2023-11-19 11:04:00
After eight years of absence, Hunger Games rises from the ashes with the theatrical release of its prequel The Ballad of the Serpent and the Songbird (2023). This great return takes us back more than ten years, when the franchise adapted from the novels by Suzanne Collins smashed the international box office with the first film in a tetralogy led by Jennifer Lawrence in the lead. What ingredients, in books and films alike, could have so seduced entire legions of the public of young adults converted to the exploits of the futuristic rebel Katniss Everdeen? The triumph of Hunger Games, it is first of all that of the great fantasy sagas adapted by Hollywood, from the dawn of the 2000s, based on phenomena of the genre in bookstores. In this case, the works of the British JK Rowling and JRR Tolkien: Harry Potter (a first film by Chris Columbus was released in November 2001) and The Lord of the Rings (in December of the same year).
Since the box office triumph of these two licenses nourished by mythology and fantasy, the cinema industry has changed. The blockbusters favored by the studios gradually began to resemble television series, with episodes to follow, recurring characters and cliffhangers… The purchase of the cinema rights to a literary epic called “young adult” (targeting young people aged 18 to 24) has established itself as a priority mission in the eyes of the majors, now obsessed with this new goose that lays the golden eggs.
In this movement, the five films of the vampire series were released Twilight (2008-2012) with Kristen Stewart and Robert Pattinson, based on the novels by Stephenie Meyer. But also the anticipatory trilogy Divergent (2014-2016) with Shailene Woodley, based on the books by Veronica Roth. Without forgetting the diptych Percy Jackson (2010-2013) and the trilogies of Chronicles of Narnia (2005-2010) and you Labyrinth (2014-2018). In short, the producers had smelled the vein.
The cinema waters down the novel
The case of Hunger Games is a little different. Published between 2008 and 2010, the science fiction trilogy written by American Suzanne Collins has become a major social phenomenon, with more than 100 million copies sold around the world. Let’s remind newbies of the plot of the book: the action takes place in North America after a nuclear war. In this postapocalyptic world, the fall of democracy has given way to a state called Panem. Its inhabitants live under the yoke of a dictator, President Coriolanus Snow. Panem is divided into twelve districts, all of which have their own specificities (coal, agriculture, masonry, etc.). Every year, the Hunger Games are held. In each district, a boy and a girl, aged 12 to 18, are drawn. And the twenty-four chosen candidates are forced to face each other in an arena in a fight to the death, under the television cameras. In the end, only one candidate must survive.
Upon its publication, the considerable popularity of the first novel aroused the interest of studios. But no one knows how to adapt the work, due to its extreme violence. Fortunately, a former Disney boss, producer Nina Jacobson, head of the company Color Force, fell in love with Collins’ text in the fall of 2008 and decided to buy the rights for the cinema. It will sign a theatrical distribution agreement with the mini-major Lionsgate (owner of the franchises Saw, Twilight, Divergente et John Wick) in March 2009, doubling book sales in bookstores. Suzanne Collins is responsible for co-writing the film adaptation of the first volume of her novel, but the film, marketed for teenagers, must be for the general public. Lionsgate then decided to water down the story and considerably tone down its violence.
What does “Hunger Games” owe Jennifer Lawrence?
Objective: to make Hunger Games (2012) a blockbuster escaping the R classification by the American censors (equivalent to a ban on under 17s unaccompanied by an adult), in favor of a more harmless PG 13 (ban on unaccompanied under 13s , like almost all superhero films). Thanks to this strategy of the greatest number, success will be achieved and will lead to three sequels. To date, the tetralogy has grossed more than $3 billion in worldwide theatrical revenue. And today the prequel should also fill the coffers. But Nina Jacobson’s stroke of genius is above all to have chosen Jennifer Lawrence to play Katniss Everdeen, the sulky and wild heroine who stands up against the system and becomes the leader of the rumbling revolt.
