I reckon the script was one side of A4, Subtitles would have helped.
The film is a well shot piece of cinema focusing on the style and the soundtrack to tell the story of Bobby Sands, A soundtrack that is almost exclusive to just diegetic noise and Steve McQueen uses it in an interesting way, increasing the volume to add intensity and decreasing it to represent feelings of being alone and weakness. The use of shadow allows us into the dark outcome for the prisoners, even in scenes of daylight it is stark and unforgiving.
There isn’t much dialogue in this film yet the story is well told, the looks and actions from the cast tell it perfectly, we start with the daily routine of a prison guard checking his car for bombs this sets the tone that no matter where you are you are not safe which is shown again half way through the film, a scene that comes out of nowhere to show the brutality of the IRA during this time. From the beginning we see the parallel lives of the guards and the prisoners this tells us two stories at the same time, both in pain and fear, if you didn’t know what this film was before you watched it you might think we are following the guards.
The longest piece of dialogue in the film is between the priest and Michael Fassbender’s character Bobby Sands, it is a static shot that doesn’t cut until the end they talk to each other like brothers while also showing two sides of nation, one wanting to fight, the other wanting to negotiate.
The hunger strike only starts 20 minutes from the end of the film yet it takes over everything else you have seen, Michael Fassbender’s dedication to his art is worryingly magnificent and his performance justifies his transformation.
The film had me gripped for the whole time, never wavering with doubt that this may go off into dangerous grounds of supporting the IRA.
