“The Hunger Games”
3.5/5 ***-
“The Hunger Games” is a 2012 film directed by Gary Ross, adapted from Suzanne Collins’ young adult dystopian novel of the same name. The story follows Katniss (Jennifer Lawrence), a 16-year-old who takes her sister’s place in the annual Hunger Games, a tournament hosted by the Capitol of Panem, where 24 children (two from each district) are reaped to fight to the death. The lone survivor is the winner. Throughout the film, she grows close to her fellow District 12 tribute, Peeta (Josh Hutcherson). Considering that the film adaptation of the official prequel, “The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes,” was recently released, I thought now would be a great time to look back at the one that started it all.
Overall, this film is a successful adaptation of the original novel and does a decent job capturing how messed up Panem is. Since the novel is entirely in Katniss’ point of view, the film adds scenes with citizens of the Capitol to show how disconnected they are with the concept of the Games. They see the Games as a sporting event and the tributes as pawns for their entertainment. One added scene that perfectly shows this is when Haymitch (Woody Harrelson), Katniss and Peeta’s mentor and the only surviving District 12 victor, witnesses a young Capitol boy being gifted a toy sword by his parents. Haymitch watches as the boy chases his sister around and pretends to stab her, trying to hide his anger and disgust.
The film also does a great job with adapting the relationship between Rue (Amandla Stenberg) and Katniss, which makes her death all the more devastating. Rue is the 12-year-old tribute from District 11 who becomes friends with Katniss while in the Games. Her death is the most powerful part of the film and arguably the most important. While resentment towards the Capitol had always been brewing in the Districts, the spark is finally lit when Katniss shows humanity in the Games, memorializing Rue’s death by decorating her body with flowers.
While I do think that this is a decent adaptation, there are some elements changed from the book that I think tone down the brutality of Panem. My biggest issue is that Katniss is supposed to be 16 in the book, as well as very small from malnourishment. While I think Jennifer Lawrence does an incredible job portraying Katniss, she does not fit how I see the character, and it messes with the horror of the film. Lawrence was 20 years old when she played Katniss in the first film. Part of what made the books so messed up was the fact that Katniss was still just a kid when she was forced into the games. Also, Katniss was deeply traumatized long before she entered the arena, having faced starvation on numerous occasions and having to work to keep her family alive since she was 11. Not only that, but to survive she was forced to fake a love story with Peeta while both of them were 16. Then in the second part, “Catching Fire,” they felt forced to get engaged when they were both only 17. It is less horrifying to watch characters be pressured by their government to get married when the actors don’t look like children.
Another change that bothers me about the film is the fact that the Games can cause permanent damage to the tributes. In the film and the novel, Peeta’s leg is slashed and he is left to die by Cato (Alexander Ludwig), one of the other tributes. When Katniss finds him, the wound is severely infected. She manages to nurse him back to health in part by manipulating the Capitol with their romance to send them medicine. Peeta’s infection is treated as serious in the film, but in the novel he nearly dies. He gets blood poisoning, and Katniss is forced to use one of her arrows to torniquet his leg. After the Games, Peeta’s leg is in such horrible shape it has to be amputated and he has to get a prosthetic. The films leaving out such a crucial detail undermines just how messed-up the games are. The fact that a 16-year-old loses his leg when he did not need to is horrifying.
The final major change that bothers me is the origin of the mockingjay whistle. In the film, Rue is showing Katniss how mockingjay birds can mimic music and Katniss tries it with the now iconic whistle. However, that whistle was originally Rue’s in the books, saying it was what she and the people back home would whistle when the workday was over. The whistle becomes a symbol of the eventual rebellion in the series, but there is less power in it because it does not come from Rue. Earlier I mentioned how Rue’s death and Katniss’s humanity is what finally lit the spark of the revolution. The whistle coming from Rue makes her character even more important, because it was her tune that became a symbol and she contributed more to the cause than just dying.
Overall, I think that “The Hunger Games” is a decent adaptation of the original novel. It is well-made and well-acted. The Games are shown to be brutal, and the Capitol is portrayed to clearly be out of touch with the rest of the country. However, there are certain changes from the original novel that I feel water down how terrifying the world of Panem is.