11. Hunger
Before Hunger, Steve McQueen made a series of acclaimed short art films, something that prepared him to make some of the best looking films of recent years. Retelling the 1981 Irish Hunger Strike of Bobby Sands, Hunger is an engrossing work of filmmaking that works on so many levels. Voted the number one movie of 2008 by Sight and Sound, Hunger brought McQueen and lead actor Michael Fassbender to the attention of the wider moviegoing world. McQueen uses a number of techniques to maximize the impact of the film: Cinematographer Sean Bobbitt, decided to use a 2-perforation camera in order to maximize picture quality, keep costs down, and enable the filmmakers to film the centerpiece twenty minute unbroken camera shot. Hunger is shot in a way that each image looks almost like a series of painting, with each shot impeccably framed. In addition, many critics noticed the use of religious imagery, particularly with Bobby Sands. And by contrasting the physical suffering of the prisoners with the mental suffering of the guards, McQueen avoids taking a political stance and focuses strictly on the human part of the story.