Film Friday: The Hunger Games

This article may include some spoilers.

I asked a person close to me what he could think of when I showed him these two posters, which were all from The Hunger Games.

He replied that he could see that somebody important was falling, overthrown by the woman sitting on the chair. He said that he could see that there was some revolution going on.

Yes, and that’s half of ‘The Hunger Games’ Trilogy.

The Hunger Games is a trilogy which was first written as books by Suzanne Collins. It has three branches; The Hunger Games (written 2008), Catching Fire (2009), and Mockingjay (2010).

The film The Hunger Games (2012), the first film in the whole franchise, starts in the ruins of North America, in the future. A nation called ‘Panem’ was created, a shining, money-overflowing ‘Capitol’ surrounded by thirteen outlying districts. The districts produced resources to the Capitol under the strict dictatorship of President Snow.

Then came the ‘Dark Days’, the uprising of the districts against the Capitol. However, the Capitol and its ‘Peacekeepers’ (military) managed to subdue the districts. As a yearly reminder that the Dark Days must never be repeated, the Capitol decided to hold the Hunger Games every year. Each of the districts had to provide one girl and one boy from a public ‘reaping’. They were called ‘tributes’, and they were forced to fight to death in a vast outdoor arena, until only one tribute stood alone.

Overall, the trilogy is about how Katniss Everdeen, a 16-year-old girl from District 12, became a tribute to the face of the rebellion which she set fire on through two Hunger Games. The ‘Mockingjay’, a hybrid of mockingbirds and genetically modified Jabberjays, became a symbol of Katniss and the rebellion. The Mockingjay symboled innocence as a small bird, but it also gave me the image of a ‘small but still powerful and brave’ concept.

From the second film, the dictatorship of President Snow became more intense.

Hope, it is the only thing stronger than fear.

– President Snow

Again, like in every revolution, ‘hope’ is the thing that dictators wish to eliminate. In Mockingjay Part 1 (2014), President Snow makes a speech:

“Each district supplies the Capitol like blood to a heart. In return the Capitol provides order and security. ······· The criminals that kneel before you use symbols for the purpose of sedition, which is why all images of the Mockingjay are now forbidden.”

His speech was impressive. I believe that he was trying to block any sign of hope by forbidding Mockingjay symbols. The part when he talked about ‘blood to a heart’ made me want to argue against him. It must have been same for all the districts. The Capitol and President Snow weren’t providing ‘order and security’; they were controlling and suppressing the districts only for their need and wealth.

Mockingjay Part 2 (2015) which was recently released, is about the actual ‘revolution’. Personally, it was my favourite of all the films. The film didn’t give me a second to breathe. I felt that the plot was so tight. That was different from all the other films. However, I still liked how the film was thrilling, and also how the revolution was shown as another ‘Hunger Game’.

‘The Hunger Games’ trilogy is finished, but I think it will be watched in the future as well, like a history film. It’s because the trilogy pictures the future dictatorship and also how people would’ve stood up to it remarkably. It might even inspire the future people of a revolution if there is a form of dictatorship going on the future, like Katniss gave ‘hope’ to the districts. Who knows what will happen?

Artistic Value Estimation by Number, 9/10

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