Scenes that never get old. Hunger. A chat & a smoke.

00.23 - 17.33.

2 men, 2 chairs, a table, a pack of fags and a chat. One 17 minute take. Perfection.

Bobby Sands (Michael Fassbender) has organised a hunger strike among the IRA prisoners of the Maze prison. He was the leader of a group who were political prisoners and as such demanded to be treated differently to normal convicts. To achieve their aims they would refuse food from the 1st of March 1981. We all know how his story ended but here we see what happened before when Bobby meets with Father Moran (Liam Cunningham). 

The craftsmanship on display here is staggering. Two actors at the height of their game. A director (Steve McQueen) who trusts his cast to carry 1/6 of the film in one go. The rapid fire back and forth dialogue that never once feels like acting. One take shots like this usually feel like showing off on the directors behalf but here it's used to brilliant effect. It draws you in and never gives you the comfort of a cutaway. A chat that starts warm and friendly before veering off a cliff into a chasm of anger and disappointment. A chat about the morality of laying down your life for what you believe in. Two men who believe what they are saying is absolute. Both know it's suicide but for one it's justifiable and for the other it's a mortal sin.

It's a scene that shatters the mythology surrounding Sands but a scene that never once belittles him. It humanises him while reminding us of the human cost of the strikes. Reminds us that Sands was seen as a pawn in a political game by both sides. An indictment of the IRA high command and the British government. Fassbender's wiry physicality brings Sands to life brilliantly while Liam Cunningham's priest is every decent priest you've ever met, he's utterly believable. Both men bouncing off each other, letting slip little slivers of themselves to get under the other's skin.

Stunning.