Review: The Hunger Games (2012)

The Hunger Games is not for the light-hearted; as I, for one, left the theatre seriously disturbed. Yet it is a movie that seems well-situated for our moment – a sci-fi thriller with a message of where we could be heading if we continue to allow the accumulation of wealth at the top and the devolution of democracy and opportunity for everyone else. The film follows the exploits of the protagonist Katniss Everdeen (Jennifer Lawrence), brutal killer Gale Hawthorne (Liam Hemsworth), love interest Peeta Mellark (Josh Hutcherson) and the other children forced into a rather brutally shot fight to the death in the annual Hunger Games. The film commences in the poor, destitute District 12 (that resembles the backwoods of Mississippi or West Virginia) where Katniss and Peeta struggle to survive. Katniss lives with her distraught mother, who has lost her coal-mining husband and hope, and her younger sister Primrose (who came up with these names?). Primrose is preparing for her first lottery, with Katniss trying to comfort her as she fears for her own future as well. 

We soon learn the film, based on the very popular and critically-acclaimed trilogy by Suzanne Collins, is set in a future world where North America has collapsed under war, rebellion and global ecological disaster and been replaced with Panem, a country divided into the wealthy Capitol and 12 districts of diminishing quality of life. Each year two children (a male and female) are selected to represent their district in the games. Part entertainment, part brutal intimidation of the subjugated masses, the games are broadcast throughout the districts with all citizens forced to watch the slaughter. When 16-year-old Katniss' young sister is selected as the mining district's female representative, Katniss volunteers to take her place. She and her male counterpart Peeta are then pitted against bigger, stronger representatives who have trained for this moment their entire lives.

Director Gary Ross creates this dystopian world with a flair for the flamboyant, reminding me of a lighter, more whimsical Tim Burton mixed with a more muted Baz Luhrman, then contrasts it with the gritty realism of Deer Hunter or Deliverance. As Katniss and Peeta move from the backwaters to the opulent city center they hook up with their mentor, a drunk ex-winner turned loser (played by Woody Harrleson). From here, the film meanders at times and the hand held cam distracts even as it heightens the action scenes, but the film works to me within the contours of a teen fantasy frame that includes slightly more nuance than one might expect. Ther is the almost requisite clumsy love story and rather starkly contrasted Manichean world of good and evil. Yet some scenes really exploit the power of the metaphor, including one where the leader of Panem comments to the director of the games that besides fear, hope is the best way to control the masses (as long as it is “contained” hope). Hmm, does that sound like the American dream to anyone? There are also rather obvious references to the continued exploitation of Africa for its minerals and oil, to media manipulation in general, to the abuses of the masses for the excesses of the rich, to the almost sociopathic world we live in today, to the spectacle society and to female empowerment.

I did feel the beginning, denouement and ending were handled clumsily, undermining what could have been more dramatic overtures. But the middle of the picture bristles with a tension that is truly palpable, including murder scenes that are truly ghastly. One concern I did have as I watched these scenes unfold was whether people were taking any pleasure in the murder of the children. While I assumed the brutality played on the underlying metaphor, which I can’t imagine many people missing, it was still quite disturbing to watch. It was also almost cartoonish the way the privileged kids were left irredeemable in their violent callousness and disregard for the lives of their fellow contestants. But it is another example of Hollywood returning to class consciousness (as they did in In Time and A Winter’s Bone, to name two from last year) and does provide a positive female role model who seems to emasculate the men and boys around her in her selfless pursuit of the common good. The film has been a smash hit and, compared to much of the tripe the studios have been churning out in recent years, it may actually (almost) warrant it. A-