Hungry for a Snow day? If so, The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes (2023) features total snack Tom Blyth as Coriolanus Snow in this nearly three hour dystopian hit.
The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes (or TBOSAS) is a prequel to the iconic Hunger Games trilogy. It follows president Coriolanus Snow 64 years before the events of the trilogy. Starring Tom Blyth as President Snow, Rachel Zegler as Lucy Gray Baird, and Hunter Schafer as Tigris Snow, this is a film you will not want to miss.
From a movie perspective, this one hits the mark. The cast are perfect for their roles and the storytelling and worldbuilding is great. From an adaptation perspective, however, is it truly faithful? Many fans of the Hunger Games series don’t seem to think so, as TBOSAS has faced heavy criticism regarding pacing, runtime, and lacking important details from the book.
The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes follows the main antagonist of the original trilogy, Coriolanus Snow, 64 years before Katniss’ story begins. With lack of public interest in the Hunger Games, the Capitol Academy chooses the top 24 students to be mentors for the 10th Hunger Games, and the best mentor wins a cash prize called the Plinth Prize. With the Snow lineage fading, Coriolanus is depending on himself winning the Plinth Prize to buy his way through university and restore the former success and glory to his family. When he is assigned a girl, Lucy Gray Baird (Rachel Zegler), from one of the worst performing districts, District 12, he believes it’s over for him until he sees her enthralling musical performance at her reaping. This is when he realizes she has more to offer than meets the eye, and they may have a chance at winning. As he mentors her and learns more about her, he falls in love with her.
The best part of this movie by far is Rachel Zegler and her ability to bring Lucy Gray to life with her captivating voice. Every song on the soundtrack for this movie is great, but Lucy Gray’s songs are simply unforgettable. The movie also did a good job incorporating the Appalachian culture, especially through the songs. The casting for everybody was amazing as well. As a fan of the Hunger Games, seeing these characters come to life in a wonderfully written story was great. This prequel adds an extra layer of depth to both Snow’s character and the world in the main trilogy.
While I did really enjoy this movie, I don’t think the criticisms are unfounded. The main plot of the movie stays true to the books, but there are some details missed that really add to the themes of this installment and to the series overall. The details I especially find lacking are Snow’s inner dialogue and his narcissistic personality, his relationship with Sejanus, and Clemensia’s storyline.
One of the biggest parts of the book is Snow’s inner dialogue and his narcissistic personality. Being that this is a movie, the inner dialogue couldn’t be shown, so it feels like his true feelings and thoughts aren’t conveyed as much as in the book. A recurring theme throughout the book is his feeling of superiority as a Capitol citizen and his hatred toward the districts, which he refers to as “Primitive people with their primitive customs.” The movie also portrays Snow and Lucy Gray’s relationship in a more positive light, whereas in the books he has more of a possessive view toward her, referring to her as “his” and wanting her locked up so “he always had a general idea of what she was doing.”
Snow’s relationship with Sejanus also felt watered down in the movie. In the book, Snow does not see Sejanus as an equal, but as a “district brat.” He expresses his dislike for him frequently and reports back to Dr. Gaul about his plans of running away, which led to Sejanus being hanged as a result. In the epilogue, Snow moves in with Sejanus’s parents and had his tuition paid for by them, essentially replacing Sejanus as the Plinth’s son. This is not touched upon in the movie, which feels like an oversight considering it builds upon Snow’s true intentions with people and his tendency to put himself first.
Although Clemensia had a greater role in the book, she was essentially reduced to a background character in the movie. After getting bitten by Dr. Gaul’s snakes, she is never seen or mentioned again. This differs from the book, where her poor condition is described when Snow visits her in the hospital. Her story in the book shows Dr. Gaul’s cruelty, which didn’t feel as significant in the movies. I also liked Clemensia’s character in general, and the movie version didn’t reach my expectations.
While I have gripes with this movie, I would still recommend watching it and I think it’s a 9/10. I think it’s a better watch when you read the book alongside it, as you get more details and plot points that help to understand the movie better. In a survey that was sent out to Harrison students, most people also rated the movie 9/10.
One respondent said, “The movie was so good, the execution of the movie was amazing and the sprinkling of references to the other books/movies was well thought out. I loved the quotes and play on words about ‘Snow is falling’ and ‘Snow lands on top’.”
Another student talks about their favorite quote, saying, “One of my favorite quotes was when Lucy said, ‘Without trust, you might as well be dead to me.’ This is one of my favorites because it shows the lack of trust later on in the movie.”
When asked if they thought it was a faithful adaptation, respondents mentioned the casting choices being good. Some people preferred the book, however. One response reads, “The movie was missing Snow’s inner dialogue which justified his character’s sudden decline into his ‘villain’ arc. Although the movie hinted at his turn towards power, the book did a better job,” which pretty much echoes my thoughts. Other respondents enjoyed the movie better because they liked seeing it come to life on screen.
Overall, the response for this movie seems pretty positive among students. While it is a long movie, I think it is definitely worth a watch, especially if you enjoyed the other movies in this dystopian reality.
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