The Hunger Games

The Hunger Games

Cecilia Will and Marcella Rossi

Introduction

The Hunger Games is a science fiction and adventure movie serie from 2012 till 2015. It’s diveded in four films; “The Hunger Games” (2012), “Catching Fire” (2013), “Mockingjay – Part 1” (2014), and “Mockingjay – Part 2” (2015). They’re all based on The Hunger Games” trilogy written by Suzanne Collins. The first movie was directed by Gary Ross, but all the others three were directed by Francis Lawrence.

The cast is composed by Jennifer Lawrence (Katniss Everdeen), Josh Hutcherson (Peeta Melark), Liam Hemsworth (Gale Hawthorne), Woody Harrelson (Haymitch Abernathy), Elizabeth Banks (Effie Trinket), Donald Sutherland (President Coriolanus Snow).

The story is set in Panem, a nation established in an inderteminated era and post-apocaliptic world. It is situated at the western part of North America. Panem is diveded in thirteen districts, and one of them is the Capitol, the principal district. Panem is run by an authoritarian-totalitarian dictatorship that is lead by President Snow, played by Donald Sutherland in the movie serie.

Before the story begins, we had “The Dark Days”, that was only cited in the book serie and happened about seventy-five years before the events of the Hunger Games trilogy. That time, there were fourteen districts counting with the Capitol. The various districts rebelled against the Capitol, mainly due the oppressive way that the Capitol government ruled over the districts. No one knows how long it lasted, but in the end of the conflict the Capitol won against the districts and end up obliterating the thirteenth entirely.

The districts such as 1, 2 and 4 are the wealthier, and the 10, 11 and 12 are the poor, it is mostly because of how Panem was diveded and wich material each distritc produces.

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                                                                     Image 1. A Map Of Panem.

After that, the Capitol established the Hunger Games. It is an annual event in wich twenty-four children between the age of twelve and eighteen, girl and boy, from each district are chosen from a lottery. When chosen, both are presented to the population of Panem by television and advertising. They go throught training and then, compete in the Hunger Games. All the children and teenagers compete with each other in a place called Arena, they fight till death witch each other and one that survives, is the winner of the competition.

The event had two purposes. The first was to show how much power the Capitol had over the districts by taking their children by force making them kill each other in a no-rules competition. The second purpose was pure entertainment. The Hunger Games is a televised show for all Panem to watch. It is considered a reality show and it’s tributes (how they call the participants of the game) are considered celebrities.

  “Hunger Games” (2012)

The movie starts with Caesar Flickerman, the Hunger Games host, and Seneca, the Hunger Games organizer, talking about this year’s competition in the oficial Hunger Games show on the TV.

“Catching Fire” (2013)

In “Catching Fire”, Katniss Everdeen (Jennifer Lawrence) must deal with the consequences of the first frame outcome. This is precisely what gives meaning to the film, both for the players and for the nation operated under a totalitarian state controlled by Capital.                                                         After surviving the latest edition of the games and still save her friend Peeta, Katniss becomes a symbol of the revolution of the districts against Capital. To avoid problems, President Snow decides to use the romance between Peeta and Katniss to distract the population and at the same time, shake the image of the young. Unable to control her, he decides to hold a new edition of the games with several former winners . So the couple finds herself back to the arena, now having to face real killers.                                While Peeta and Katniss, the victors of the 74th Hunger Games, realize that their marriage and rebellion aroused a feeling of revolt against Capital, in a tour of 12 districts, they discover that submission, both of them as the people, is far from an end. Throughout history, President Snow (Donald Sutherland) tries at all costs to bring down the couple, who puts subversive ideas in the minds of the people .                                                                 The protagonist couple needs to make alliances with some unusual participants, like a couple of nerds brothers, the participant in a district that is accompanied by a funny elderly, among others. The film has quite spicy scenes, such as when the competitor Johanna Mason (Jena Malone ), out of nowhere, takes off her clothes sensually in the elevator, in front of the couple and their coach, the hilarious Haymitch (Woody Harrelson).

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“Mockingjay Part 1” (2014)

        Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 1 begins shortly after the end of Catching Fire, with Katniss Everdeen still recovering from the end of the Quaternary Massacre when she was rescued by the rebellion leaders headed by the District President 13 Alma Coin and Plutarch Heavensbee and now she has to be the symbol of rebellion, the Thrush. It also has the presence of the dreaded President Snow ordering a severe retaliation against supporters of the rebellion.