The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes — A Victor’s Backstory
Written by Lala (Kru’22)
Yes, we are coming to the hanging tree.
The Hunger Games’ franchise is now back at the theater after almost 8 years. Be prepared, because we are taken back to early Panem that had just recovered from the First Rebellion, 64 years before the iconic Katniss Everdeen’s era. The movie starts fresh with young Coriolanus Snow who’s still in the Capitol’s Academy, aiming for the Plinth Prize to continue his study and basically bring his family back to a better life. Along with other top students, they have to mentor each 10th Hunger Games tribute to lead them to victory and get people’s attention to battle the low ratings of the show. Snow himself is paired to Lucy Gray Baird, a Covey girl from District 12 who has an amazing voice and is free-spirited. The two then survive the arena — with all “sacrifices” that Snow made, and then the rest of the show appears to be the love and destruction itself. High score for its several eye-pleasing frames and ominous sound, which succeeded in making me shudder, gasp, and feel nostalgic at the same time in my seat. Few characters from the old movies are showing up in this movie, like Snow’s cousin, Tigris, and Lucretius “Luck” Flickerman, but most of them are new such as the creator of the Hunger Games, Dean Casca Highbottom, and Dr. Volumnia Gaul as the Gamemaker of that year.
The snow is falling into the darkness
The prequel focuses on how Snow could be a cold and cruel dictator of Panem that we see in previous movies; his change of self throughout the game and his exile, and how we can notice mental impacts on someone after experiencing the real world full of power and hunger for something, but there is no humanity to be found. Snow seems hooked in the guilty pleasure of killing and betraying people to save himself, and I like how the movie is portraying poison as his “favorite” weapon to take out enemies and allies who pose a threat — from rat poison to berries in the first Hunger Games movie, a quiet but instant killer. Even though his dark side is predetermined, the movie managed to keep us sitting in full attention and feel Snow’s emotional downfall. Somehow, it makes the audiences feel there is still a slight hint of hope that Snow might change or somewhat would save him from turning into a bad guy. To me, it is still intriguing to watch the movie because of its excellent lines and small details — like Snow’s fondness for white roses, the early-developed Hunger Games’ arena, the not-so-look-eccentric-yet Flickerman, and the beautiful meadow back in District 12.
P.S. After all, this is a charming-blonde-villain-male-character kind of movie.
A Girl of Mystery
Quite opposite from Katniss, Lucy Gray is a performer that was forced to “hunt” in the Hunger Games, but they both have strong character and impact in the movie indeed. After she survives the 10th Hunger Games and Snow is assigned to military training in 12, they embark on a passionate love affair. Lucy continues life as a singer at a night country club, whereas Snow, as a peacekeeper, sees her and the two soon spend most days together with Lucy’s covey friends at a hidden lake cabin in the woods. Snow’s change of appearance really supports the idea that he’s experiencing a swift of mindset and self belief, which is seen in his betrayal towards his friend, Sejanus Plinth, and a shooting towards Mayfield. By the time, we know that ambition and fear eventually get the best of Snow, to an extent where he tries to kill her lover Lucy Gray for being the only witness to a crime he committed. When the two agreed to go up north, far from Panem, Snow unintentionally spitted out the fact that he already murdered 3 people, which shocked Lucy Gray and managed to escape from Snow when they arrived at the cabin. The disappearance of Lucy Gray (and bitten by a snake under her given scarf) is a canon event for Snow himself. It shown by his delusional behavior and brutal gun-shooting in the woods, decided to believe that Lucy wanted to kill him with the snake. Then when he returned to the Capitol, he became a mad man, a cold killer heart, and it is all explained why his famous quotes from the movies says, “It’s the thing we love most, that destroys us.” This lack of balance of himself that finally destroyed Snow when Katniss Everdeen arrives at the 74th Hunger Games and leads the Rebellion against him.
It’s still Hunger Games but feels a little bit different (in a good way)
If you’re an old fan of Hunger Games, you might notice that there are a few scenes that remind you of the previous movies. Like Carol and her pack of friends who hunt Lucy Gray at the arena, pretty much look like Cato and his friends versus Katniss in the first movie. Both Lucy Gray and Katniss’ dramatic reaping scene and their curtsy pose in front of others, Dill’s death that slightly looks like Rue’s death, and also ‘The Hanging Tree’ song. We haven’t seen the three-finger salute yet, but we can still feel the rebellion from the districts through Lucy Gray’s songs. Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes itself has several details and easter eggs that are amusing to know, but my most favorite is the fact that Snow left all of his mother’s belongings — powder and scarf, and brought his father’s compass instead. It shows that Snow embraces all hatred and cruelty just like his father, even Tigris notices the change in his eyes and looks by the end of the movie. There’s still a lack of dialogues of Snow’s conflicting motivations in this movie, so the audiences might have missed the opportunity to see his character development throughout and experienced Snow’s internal tension and desire. But nonetheless, The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes is a great prequel of the Hunger Games’ franchise and will always be my favorite dystopian movies.
