THG - In the interests of research for this blog, I decided to be one of the first to see this film at the cinema in Canada. I went to the 11:45am screening and was not surprised to see the theatre already half full. When I left there was already a line forming for the next screening. I had not read the books by Suzanne Collins, but vaguely knew the plot, and I was a little uneasy with the idea of children killing each other as a contest..
I must say I was surprised by how much I enjoyed the film. Right from the beginning I was invested in the main character Katniss Everdene, played by the very natural Jennifer Lawrence (she is fantastic in Winter's Bone if you have not seen it). The story is sent in a futuristic state, Panem and to titilate the affluent citizens, the poorest of the 12 districts are forced to send off a pair of tributes (picked by a lottery system) yearly to compete to the death. In Katniss's home village she has two possible love interests (sounding like that other teen blockbuster, the twilight series?). There is the very hunky Gale who is her hunting buddy, and they often practice their hunting skills with the bow to get a squirrel supper, Yum! Then there is the very sensitive, also hunky, lusting from a distance, other guy, Peeta. He is the baker's son and in the past had been kind enough to throw Katniss a hunk of bread when she was starving. Katniss does the unthinkable and volunteers to take her younger sisters place when the lottery picks her name. Peeta, is her fellow male tribute. There are many things in this film that draw on the popular forms of entertainment in our culture right now, making it a sure bet at the box office. It is an example of an extreme reality series were the audience are watching in comfort to pitch these teens against each other and see what happens. I loved the design and fashion of the wealthy Panem, the people have very colourful, flamboyant makeup and hairstyles, the women look like Cup Cakes in high heels. It also very much reminded me of an earlier example of reality televison in its most absurd extreme form, the film starring Jim Carey, "The Truman Show". Carey plays Truman, and his whole life he has been the subject of a reality show watched by the rest of the world with only him being unaware of that fact. Very worthy of another viewing. If you are still unsettled about the kid on kid violence, reminicent of Goldings, Lord of the Flies, I would say that, this film depicts pure fantasy, so you do not come out of the theatre thinking OMG will there be copy cat killings. It is a tale, pure fairytale style fantasy, so do not be alarmed! One useful anecdote is that quoted in The Globe and Mail, from Mark Lisanti who ponders if you should see it? He says, it could provide the perfect comback to a snarky teen. "If a government lottery selected you to fight to the death on TV, I'd be OK with that. You are being a right bastard right now. Maybe you would win, and we'd all get to live in Malibu!"
Another interesting snippet of information, Panem comes from the latin phrase "Panem et Circenses (Bread and Circuses) which refers to the famous method of keeping the masses pacified.
For something completely different, "The Incredible Journey of Mary Bryant", made as a joint UK/Australian film for TV. It is available to borrow from the Oakville Public Library. It stars the lovely young British actress Romola Garai (from one of my recent favourites, Glorious 39). It is about the fate of a group of English convicts who are sent to Australia in the 18th century. In particular if follows the very courageous Mary Bryant and is based on a truish story I believe. She is another very bold, strong female character not unlike Katniss in her detimination to succeed in staying alive against the odds. She also has two dishy males lusting after her, do you see a pattern?
Happy viewing!
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