The moment I'd been waiting for finally happened at 12:04 am on Friday...the first scene of The Hunger Games appeared on the movie screen. I was in one of 20 sold out showings at my local theatre and my friends were finally admitting to me that I was right for wanting to show up to the theatre 2 hours prior to the show starting. And I have to say...it was all worth it. There was so much they did right and so many scenes were shot to perfection...from the reaping in District 12 to that first fight at the Cornucopia at the beginning of the games, they really brought to life the world that Suzanne Collins wrote about in her trilogy.
HOWEVER, being a true fan of the the novels, I have to lament a few things that I thought were lacking. (Spoilers included below for those who have not read the book or seen the movie!!)
First, this is a fight to the death. Twenty-four teenagers enter a fight for their lives and 22 of them die horribly. I understand that this was a PG-13 movie (and rightfully so since the book is largely aimed at a young adult audience) but I felt as though the violence and deaths were actually glossed over. All of the violent fighting scenes were filmed almost in flashes, with just fast glimpses of what was happening. There is nothing about this that was wrong, but I felt like it cheapened the horror of the experience and, for those who had not read the book, I felt as though the trauma was glossed over. It's not that I wanted or needed more blood or gore, but I wanted to feel the wastefulness of this loss of life more than I did.
Secondly...Rue. The book took such pains to explore Rue's innocence and the world she came from. Her intelligence in foraging through the games and her passion for music. Reading the book, all you wanted to do is wrap this child up in your arms and protect her. I didn't feel as though the movie took enough time establishing Rue's background or why Katniss felt such a kinship with her (she reminded her of Prim). Again, I felt the death was rushed though. And while I was glad it showed Katniss's 'burial' of Rue and her signal to District 11, I missed the explanation that her burial was supposed to be a slap in the face of the Capitol. Also, when I reread the book a few weeks ago, I got most emotional at the point when District 11 sent Katniss bread to thank her for Rue's tribute. This is where in the books she signals to District 11 and thanks them. So of course I was sad that part was missing. However I will say, I got a little emotional in the movie when it showed the rioting in District 11 after Rue's death and Katniss's gesture, so that made up for it a little for me.
And lastly...Katniss and Peeta's relationship. This is one of the most complicated aspects of the book so of course I was not surprised that I felt too much of it was left out in the movie. I loved their back story in the book...how he purposefully burned bread and risked punishment from his mom just to feed Katniss when they were young. They did a good job showing this in the movie, but I wish they had elaborated more on how desperate she was at the time and how much he risked doing this for her before they even knew each other. Also, until the point where she finds Peeta hurt towards the end of the Games, Katniss does not believe Peeta actually has feelings for her and thinks he's just playing the game and working against her. Finally when she does give in to the fact that his feelings are real, she only returns those feelings as part of strategy at Haymitch's prompting. She does care about him as a friend but she's confused and just trying to make it through the Games alive. Once the Games conclude she tries to take a step back and revert back to just being friends but realizes she has to keep the charade up to basically keep the Capitol from coming after her and Peeta. And when Peeta realizes this he is extremely hurt and angry. I guess after this long paragraph, what I'm basically trying to say is that I felt the movie too easily simplified Katniss and Peeta's relationship and I was sad to also lose the dynamics that almost all of Katniss's motivation in her behavior towards Peeta was intuiting what Haymitch wanted from her. And to oversimplify their relationship, to me, is to cheapen it.
Honestly, I really did enjoy the movie. The fact that I'm picking on the small details says two things...a) the book was just so good that no movie depiction can actually compare and b) they obviously did most of it right if the main things I find wrong is just not elaborating enough. They hit all the important points, they told the story, and they set up the sequel perfectly. I'm anxious to see it again and see if and how my opinion changes.
Love,
KayCee
Love,
KayCee
A moviegoer dressed as Effie at the Hunger Games premiere
No comments:
Post a Comment