A young writer finds his creative principles pushed to the breaking point in this drama, which updates the story of an acclaimed 19th century novel by Knut Hamsun. Charlie Pontus (Joseph Culp) is a gifted writer who has come to Los Angeles in hope of finding success in the film industry. However, he refuses to compromise his artistic ideals in the process and has had no luck in getting work. As a result, Charlie has fallen into dire straits; he's now homeless, sick, and hasn't eaten in days, while making one last desperate bid to sell his latest story to a disinterested studio chief (Robert Culp). As Charlie struggles to survive, he meets a beautiful woman, Ylayali (Kathleen Luong), who claims to be descended from Siamese royalty, though he discovers in time that her true story is a good bit less glamorous. Hunger was shown at the 2001 San Francisco Independent Film Festival.
by Mark Deming
synopsis
