On November 17, 2023, the film adaptation of “The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes” was released. Originally a prequel book to the beloved “Hunger Games” series, the story, published in 2020 by author Suzanne Collins, follows a young Coriolanus Snow as he rises to power within the Capitol. The novel displays the events that led to the creation of President Snow, the main antagonist in the original trilogy and how he evolved from a normal student to a leader willing to sacrifice children in order to maintain control of the country.
The movie adaptation, starring Tom Blyth and Rachel Zegler, remained faithful to its original work as the film aimed to accurately depict the feelings and thoughts of characters. Including details such as these allowed for those who had read the book to immerse themselves once again in the story as they recalled how the events had occurred in the book and how crucial these aspects were.
“I really liked how you can see the development of the Hunger Games … Even the arena and the weaponry that they were using … you could definitely see the progress and the change from that to “The Hunger Games” [trilogy]. And I really liked that it gives you like that kind of timeline to see how many advancements they made,” said junior Olivia Farinha.
However, the movie also allowed for those who had not read the prequel to understand the plot without the background knowledge of what happened in Collins’ original story.
“I do think that the movie definitely, like, made the plot very well,” stated Farinha, a fan who had not read the prequel. “But there are some parts that I’ve heard that aren’t in the movie, or they could have been cut out of the movie or some sort of miscommunication like that. I know there’s like a couple of more important scenes that were not included. But for the most part, I think the casting was really on point and I just think the overlying plot was very spot on.”
Before its release, there were many expectations for “The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes” due to its association with the “Hunger Games,” a trilogy that is beloved by millions of viewers all over the world. Since the original movies had been so popular, the prequel was put under the pressure of being as good a movie as its predecessors.
“I really liked the [original] books a lot, and the movies were really good too. … I was really glad that “The Hunger Games” stuck to the general storyline,” commented sophomore Niki Tzartzanis, a fan of the trilogy who had also enjoyed the plot of the prequel. “I think adding a different perspective of the villain in the story was interesting, as well as maybe showing how he got to be that way.”
One of the most difficult parts of the “Hunger Games” books was representing the mental distress the characters felt. This was easy enough to display in the books as they were written in the first person and the main character was able to communicate with the reader about how they felt. While it was a challenge for the actors in the movies, the trilogy was able to accomplish this aspect well by showing hallucinations or having the actors appear more distressed than they did in the books.
Such tactics was continued into the movie of the prequel, and an additional strategy that was employed was having characters verbally communicate what had been thought in the novel since that was the only way to convey the meaning of a scene. This also allowed the filmmakers to explore the emotions of multiple characters instead of focusing on the main character.
“The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes” was a faithful adaptation of the book and created an atmosphere of familiarity for those who had interacted with the original trilogy. It will be in theaters through the holidays and will then be available for streaming.
