Geek Syndicate
The Hunger Games is set in the not-too-distant future when the USA has collapsed, weakened by natural disasters, and a new country, Panem, has formed. Panem is divided into twelve districts and the Capitol. The Capitol controls everything and each year two young representatives from each district are selected by lottery to participate in The Hunger Games. Part en-tertainment, part intimidations of the dominated districts, the televised games are broadcast throughout Panem as the twenty-four participants are forced to eliminate their competitors. When Katniss’ young sister, Prim, is selected as the twelfth district’s female representative, Katniss volunteers to take her place and begins her fight for survival. As a fan of the book I can’t wait for this film and have been allowed access to some stills which I plan to compare to how I imagined it from the book. When I read the book I imagined Katniss, the lead female as looking like Kate Ramsey from Neighbours. I have no clue why but that was the character that came to my mind visually. So when I finally got to see the trailer and stills from the film I was ab-solutely pleased with the look of Jennifer Lawrence who I’ve only ever seen as a blonde. Based on the still, the casting and costumes look great. Katniss actually looks like an average sixteen year old and
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FROM PAGE TO SCREEN - The Hunger Games
don’t just use Peeta and the other male leads as romantic interests without any character devel-opment. Knowing how Hollywood loves to cut plot elements that are crucial for subse-quent films (Harry Potter films come to mind) this is a real concern of mine. Haymitch, Katniss and Peeta’s mentor and a previous winner of the Hunger Games is described in the book as a “paunchy, mid-dle-aged man” so my shock at seeing a Thor look-a-like was a pleasant one!
doesn’t seem to be sexualised for Hollywood at all. Even her opening ceremony dress looks classy not sleazy (and from the description it would be easy to make that leap). Caesar Flickerman, the overly polished in-terviewer looks just as flamboyant as I imagined, though I was thinking more Laur-ence Llewelyn Bowen than David Dickinson!
Two surprises were Peeta Mellark and Haymitch Abernathy. Peeta Mellark is the male representative from district twelve and even though he is described as having a “stocky build” I didn’t imagine him this muscular.
The teal dressed woman next to him is clearly Effie Trinket, District Twelve’s mentor, who is as outrageously dressed as I imagined. From the trailer and the stills, I’m impressed. So far it seems very accurate to the feel of the book. The book is a phenomenal read and really gets you to empathise with Katniss, written as it is in the first person. I have a feeling this emotion will be lost on screen, which might make this film somewhat of a damp squib. I am still excited about its released. however I am still hesitant as I’ve seen what can happen to good books when Hollywood gets their hands on them.
I have a feeling that the producers are going for a more twilight feel for the male actors. Which is fine; as long they
Amy-Jayne Liff