The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes has hit the headlines since its announcement last year that the prequel would be coming to the big screens. The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes written by Suzanne Collins serves as a prequel to The Hunger Games series which is set from the point of view of 18-year-old Coriolanus Snow and his assignment as a mentor to Lucy Gray Baird, the female tribute from District 12. The prequel is set during the 10th Hunger Games and provides further detail into life after the war and the events that lead to Snow’s future villain arc.
I got the chance to watch the movie and left the theater with so many thoughts running through my head. I had read the book beforehand, so I was excited to see how the movie adaptation would measure against the book. I’ve divided this review into three subsections to hit all my favorite and least favorite aspects of the movie.
- Favorite Moments From The Movie
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Let’s start with the overall movie. I loved the visualization and how the movie depicted the arena and the Capitol. The movie did a wonderful job of showcasing the difference between Lucy Gray’s games and Katniss’s games. This difference showcased how much the games and treatment of the tributes changed in a way that successfully sold the idea of the games being a humane, normal thing to do to the Capitol citizens.
We can’t forget about the tributes themselves. I thought I was prepared by reading the book beforehand and anticipating their deaths. But I was quickly proven wrong. One of my favorite scenes in the movie is Reaper tearing down the Capitol’s flag and putting it over the dead bodies of the tributes as a way to honor them in death. Reaper’s attempt at humanizing the tributes reminded me all too well of Katniss’s burial for Rue. Without the shiny dresses and fancy parades, you see the tributes as just innocent kids forced to fight in a situation they should never be in. It makes you wonder how much propaganda and time it took until the Capitol was convinced to look at them as any different. Â
The movie and book did a wonderful job at further building from the world of The Hunger Games that many prequels fail to do.Â
- The Parallels
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This movie had so many full-circle moments. The similarities between Reaper and Dill vs. Thresh and Rue. The similarities lie in them both being from District 11 and Reaper and Thresh trying and failing to protect their partner. Another parallel I noticed was when Coral was dying and reaching out to Lucy Gray. In her last moments, we see her fear and anguish. The last words she says are “I couldn’t have killed them all for nothing” in reference to the previous tributes she had killed. It reminded me of Cato’s death and how we see him crumble and realize he was just a pawn to the Capitol.Â
Another thing that drove me crazy was when Snow asked Lucy Gray “Is this real?” in reference to their love for each other vs. Katniss and Peeta constantly asking each other “Real or not real?” When Katniss and Peeta ask each other this, it’s to reassure one another and ground each other. However, Snow isn’t asking Lucy Gray the same question with the same motives but rather to ensure this isn’t something to waste his time on. He does not want to be made out as a fool. I think this parallel can explain how Snow must have seen Lucy Gray and himself in Katniss and Peeta and wholeheartedly believed their fate would end the same way. But he was proven wrong time and time again because love isn’t as ridiculous and manipulative as he made it out to be with Lucy Gray.
- Things I Wish They Included
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There are a few moments from the book that I wish the movie had adapted. For example, at some point, Tigris implies that she had to sell her body to get food for both her and Snow. Snow’s initial reaction to this is not concern and horror for his cousin but rather disgust as he fears what this will do to his reputation if revealed. I feel like if the movie had added this tidbit it would have added some important context between why Tigris and Snow fell apart as we know that later on Snow ends up forcing some of the tributes into prostitution.Â
I also wished the movie had gone more into detail about the Covey and provided the backstories behind their names and songs rather than just two scenes. I also wished we saw the full extent of Dr. Gaul’s cruelty. In the movie, Dr. Gaul warns Clemensia about the snakes but in the books she never tells Clemensia about the violent nature of the snake. She simply asks Clemensia, “Can you get that paper out of there for me?”. Dr. Gaul was probably one of the only people that had Snow quaking and fearing for his life and I wish the movie showed the full extent of this.