Bread and Games

Rating: 9/10 (29 March 2012)

As a series of novels, The Hunger Games is a phenomenon. Its premise could hardly be more violent, more brutal, more cynical more inhumane: As a punishment for a long forgotten rebellion against a totalitarian state that has long replaced the United States as we know them today, but more importantly as entertainment for the rich, privileged and bored, 24 children and teenagers between the ages of 12 and 18 are forced to slaughter each other until only one remains. Yet the series has become a huge success among younger readers, rivalling that of the Harry Potter or the Twilight books. And it is threatening to do the same on the big screen: Even measured against the giant expectations, the first film has been a huge success. And all this without holding anything back, with a bleak, unforgiving, completely anti-escapist view of the world. The Hunger Games is a frighteningly honest defense of humanity that is heavy on its destructive, merciless, selfish side as well as a stinging indictment of today's media culture. For the "Hunger Games" are nothing other than excellent "Reality TV" brought to its logical conclusion.
The film centers around Katniss, a tough teenage girl acting as the surrogate mother for her little sister and takes her place when the latter is picked in the lottery that determines the "games'" participants. Jennifer Lawrence has proved in Winter's Bone that she can carry her film with her strength, her truthfulness, her complete and utter believability and she does so again here. Her Katniss is a young girl grown before her time, stubborn, angry, harsh. She has built a protective shell around her which hides her vulnerability and fears. She is forced to be brave, she has no choice but she is only human and she remains so.
One of the film's aspect is a carefully told coming of age story as Katniss finds her inner strength without losing her compassion and the fear that makes her human. Accepting no advice at first she learns to trust others, to forge alliances, to play the game. First and foremost, she learns how to survive: from her fellow combatant Peeta (Josh Hutcherson) who is much faster on the uptake and sheds his pride more easily to do what needs to be done or from her jaded, hard-drinking but ultimately decent mentor (Woody Harrelson). As the "games" advance she understand she needs to become part of the game and walk the thin line between accepting the necessary and staying true to herself. Peeta is more easily willing to give up his pride but he never loses side of his primary goal: Even if he must die, he wants to remain himself even in death. Play the game if you must but remain the player not just the pawn the others see in you. On the other side are those competitors who have been trained for years to do this, who don't know anything else than kill. They have been stripped of their souls, turned into sad figures for whom death is delivery from a life they lost long ago.
For a film targeted at a younger audience, The Hunger Games paints a surprisingly honest picture of the mechanisms of totalitarianism. It is not just the cruel spectacle itself, it is the discrepancy between the comic-like splendour of the ruling "Capitol" and the oppressed, starving 12 district, the use of spectacle to build a fake community, to distract as well as scare, to keep the people from thinking from themselves. Donald Sutherland gives a chilling performance as the perfectly Machiavellian president. It is the trusted Roman concept of "panem et circenses", bread and games with a good measure of fear thrown in. The most important task is to keep people to think for themselves. Distracting them, making them focus on feeding their families, keeping them afraid of what will happen if they step out of line are mechanisms employed by dictators all over the world and throughout history and they are used and shown here.
In addition, The Hunger Games is also a biting and disturbing satirical unmasking of the workings of television and other means to manipulate the masses. What might seem harmless enough in our society can only too easily be made to serve any purpose at all. The "games" are first and foremost brilliant entertainment, gripping, full of suspense and nail- biting intensity, a perfectly produced TV show personified in Stanley Tucci's unsettlingly excellent showmaster. More than once the audience find themselves the the role of the spectator, drawn into voyeurist mode, enjoying this a little too much. It is the basic principle of the ancient gladiator battles as well as today's "Reality TV". Others' suffering is our entertainment, their humiliation or triumph. There is something thoroughly totalitarian in this and the film does a great job at showing this, giving the viewer an uneasy feeling about being entertained.
There is much more to be said: about the skillful use of the hand-held camera to convey the fear, the the horror, the stark reality behind the entertainment, the fact that people are paying the ultimate price for others to have fun; the frightening realism which never make one feel this to be a distant future; the brilliant cast that fills these characters with more life than we can handle. The Hunger Games may cater to the same market as Twilight and the like, but it does not play in the same league, it does not even play the same game. Director Gary Ross has turned Suzanne Collins' novel into a gripping film which makes no compromises and does not spare the audience. And they still love it. Maybe Hollywood has underestimated their audience in the past? It can only be hoped the message is not lost.