The Hunger Games (movie)
Jan. 12th, 2013 11:34 am![[personal profile]](http://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
snickficFinally got around to seeing this after having read the first two books over a year ago.
Naturally I kept a running tally of things they changed and/or I didn't remember:
* I don't recall these threatening conversations between Snow and gamesmaster Seneca Crane. Possibly I just forgot. Or perhaps they're events that we somehow catch wind of off-screen?
* I also don't remember Cato getting all emo just before he falls off the Cornucopia and gets shredded by dogs.
* The movie doesn't really illustrate that the dogs were supposed to be wearing the faces of the dead tributes.
I don't terribly mind any of these changes. The change I do mind quite a bit is how straight the Katniss/Peeta romance is played for most of the film. One of the most interesting parts of the book and one of its sharpest critiques, I think, is how explicitly their romance is artificial, a little play they're both intentionally acting out for the cameras. It's very difficult to catch this in the movie; I had to pause to explain to the roommate that no, all this sudden Katniss/Peeta angst was not just Hollywood shoving romance down our throats.
Partly this failure is a problem of medium - the book is written from Katniss's POV, but in the movie, essentially we are the television audience Katniss and Peeta playing to, so we don't have much more insight into Katniss's moment-by-moment thoughts than anyone else does. However, I'm convinced that more could have been done to make it clear during the games how conflicted Katniss's feelings are. As it was, it all ended up feeling less emotionally complicated than I would have liked.
Aside from all that, I thought it was all quite good. This wasn't a really straightforward story to tell, not with all the worldbuilding and bits and pieces, but they convey the essentials pretty well, I thought. They captured all the crucial bits of Katniss's characterization in the script, and Jennifer Lawrence did a fabulous job. Props to casting all around, actually - there wasn't anyone I didn't like, I don't think. I had my doubts about Woody Harrelson, but he came through just fine as Haymitch. And Liam Hemsworth as Gale gave me unexpected Katniss/Gale feelings. (I came out of the first two books pretty much ship-neutral.)
Naturally I kept a running tally of things they changed and/or I didn't remember:
* I don't recall these threatening conversations between Snow and gamesmaster Seneca Crane. Possibly I just forgot. Or perhaps they're events that we somehow catch wind of off-screen?
* I also don't remember Cato getting all emo just before he falls off the Cornucopia and gets shredded by dogs.
* The movie doesn't really illustrate that the dogs were supposed to be wearing the faces of the dead tributes.
I don't terribly mind any of these changes. The change I do mind quite a bit is how straight the Katniss/Peeta romance is played for most of the film. One of the most interesting parts of the book and one of its sharpest critiques, I think, is how explicitly their romance is artificial, a little play they're both intentionally acting out for the cameras. It's very difficult to catch this in the movie; I had to pause to explain to the roommate that no, all this sudden Katniss/Peeta angst was not just Hollywood shoving romance down our throats.
Partly this failure is a problem of medium - the book is written from Katniss's POV, but in the movie, essentially we are the television audience Katniss and Peeta playing to, so we don't have much more insight into Katniss's moment-by-moment thoughts than anyone else does. However, I'm convinced that more could have been done to make it clear during the games how conflicted Katniss's feelings are. As it was, it all ended up feeling less emotionally complicated than I would have liked.
Aside from all that, I thought it was all quite good. This wasn't a really straightforward story to tell, not with all the worldbuilding and bits and pieces, but they convey the essentials pretty well, I thought. They captured all the crucial bits of Katniss's characterization in the script, and Jennifer Lawrence did a fabulous job. Props to casting all around, actually - there wasn't anyone I didn't like, I don't think. I had my doubts about Woody Harrelson, but he came through just fine as Haymitch. And Liam Hemsworth as Gale gave me unexpected Katniss/Gale feelings. (I came out of the first two books pretty much ship-neutral.)
(no subject)
Date: 2013-01-12 09:50 pm (UTC)I don't recall these threatening conversations between Snow and gamesmaster Seneca Crane. Possibly I just forgot. Or perhaps they're events that we somehow catch wind of off-screen?
LOL, no, they were added for the movie. Which I actually really liked, because it opens things up by not being all in Katniss' 1st person POV all the time. In the book, Seneca Crane never actually makes an appearance (he's only referred to in "Catching Fire" as the one who took the fall for Katniss' berry stunt). Snow is referenced in the first book, but doesn't show up until the second.
I had to pause to explain to the roommate that no, all this sudden Katniss/Peeta angst was not just Hollywood shoving romance down our throats.
Heh, I did the same thing with my friend (except after the movie, because there is no pause button in the theater).
It could actually be deliberate rather than a failure of the medium, though? Like you say, the romance plays pretty straight to us, the audience, because we're the stand-ins for the people of Panem who are watching the Games and rooting for Katniss/Peeta. A lot of the cinematography and even the advertising tried to set up that parallel, so I kind of love the idea that they were trying to sell us on K/P, only to pull the rug out at the end with the "reveal" that it was just for show. I think they could have done much more with the concept in general, and the K/P stuff in particular would've benefited from making the ending clearer, but I do expect that it'll come up again in CF.
(no subject)
Date: 2013-01-27 06:23 pm (UTC)I do agree that opening up the POV had some benefits. One of the things I found frustrating about Catching Fire was how little interest Katniss had in the big picture, which meant we didn't get to see much of it, and we certainly didn't get any analysis in the narrative voice. I rather wish the second book had been from multiple POVs, or maybe even just from someone else's (although I don't know who I'd pick).
(no subject)
Date: 2013-01-28 05:27 pm (UTC)Yeah, it probably gives them too much credit, but we'll see where the new director takes it with CF. If they do it right, I may forgive the sloppiness of THG.
Agreed on the multiple POVs. I kind of don't want to give up Katniss' POV, but if Suzanne Collins wanted to write pre- or post-series (or even in between) books from other POVs, I would read the heck out of them.