TURNER Prize-winning artist Steve McQueen makes his narrative feature-film debut with a harrowing recreation of the hunger strikes of the early '80s in the Maze Prison just outside of Belfast.

Based on a screenplay co-written by playwright Enda Walsh, Hunger is distinguished by McQueen's meticulous eye for detail and his steadfast refusal to paint characters as heroes, villains or martyrs.

Parallels with Guantanamo Bay and Abu Ghraib are apparent, challenging our morality about the treatment of prisoners.

Violence begets more violence, and nobody emerges from the melee with a clear conscience.

Filmed in Northern Ireland, the story cuts between figures on both sides of the bars, beginning with prison officer Raymond Lohan (Graham), who is part of the team in charge of the infamous H-Blocks. He arrives at work to welcome new inmate Davey Gillen (Milligan), who joins his Republican brothers on the blanket and no-wash protest.

Hunger is an impressionistic portrait of a time when 10 men effectively declared war against their own bodies as the ultimate defiance against the Thatcher government.