropped the numerical portion within a year of formation...
as Disco Group - Sophie WardSophie WardSophie Ward , is an English actress and the daughter of actor, Simon Ward.-Career:One of Ward's early film roles was in the film Young Sherlock Holmes. Other early films included Return to Oz, Little Dorrit and A Summer Story, and she also portrayed the unattainable love object in the video of Roxy...
as Girl in London House - Philip SayerPhilip SayerPhilip Sayer was a British actor. He worked for stage, film and television; and was probably best known for his role as Sam Phillips in the science-fiction horror film, Xtro .- Biography :...
as Boy in London House - Gerardo Cruet as 2nd Boy in London House
Reception
David Bowie himself was excited to work on the film, but was concerned about the final product. He said "I must say, there's nothing that looks like it on the market. But I'm a bit worried that it's just perversely bloody at some points." The Hunger was not particularly well-received upon its initial release, and was attacked by many critics for being heavy on atmosphere and visuals but slow on pace and plot. Roger EbertRoger Ebert
Roger Joseph Ebert is an American film critic and screenwriter. He is the first film critic to win a Pulitzer Prize for Criticism.Ebert is known for his film review column and for the television programs Sneak Previews, At the Movies with Gene Siskel and Roger Ebert, and Siskel and Ebert and The...
, of the Chicago Sun-Times
Chicago Sun-Times
The Chicago Sun-Times is an American daily newspaper published in Chicago, Illinois. It is the flagship paper of the Sun-Times Media Group.-History:The Chicago Sun-Times is the oldest continuously published daily newspaper in the city...
, described the film as "an agonizingly bad vampire movie". Camille Paglia
Camille Paglia
Camille Anna Paglia , is an American author, teacher, and social critic. Paglia, a self-described dissident feminist, has been a Professor at The University of the Arts in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania since 1984...
writes that The Hunger comes close to being a masterpiece of a "classy genre of vampire film", but that it is "ruined by horrendous errors, as when the regal Catherine Deneuve is made to crawl around on all fours, slavering over cut throats."
However, the film has found a cult following
Cult following
A cult following is a group of fans who are highly dedicated to a specific area of pop culture. A film, book, band, or video game, among other things, will be said to have a cult following when it has a small but very passionate fan base...
that responded to its dark, glamorous atmosphere. The Bauhaus
Bauhaus (band)
Bauhaus was an English rock band formed in Northampton in 1978. The group consisted of Peter Murphy , Daniel Ash , Kevin Haskins and David J . The band was originally Bauhaus 1919 before they dropped the numerical portion within a year of formation...
song "Bela Lugosi's Dead
Bela Lugosi's Dead
"Bela Lugosi's Dead" is a gothic rock song written by the band Bauhaus. The song was the band's first single, released in August 1979, and is often considered to be the first gothic rock record released. It did not enter the UK charts. The b-side features the song "Boys" and some versions also...
" plays over the introductory credits and beginning. The film is popular with some segments of the goth subculture
Goth subculture
The goth subculture is a contemporary subculture found in many countries. It began in England during the early 1980s in the gothic rock scene, an offshoot of the post-punk genre. The goth subculture has survived much longer than others of the same era, and has continued to diversify...
and inspired a short-lived TV series of the same name
The Hunger (serial)
The Hunger is a British/Canadian television horror anthology series, co-produced by Scott Free Productions, Telescene Film Group Productions and the Canadian pay-TV channel The Movie Network...
.
Remake
On September 23, 2009 Warner Bros.Warner Bros.
Warner Bros. Entertainment, Inc., also known as Warner Bros. Pictures or simply Warner Bros. , is an American producer of film and television entertainment.One of the major film studios, it is a subsidiary of Time Warner, with its headquarters in Burbank,...
announced it planned a remake
Remake
A remake is a piece of media based primarily on an earlier work of the same medium.-Film:The term "remake" is generally used in reference to a movie which uses an earlier movie as the main source material, rather than in reference to a second, later movie based on the same source...
of the film with the screenplay written by Whitley Strieber
Whitley Strieber
Louis Whitley Strieber is an American writer best known for his horror novels The Wolfen and The Hunger and for Communion, a non-fiction account of his perceived experiences with non-human entities. Strieber also co-authored The Coming Global Superstorm with Art Bell, which inspired the film about...
.
See also
- The Celluloid ClosetThe Celluloid ClosetThe Celluloid Closet is a 1996 American documentary film directed and written by Rob Epstein and Jeffrey Friedman. The film is based on the 1981 book of the same name written by Vito Russo, and on previous lecture and film clip presentations given in person by Russo 1972–82.Russo researched the...
, a 1995 documentary filmDocumentary filmDocumentary films constitute a broad category of nonfictional motion pictures intended to document some aspect of reality, primarily for the purposes of instruction or maintaining a historical record...
in which Susan Sarandon talks candidly about The Hungers lesbianLesbianLesbian is a term most widely used in the English language to describe sexual and romantic desire between females. The word may be used as a noun, to refer to women who identify themselves or who are characterized by others as having the primary attribute of female homosexuality, or as an...
seduction scene
External links
- Michel Rubini - Profile and photographs of the co-composer of the music for The Hunger
- The Hunger analysis at Moria (by Richard Scheib, 1990)