*Spoilers*
‘The Hunger Games’ is an American dystopian action film, which premiered in early 2012 and was directed by Gary Ross. It is set in a dystopian post-apocalyptic future, where a boy and a girl from each of the twelve Districts are randomly chosen as ‘tributes’ and forced to participate in the Hunger Games: a televised competition to fight to death, where there is only one survivor. The film takes place in the nation of Panem, which is ruled by a wealthy Capitol who are in control of the civilians in every district. The plot follows the character of Katniss Everdeen, who is played by Jennifer Lawrence, who voluntarily takes the place of her younger sister as a tribute to compete in the annual Hunger Games, alongside Peeta Mellark played by Josh Hutcherson. The film was a huge success, as it generated $694.4 million in box office, and even went on to make multiple sequels: ‘The Hunger Games: Catching Fire’ and ‘The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 1 & 2’. The film was even nominated for many awards, like Peoples Choice Award for ‘Favourite Movie’, MTV Movie Award for ‘Movie of the Year’, and even a Grammy Award for ‘Best Song Written for Visual Media’.
The Hunger Games is such an engaging and powerful film due to many of the themes portrayed throughout the film that lots of the audience are intrigued by, which makes it so enjoyable and relatable. Firstly, the main character is a strong female character, played by Jennifer Lawrence, who is independent, smart, acquires high survival skills and is selfless as she is in a position where she has to provide for her family in District 12. Her close connection with Rue during the Games, a young girl who was also selected to compete in the annual Hunger Games, was a turning point in the film as she was a similar age to Katniss’ younger sister and after her death, although sad, could be argued that it made the female character stronger as it encouraged her to push through the Games and prove to everyone that she can overcome the control and oppression the Capitol has over Panem’s civilians.
Secondly, ‘The Hunger Games’ follows the true style of classic dystopian stories as it uses and portrays present-day society throughout the film. Panem is a nation built upon fear and coercion, for example how the Capitol uses the Hunger Games as televised entertainment as the rich upper class civilians place bets on the lower class tributes who are forced to compete in the games, which will most likely end up in death. The film acts as a critique of those who are addicted to reality television shows, as the Capitol love to watch the tributes suffer as they fight to win the Games. They use the Hunger Games as a way to show their unlimited power of authority they have over the civilians in each District. There is a clear divided and contrast between the rich of the Capitol and the poor and of district. One way in the film where this is clear is the scenes set in the Capitol have a completely different tone to the scenes of the tributes fighting for their lives during the Hunger Games. The rich upper class seem to be portrayed in a humorous tone and the scenes tend to be bright in colour, whereas the scenes of the tributes in the arena are more dull.
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