The Hunger Games

The Hunger Games novel is the first book in a series of three which has been turned into a major motion movie released during the last couple of the weeks. I went to see the movie and have read the  three novels.  Now don’t get me wrong I loved the movie but I don’t think it lived up to the standards of the novel. This means I loved the movie as a movie and novel as a novel. The movie did not live up to my expectations as the film missed out parts of the story line, the casting and costuming didn't fit the description exactly of the book. However the film did cover the main incidents of the book in order, and it did entertain me as a movie.  In this blog I am going to cover how the book was adapted into the movie through:

·        Storyline

·        Costuming

·        Casting

Also I look at what the trailer made me think of the movie.

Before I started this blog I looked at a review on the movie by Lisa Kothari on the site Seattle PI. I have quoted throughout this blog as I found it quite useful and it challenged my opinions of the film.

Katniss and Gale

Storyline:

When the movie started both my dad and I agreed it missed out most of the facts on Katniss’s relationships with the people in her district. Therefore her relationships are not completely portrayed in the film. For example the directors did not allow enough time for the relationship between Katniss and Gale to be fully shown. In the novel Gale is like an older brother in Katniss’s eyes however he sees Katniss in a different way. Gale has a crush on Katniss but this is not shown in the film. When we see Katniss kissing Paeta during the games we see Gale's reaction but you wouldn’t understand his reaction unless you had read the book and knew the full story of their relationship. Also when Katniss is saying good bye to her mum she says “you can’t zone out again, you just can’t. You’re all she has” Katniss is saying this as when her father died her mother stopped doing anything for her sister and herself. Katniss ended up fending for her sister and providing for her, at a young age therefore she did not get on well with her mother as her mother did nothing to help keep food in her and her sisters mouths and clothes on their bodies. Also the review said "the movie does run true to the book, even if a lot of the story is skipped quickly over or left out altogether, the cast members bring to life the characters authentically, and you do get a chance to see the action you had only conjured up mentally while reading. I prefer the book, although I did like seeing the film – I just wish it would have embraced the themes and outrageousness of the story more authentically. In that sense, it missed the mark for me." and for me that was the same. As I absolutely loved the books and when I heard the first one was becoming a movie I was over the moon. And I believe that it did follow true to the book but it did not provide the full message and horror of the events.

Saying this, the movie did follow all the main events in the story. Such as it went from her hunting in the forest to being at the reaping; from saying goodbye to family to being on the train with Peeta; to training to being in the games. And during the games everything went as per book. The review I read said " the movie was very good overall. In particular, I liked how the games followed the sequence and action in the book."  because even though they missed little details the audience still gets the idea of the main story line. As the movie followed the main events of the book and had a good story line it entertained me.

Costuming:

Effie Trinket

When I first saw Effie Trinket I was slightly disappointed by her looks because in the book she has a "scary white grin, pinkish hair" and she wore a "spring green suit". However in the movie she didn't quite appear the way I thought she should but that is just my personal opinion. Also when we first see Katniss she is reasonably well dressed in quite nice clothes. I feel this contradicts the book as she struggles to earn money to feed her family and put food on the table. Therefore, I do not think the costuming was fully portrayed in the movie as it was in the book.

Casting:

Many people are debating whether Jennifer Laurence is skinny enough to play Katniss or not. For example Mr Pulland believes she does not look like she is starving and I agree with him. Another website looks at this 'weight issue' and says  "conversation around the film of late has zeroed in on star Jennifer Lawrence’s body: that, ahem, she didn’t look hungry enough for the starring role." Therefore I wonder whether Jennifer Laurence was the right person to play Katniss as she is supposed to be rather skinny with hardly any meat on their bones. However the main review I read said "I thought the actors were well-suited to their characters" which contrasts other views. Showing me that there is quite a debate on the fact of whether Laurence was the right person to cast for the character of Katniss Everdeen or not.

Trailer:

When I first saw this trailer for the film I was excited that the book was finally becoming a movie. I also feel the trailer was a bit of a letdown as over half the trailer shows parts from less than the first half of the film and only shows the start of the games.  If it had shown parts of the games all jumbled together it would made the movie more inviting. But that's my opinion.

In conclusion, I feel that the film is a good film and followed the main storyline of the book. However the movie did not live up to my expectations as it missed out parts of the story  and the casting and costuming didn't fit the descriptions in the book according to me.