By Suchetana Kona / March 21, 2024
This article contains spoilers for The Hunger Games: Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes.
The Hunger Games, released in 2012, captivated both book enthusiasts and moviegoers alike with its gripping portrayal of Katniss Everdeen’s (Jennifer Lawrence) struggle against the oppressive Capitol and its ruthless leader, Coriolanus Snow (Donald Sutherland). In 2020, Suzanne Collins released The Hunger Games: Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes. The book shows insights into President Snow’s evolution during the 10th Hunger Games, which occurred 64 years prior to the events of the first book, showing Snow’s transformation and revealing the reasons behind his shift towards tyranny.
In 2023, this book was adapted into a film starring Tom Blyth as Snow and Rachel Zegler as Lucy Gray Baird. The movie released on November 17, 2023 captivating audiences worldwide, grossing over $338.1 million. Directed by Francis Lawrence, the movie was split into three parts; the first part portrays him as a mentor to Lucy Gray Baird, showcasing his development of new ideas to make the games more popular and create incentives to get more people to watch, but ultimately it was for him to win the Plinth Prize for money. Simultaneously, it gradually unfolds the relationship between Lucy Gray and Snow.
In the second part, during the Hunger Games segment, Snow fights for Lucy Gray’s victory; however, it is unknown whether his motivations are because of love or greed. Despite the ambiguity, he ends up cheating so that Lucy Gray can win. Snow’s actions set the stage for the third part, where Snow becomes a peacekeeper in District 12 so that he could reconcile with Lucy Gray, which leads to the mysterious ending of Lucy Gray, as what happens to her is unknown.
However, there are many theories that have become popular. For example, junior Claire Van Meter proposes, “Lucy Gray’s ending is unanswered because it fits the plot purposely. The entire story shows Lucy being seen as an object of entertainment of others, yet she fights this vehemently; at the end nobody has the right to know what happened to her, meaning she is completely free.”
There were mixed views about the movie due to it excluding Coriolanus Snow’s inner thought, viewers were not able to see the full extent of his deranged abilities, “as a complementary material to the book, this movie did a wonderful job of showcasing charismatically manipulative characteristics of Snow. In isolation, the movie did not communicate the extent of the depravity of Snow, limiting the effectiveness of the social commentary Suzanne Collins is renowned for,” as senior Netra Parikh said.
On the other hand, senior Emma Hunt adds, “I think that the plot is kind of lacking and does not flow well, but Snow is fine enough to make up for that.”
The music made by James Newton Howard touched the hearts of many. As Hadley Melton stated, “I really liked the music in it because it reminded me of my childhood, growing up on the bluegrass and learning fiddle in the Western North Carolina (WNC) mountains. Also, Tom Blyth. Enough said.”
Overall, despite receiving mixed reviews, the movie offers an enjoyable and lighthearted experience on a movie night!
Leave a Reply