Now I had
my misgivings about this film, I really did. I mean, don’t get me wrong, I was
always sure it would be at least moderately good. Hollywood has perfected this
style of film over the years. Emotional ties, importance of family, loyalty
etc., a beautiful yet approachable heroine matched with spectacular special
effects. If all this is linked to an already existing franchise and comes with
its own ready-made fan base, why all the better. Thing is, I suspected I might
be a tad too old for it (anyone who knows me laughed outloud at that comment. I
admit, coming from a family where my 90 year-old grandmother is a Harry Potter
fan, this may sound a tad bit strange. ) But anyway. I sort of thought, you
know what, this is probably for people at least 10 years younger than me. If
not a bit younger. So I left it be, until that is, it started crossing my path
repeatedly. “Oh fine” I said to myself “it’s a rainy Sunday afternoon, I’ll
watch you if you insist that much”. Well, I have to admit, the tenacious little
film had a point…
I guess you
kinda caught onto the story through all the adds but I’ll give you a quick
rundown in case you forgot. You may not be a fan. And it has been a while.
Ok, so in
the far future, in a dystopian world where a lot has gone awry, people live
under strict governmental control. The country is divided into 12 districts,
all mainly responsible for the production of one product for the whole country.
But see, this state of (relative) peace was not always the way things were.
There was once an uprising, civil war no less, and this led to a bloody
repression. Then, the wise men in the capitol decided that as a reminder of
these sad events (and more importantly, so they never do it again) they would
organise the following event. Every year, every district would select at random
a boy and girl between the ages of 12 and 18. These 24 youngsters would go into
the capital, to be placed in a highly computerised forest (I mean, I call it a
forest but think “Truman Show”) where they fight, to the death, until one
single victor remains. This event is
called “The Hunger Games”. The victor then goes on to be rich and famous and
shake off, if they can, the trauma of what just happened. I mean, the film is
good but not that original, as you can guess, our heroine, Katniss Everdeen
(Jennifer Lawrence) is selected to represent her district (rather she
volunteers to represent it in lieu of her younger sister who was initially
selected), the poor, coal-mining district 12 (Germinal anyone? No? Ok…). Let the
games begin!
Now this
film has a lot going in its favour. And I mean, a lot. Originality, I’m sorry
to say, ain’t one of ‘em. I could practically predict every beat from the
beginning to the end. And this is not me showing off my film knowledge. Anyone
who has watched a handful of Hollywood movies will be able to too. Besides,
this is the first book of a series. The second film will be released in
November 2013. It stars Jennifer Lawrence. Err, in that case, gee, I wonder who
wins the Hunger Games in this film???
This
however, did not stop me waving and yelling instructions at Katniss during the
games. The special effects are both well done and well used. Yes there is a
little too much emotional lather but well… You go into that kind of thing with
your eyes open. You would be naïve NOT to expect it. And heck, sometimes one
needs a touch of emotional lather. Besides, it’s an interesting consideration
on TV shows and the celebrity culture today. I mean, think of all the reality
shows we have parading around these days for a second. Naturally the Hunger
Games are highly televised and most of the film painstakingly points out that
our heroes are part of a TV show. True, we have the ones like “I’m a celebrity
get me out of here” and all that. But at the end of the day no one is in real
danger. It’s rather eerie to think what the ratings would be if people actually
got killed off one by one. Oh yes, it’s horrific, it sickens me to think about
it, but just imagine. If such a TV show existed. Just assuming for a second it
somehow came into being, with no control from any kind of authority. How
popular would it be? Would there be a public outcry? Or would the ratings sore
through the roof? Take a minute to think about it… (One film attempting to consider this last question was Live! starring Eva Mendes. I watched it a while ago and remember thinking it could have done a lot better for itself - but it still could be worth checking out)
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