Hunger

Knut Hamsun's bleak 1890 novel Hunger, about a penniless, starving writer wandering the city streets, becomes an engrossing and strangely beautiful film in this 1966 adaptation by Henning Carlsen. Shot in gorgeous black-and-white and making excellent use of actual Oslo locations, the film benefits from a stunning performance by rail-thin Per Oscarsson as Pontus, the alternately pathetic and maddening protagonist, whose abrupt transitions from sympathetic victim to preening poseur suggest that he may well be suffering a mental collapse, but could still also harbor a spark of genius within. Despite an occasional misstep, most notably in scenes that fail to successfully juggle hallucination and reality, Hunger is one of the rare films that truly captures the inner life of a character rather than simply skating over the surface. In one bonus feature, author-critic Paul Auster discusses the film with Hamsun's granddaughter Regine; in the second, director Carlsen speaks revealingly about how the film came to be made, emphasizing that he wanted it to be a truly pan-Scandinavian co-production in the hope that it could restore a degree of Danish and Swedish appreciation for Hamsun, a Norwegian whose reputation had suffered because of his pro-Nazi attitude during World War II. An exceptional film—presented here with a gorgeous new digital transfer on a disc that also includes a director's filmography and a stills gallery—Hunger is highly recommended. (F. Swietek)