Hunger Games: Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes Film Review ★★★★★

Thank you to Palace Nova Eastend Cinemas for providing Hub with a fantastic viewing experience!

If you grew up in the late 2000s/early 2010’s you probably remember the books or the movies. 15 years after the release of Suzanne Collins’s Hunger Games trilogy, the film adaptation of the prequel novel The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes takes us back to Panem for the 10th annual Hunger Games.

SPOILERS AHEAD!

The previous trilogy are all set in Panem, which is divided into 12 districts and the Capitol. It takes place in modern-day North America. The Hunger Games, put simply, is a female and male teenager selected from each district, forced to kill their competitors while televised live across Panem. The Games served as retribution for the rebellion, but also increasingly as entertainment for the Capitol citizens. The series surrounds the protagonists Katniss Everdeen and Peeta Mellark and their interactions and ultimate revolution against the Hunger Games and President Coriolanus Snow.

Over 60 years before Katniss and Peeta’s games, The Hunger Games was in its 10th year and was becoming increasingly less popular with the Capitol and districts alike. The protagonist, 18-year-old Coriolanus Snow, lives in the Capitol. , hHis family, consisting of his Grandma’ ‘am, and his cousin Tigris, could not inconsistently afford food and rent after not recovering from the civil war. Snow attends the prestigious Academy school where traditionally the senior award is a cash prize. The year of the 10th Hunger Games was different. To increase interest in the Hunger Games the prize was altered, and each student would be given a tribute to a mentor. The mentor with the winning tribute will receive the prize. Snow received the Female Tribute from District 12 Lucy Gray Baird, She was witty, strong, and most recognisably had a beautiful voice. Her polarising personality gave Snow an idea for the games. To increase the viewership, they would market and create a performance out of the tributes, a subtle comment to the modern era of entertainment and reality television. Capitol citizens could bet on who they thought would win, or ‘sponsor’ the tributes by donating money. This idea of sponsorship served a vital role in the survival of Katniss and Peeta in the later games.

This idea is promoted to the Head Gamemaker, Dr Volumnia Gaul. Despite Snow’s visible hesitation towards her, she sees a young boy she may be able to guide towards her same path. Dr Gaul repeatedly seeks to demonstrate to Snow that humans are naturally violent. Just before the Games begin, Snow reconciles and realises that he has developed romantic feelings for Lucy Gray. The film shows Snow’s relationships with Lucy Gray and his friend Sejanus Plinth, both of which whom have opposing views of Dr. Gaul.

During the Games, he showed that he deeply cared for Lucy Gray. He secretly brought her his mother’s compact full of rat poison and his father’s napkin stained with her tears, which would ultimately save her in the arena. The film juxtaposed this empathy he showed with Lucy Gray with humans’ possibility for violence. This perspective was highlighted when Snow entered the arena during the Games. Plinth’s District 2 tribute and long-time friend, Marcus, was killed by the Peacekeepers after he had attempted to escape the Games. Plinth snuck into the arena to say his goodbyes and Snow was tasked with retrieving Plinth. Snow had convinced him to leave when three tributes bombarded them, this led to Snow savagely killing the District 8 tribute, Bobbin. This moment was critical in the film’s foreshadowing of Snow’s future tyrannical reign.

Ultimately, Lucy Gray Baird was named the victor of the 10th annual Hunger Games. Snow’s cheating had not gone unnoticed, and he was sentenced to serve as a Peacekeeper in Lucy Gray’s District 12. He was becoming increasingly obsessed with Lucy Gray and was also observing Plinth helping the rebels. He secretly incriminated Plinth for his assistance with the rebels, leading to a search for rebel sympathisers and his public hanging. The civil unrest in District 12, prompted Lucy Gray to flee north. Snow joins her, but when they get to their first resting point Lucy vanishes. This lack of control he now has on her and the secrets he told her are shown as he spirals into a rage-filled meltdown. Lucy Gray is never seen again, but the ruminates of her are left across the districts and in Snow’s ideas for years to come.

Unlike the book, it is difficult to understand what Snow’s true motives are. But the easter eggs to the previous books and films allow for connection to more diehard fans. Some critics have said that the story was drawn out but for the complexities presented in the book, this run time was accurate. The praise of The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes rests not only because of the clear philosophic signalling but because it gave comment and understood the power of media and entertainment.