‘The Hunger’, by Tony Scott
Within the programming of
The Magnetic Terrace 2022. Vulnerable Critters
A cult vampire classic with a glittering love triangle: Susan Sarandon, David Bowie and Catherine Deneuve.
| Duration: | 1 hour 45 minutes |
The Hunger, directed by Tony Scott. UK, 1983. 96’
Miriam Blaylock (Catherine Deneuve) collects Renaissance art and ancient Egyptian pendants, but her favourite acquisitions are lovers and souls. The modern, elegant Miriam is a vampire living in Manhattan, a woman blessed with beauty and cursed with a thirst for human blood. One day, her lover John (David Bowie) begins to age rapidly. Before succumbing to his fate, he contacts a reputed doctor named Sarah (Susan Sarandon) who is studying longevity, how to extend life and regenerate tissue. The film can be interpreted as a metaphor for AIDS, a disease that was completely unknown until the 1980s, as it addresses the fear of dying and, above all, the fear of ageing and ceasing to be loved.
Tony Scott (1944–2012) studied at the Royal College of Art in London and worked in advertising for many years before directing his first feature, The Hunger, now a cult film. He then went on to create the blockbusters Top Gun and Beverly Hills Cop II which cemented his style with its distinctive music-video look, staccato editing and over-saturated photography. His film True Romance, written by Quentin Tarantino, is one of the most beloved classics of the 1990s.
