Sometime in the future, the former United States has morphed into a country called Panem, which consists of the Capitol (a place so clean, sleek and spotless it makes a Disney theme park look like a slum) and a dozen Districts (where life is definitely hardscrabble, on a good day). In exchange for repatriation after an unsuccessful rebellion against the Capitol (there was a thirteenth district, but it was bombed past the Stone Age), each district sends two of its children between the ages of 12 and 18 to participate in a competition to the death where only of them will survive. The winner’s district will receive extra rations for a year, thus inspiring the name of this annual event, The Hunger Games.
The film adaptation of the book on which it is based begins during The Reaping, when “tributes” from each district are selected to compete. When Katniss Everdeen’s younger sister is selected, she volunteers to go in her place. She and her fellow district tribute Peeta are whisked away to the Capitol, given two-weeks training and then dropped into the Arena, where the games begin, a sort of gonzo version of Survivor,with alliances, double-crosses and a narrative manipulated by the game’s director, all for the audience’s consumption: even people who vow not to watch are drawn in.
The Hunger Games is a very well-crafted movie. The actual competition doesn’t begin until the second half of the movie but there is a constant build-up of dread from the very first scene. (The tributes are constantly told the odds of their survival are very slim and Peeta, Katniss’ companion, accepts this and is basically just enjoying the ride.) The movie is also a commentary on our obsessions with “reality-based” television and media-generated celebrity as a distraction from our everyday lives, the blurring line between “news” and “infotainment,” how everything is “spinned” to accommodate someone’s agenda and how we can be willing to sacrifice virtually everything we hold dear—even our children—for the sake of our “comfort.”
The only downside to the movie is in the quieter moments there is a lot of hand-held camera work, to give the movie a “documentary” feel but it gets old sort of quickly, and a lot of background information is omitted (like why it’s called “the Hunger Games” in the first place). But the overall product is quite satisfying and worth the price of the ticket.
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