The Hunger Games

Mar 26, 2012 16:50

Wow. I say again. In caps no less. WOW.

I have never read the books and to be honest had only a passing interest in maybe, possibly seeing the film if I got dragged to see it.
A friend of ours had free tickets to see The Hunger Games this past weekend and we hadn't been to the movies in a little while. It was also an excuse to see friends.

But from the opening sequence we were both mesmerised. Mainly by the lead, Jennifer Lawrence. OK so I loved her as the new Mystique but she surprised the hell outta me in the tsunami called The Hunger Games. Lawrence is a heart-tugger and has a quality which I suspect the public craves these days - namely authenticity.

In the movie she plays a classically modern heroine - attractive, intelligent, brave, altruistic and very physical. She hunts, is simultaneously beautiful and lethal (with a bow) and saves the life of the boy hero - not once but twice. Her character is required to kill to survive, but in Lawrence's hands, she is deadly, convincing and unerringly human. The Hunger Games is clearly a blockbuster, but without Lawrence it would have been ordinary.

I hope we're going to hear a LOT more about Lawrence because she is simply so charismatic on-screen - in a way that almost blurs the line between fiction and reality. Isn't she the second youngest person ever to be nominated for Best Actress Oscar??



I rarely become emotionally attached or engaged in a film - I'm usually objective - but every so often I get deeply affected by a story and to me this was an incredibly well-told story. The subject was very difficult to deal with and at one point I wasn't sure I could stay for the whole film. From the second the 'games' open, the whole movie turned on its head for me and dragged me at breakneck speed across the open field and through the forest with Lawrence's character. When she held her breath, I found myself holding mine. In times of desperation and grief, I found all my muscles were tense and I had to command my body to relax. One very poignant moment was handled so delicately by the director and the young cast that I felt tears roll down my face - very rare for me in a cinema. Yes the conclusion was inevitable but my god what a journey it was. The books may have been written for "young adults" but the themes tackled are far more adult than I realised. The film is very adept at tackling some horrifying situations and with a slight hand moves the story forward, lingering just long enough to understand the brutal message.

And I suspect I now have a girl crush on Jennifer Lawrence LOL

Not everyone will agree but for me - five paws out of five.

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