A role of a strong, proud and independent woman, in tune with the new wind of feminism that will blow through Hollywood in the 2010s. Discovered in the excellent independent film Winter’s Bone (2010) by Debra Granik, which earned her an Oscar nomination, the actress reveals as much vulnerability as determination in the skin of Katniss. Equipped with bows and arrows, she is a sort of Diana the huntress (the goddess of hunting in Roman mythology). An amazon who wears a brooch decorated with a mockingjay, a legendary bird becoming here the symbol of the revolt against the fascist regime of the Capitol. An emblem of freedom. Very invested, “J. Law” becomes a huge global star thanks to the rise of Hunger Games and claims a fee of around seven million dollars per film. Off set, the actress’ mischievous charm does the rest to win over young audiences.
To the question: “Can you give us a sketch of the typical fan of Hunger Games ? », Jennifer Lawrence responded in November 2013 in Première magazine: “Already, it’s a girl! (laughs). » Indeed, when the actress went to San Diego Comic-Con in 2012 (the most important pop culture event in the United States), to show the first images of the inaugural film of the saga and sign autographs , she realizes that the majority of the audience in the room is indeed female. A fanbase who was seduced by the romantic love story between Katniss and two men, Peeta Mellark (Josh Hutcherson) and Gale Hawthorne (Liam Hemsworth, Chris’s younger brother).
Ancient Rome as a major influence
For the rest, it is probably in the very nature of the themes brewed by Suzanne Collins that we must find the reasons for her very high-speed connection with the collective psyche. A priori, dystopia was not a new genre, nor in literature (dominated in this category by masterpieces such as The best of worlds d’Aldous Huxley, 1984 by George Orwell and Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury) nor at the cinema, loaded with films taking place in imaginary societies governed by totalitarian regimes. On the big screen, a number of feature films set against the backdrop of futuristic circus games had already been released well before Hunger Games : Rollerball (1975) by Norman Jewison, The Death Race of 2000 (1975) by Paul Bartel, The Price of Danger (1983) by Yves Boisset, Running Man (1987) by Paul Michael Glaser and of course, Battle Royale (2000) by Kinji Fukasaku, a very dark satire of reality TV where 42 high school students massacre each other on a desert island.
A game of extreme cruelty which served as a model for Suzanne Collins to write her novels. For Hunger Games, the novelist was also inspired by ancient Rome and circus games. The city of Panem evokes the Latin expression Bread and circuses : ” Bread and games “. Basically: give the people something to eat, something to entertain them and you will put them to sleep. The character of the tyrant Coriolanus Snow is a reference to the Roman politician
Caius Marcius Coriolanus, whose life served as inspiration for William Shakespeare to write his play Coriolanus. The peplum Spartacus (1960) by Stanley Kubrick with Kirk Douglas is also one of Suzanne Collins’ favorite films. In Greek mythology, the legend of Theseus and the Minotaur was also a source of inspiration for the author (in Antiquity, the Greeks sent seven boys and seven virgins each year to Crete, into the deadly labyrinth of Daedalus) .
A saga in tune with generations Z and Alpha
The subject of very serious analyzes on the part of university professors and sociologists, the triumph of Hunger Games has touched the entire planet (in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, the Motiongate theme park, inspired by the world of cinema, has two attractions on the theme of Hunger Games since 2016). And in addition to the writer’s ancient borrowings, the saga also stood out because it addresses numerous immemorial societal themes: famine, totalitarianism, the exploitation of poverty. It questions state violence, political maneuvering and media manipulation. How spectacle society can be used to control crowds.
How, also, the propaganda of a media war is created, but also a revolutionary figure who fights against oppression (in this case that of Katniss, with her Joan of Arc clothes). We can also read this epic as an allegory of reality TV, as well as a critique of the voyeurism of shows of this cynical genre where candidates are humiliated in public. These cathodic competitions where young people mercilessly tear each other apart (who, in Hunger Gamescall on sponsors and promotional tours to finance their survival – which must have challenged all social media influencers).
In short, here is a literary series (and films) in tune with our era of cruel game shows in the 21st century, which recalls the fierce competition of the world of work. In fact, the saga Hunger Games is a true mirror of generations Z (born from the 2000s) and Alpha (born from the 2010s), destined for a very dark future. A youth who no longer has utopias and for whom the world is just a vast quagmire, plagued by unemployment, wars, pandemics and many disillusionments. And an audience that felt in complete harmony with the universe Hunger Games.
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