The Hunger Games (movie)

[feuervogel]

After hearing a lot of talk about the books, I bought the trilogy for my e-reader. I couldn't put it down. I'd heard about a movie, but not having cable or reading entertainment magazines, I don't really follow much popular culture.

So Ben and I went to see it Saturday night. He hasn't read any of the books, and he liked the movie. He hasn't said if I need to make sure my e-reader is fully charged so I can lend it to him ;)

I thought they did a good job with the screenplay in making the story, which is in first person POV, work on screen. There were a lot of scenes that never happened in the text but could have, like anything involving President Snow and all the scenes in the Games control center. Some of the nice touches were Caesar Flickerman giving a drop-in with a sentence that covered Katniss' internal monologue.

One thing that bothered me was how the fight scenes were unfocused in the close range, but watchable in the pan-out (like the part on the cornucopia at the end).

The tracker jacker hallucinations weren't as creepy as in the book, either. But then, the girl melting as Katniss took the bow from her might have pushed it from PG-13 to R. Though I was disappointed that Peeta didn't look the way she saw him in the book.

A lot of people have expressed disappointment in the movie, because they wanted it to be something different than what it was. Maybe they wanted it to focus more on the political/oppression aspects of it, I don't know. I think the way it was done worked; you got a striking visual contrast between District 12 and the Capitol, between oppressed poverty and garish excess. The reality TV aspect was even more up front than in the book, because you got to see the control center. In a way, it highlighted the injustice and inequality in ways the book couldn't. The pointless violence looked even more pointless and Lord of the Flies.

If anything, Snow was creepier than in the (first) book. Donald Sutherland was a brilliant casting choice. I read one commentary that Woody Harrelson was miscast as Haymitch, but I disagree. He played a man dealing with PTSD through alcoholism fairly well. (Though I missed a lot of Katniss' insights into his character, since they made the decision not to do voice-overs.) Josh Hutcherson (Peeta) grew on me. He played Peeta perfectly, down to the winning smile and joking in the interview with Caesar.

Jennifer Lawrence as Katniss worked well, too. (Controversy about that aside; Seam people were described as olive skinned and grey eyed, which could imply a lot of mixed-race ancestry, from Arabia through the Mediterranean, which also includes Italy.) She pulled off the mixture of utter devotion to her sister and unapproachability very well.

The scene with Rue was heartbreaking, like in the book, even if she didn't get to sing all the lullaby. Someone said they wanted a voice-over while Katniss was picking flowers to show what it meant, and I can agree with that.

All in all, it was a good adaptation of a good book, with a few flaws that didn't bother me a lot. It's understandable to someone who hasn't read the books, though some of the nuances and lightly-touched-on things may be missed. (Though not as bad as in Peter Jackson's Lord of the Rings movies.)

Comments

[yvi]

That's pretty much what I am thinking, too. Except that I didn't read the books beforehand - I bought them the day after watching the movie :)

[feuervogel]

The books are SO GOOD. They're not perfect, but few things are. Katniss is so real, so relatable, so stubborn and sixteen and a survivor. I love her so much.

[yvi]

I'm halfway through the first book now and I really have problems putting it down. It's really, really good!

[feuervogel]

The story is very compelling. I think the use of the present tense adds to the immediacy and urgency of it all.

[princess]

So, I admit, I actually liked the lack of voice-over because it made everything feel viscerally horrifying to me. I was right there shooting an arrow into that kid without even thinking, and then seeing Rue with the spear in her, and it just...hit. But I can see how sans voice over some people would think it lost context.

There is SO much in this movie I need to talk about and I don't even know where to start. Like I was literally shaking with sorrow at Rue's death and then in rage during the riot/uprising, because I get it. I get this story so hard.

I don't know...I feel weird saying that about a YA movie/book series, but it's just so immediate for me on so many levels because of the attacks on women, and the racially motivated violence recently.

[corneredangel.livejournal.com]

Maybe they wanted it to focus more on the political/oppression aspects of it, I don't know. I think the way it was done worked; you got a striking visual contrast between District 12 and the Capitol, between oppressed poverty and garish excess.

My thinking on this really was, you *have* to think of this as Part 1 of 3. And there are probably a lot of things that don't quite make sense or matter now that will matter a lot more once you watch all three movies.

[feuervogel]

Yeah, that makes a lot of sense. It stands alone well enough, but the next two movies really ought to be able to expand on the themes.

I hear they're filming Catching Fire now and it should be out Thanksgiving 2013.

[donaithnen.livejournal.com]

Haven't seen the movie yet since shelleycat wasn't feeling well over the weekend, but definitely planning on it!

So do you think it would be a good idea for the DVD to add a voice-over track? Or do you think it would come off as badly as some people claim the Blade Runner voice-over was?

[feuervogel]

I have no idea what the Blade Runner voice-over is like, so I can't comment to that. I don't think there should be one added, though. Katniss' act of rebellion there, putting the flowers on Rue's body to give her dignity in death, doesn't come across as rebellion there. You also don't get the showmance aspect of Katniss&Peeta, because you don't spend any time in her head. Hmm, I'll ask Ben what he thought about that, since he hasn't read the books.

[kirin]

I was actually going to ask you about that earlier but forgot... without the inner monologue you can't tell *for sure* to what extent her affectionate actions towards Peeta might be genuine or a play to the sponsors, but there's certainly enough context dropped to suspect that it's at least somewhat, if not entirely, the latter.

As for the flowers, they didn't immediately say "rebellion" to me since it seemed like a natural reaction on her part to dealing with the death of someone she'd developed a close (if quick) friendship with, but then the salute to District 11? *That* felt like deliberate defiance.

On the whole, I feel like adding voice-over to what's already there would come off awkwardly at best. You'd really want to rework the whole movie, at least in small ways, if you wanted to play it that way.

[feuervogel]

So, in the text, Katniss putting flowers on Rue is a rebellious act because she gives Rue value and mourns her death. The Games are supposed to be Lord of the Flies, every Tribute for themself, alliances are OK but you're gonna have to kill them later, and basically dehumanizing the children. The Capitol made the Games to force the districts into compliance by killing their children, rather, having their children kill each other. One of these children actively mourning the death of another child goes completely against that.

Then the salute was a slap to the Capitol's face. Then the berries. It's no wonder Snow spends the next two books getting revenge on her.