"The Hunger Games", the film
Prior to recent days there had never been the slightest inclination here to see the film "Hunger Games". The attraction was that it did star Jennifer Lawrence as the lead, a big deal as it was written by some reviewers that she belied the accepted belief held by some that a woman could not be a compelling enough star in this type of action film and lead it to record gross sales. She did. Many say that her performance outshone that of Robert Downey Jr. in Iron Man 2, for what that is worth, apparently quite a lot.
That was one reason to order the film from Netflix. The second was that K really likes this type of film, futuristic action packed movies that could be called comic book adventure style.
Lawrence's roles in "Winter's Bone", "Silver Linings Playbook", and "American Hustle" were all enjoyed/admired here. A part of the fascination is that Lawrence grew up in an area of Louisville that this writer once inhabited and thrived in. That was a time long before Lawrence was born, but that's an opportunity for identification it seems. Why that "connection" means anything is unclear, just human nature I guess.
In this season of dystopia in the book world this film from 2012, written as a novel focused on teens and young adult readers in 2008, fit in perfectly with familiar themes. In a futuristic world that had survived some sort of rebellion and disaster, the country described had morphed into a totalitarian government run by sadistic tyrants who divided their country into 12 districts, with district one being the extremely privileged in a brilliant city and moving up to district 12 which was coal mining territory, a rural West Virginia of the future. The hunger games were an annual ritual of titillation for the wealthy and oppression for the lower classes. Even though everyone but this writer probably knew the story already, no spoilers or detailing of the plot will be forthcoming in this comment.
While pure entertainment for the most part, "The Hunger Games" is not immune from being taken metaphorically, which it is certain that the active minds of many young people who flocked to the film liberally did. If perhaps not thought provoking for some, there was a well made story to watch plus the additional treat of listening to a T Bone Burnett soundtrack.
It was surprising here that the film seemed easily worth watching so "Hunger Games, Catching Fire", the sequel, will be in the mail from Netflix in a few days. We look forward to it.
That was one reason to order the film from Netflix. The second was that K really likes this type of film, futuristic action packed movies that could be called comic book adventure style.
Lawrence's roles in "Winter's Bone", "Silver Linings Playbook", and "American Hustle" were all enjoyed/admired here. A part of the fascination is that Lawrence grew up in an area of Louisville that this writer once inhabited and thrived in. That was a time long before Lawrence was born, but that's an opportunity for identification it seems. Why that "connection" means anything is unclear, just human nature I guess.
In this season of dystopia in the book world this film from 2012, written as a novel focused on teens and young adult readers in 2008, fit in perfectly with familiar themes. In a futuristic world that had survived some sort of rebellion and disaster, the country described had morphed into a totalitarian government run by sadistic tyrants who divided their country into 12 districts, with district one being the extremely privileged in a brilliant city and moving up to district 12 which was coal mining territory, a rural West Virginia of the future. The hunger games were an annual ritual of titillation for the wealthy and oppression for the lower classes. Even though everyone but this writer probably knew the story already, no spoilers or detailing of the plot will be forthcoming in this comment.
While pure entertainment for the most part, "The Hunger Games" is not immune from being taken metaphorically, which it is certain that the active minds of many young people who flocked to the film liberally did. If perhaps not thought provoking for some, there was a well made story to watch plus the additional treat of listening to a T Bone Burnett soundtrack.
It was surprising here that the film seemed easily worth watching so "Hunger Games, Catching Fire", the sequel, will be in the mail from Netflix in a few days. We look forward to it.
posted by John Borden at 4:44 PM
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