Catching Fire
23 November 2013 02:34 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
frayadjacentI watched Catching Fire a couple of days ago. I loved it.
OK, I'll start off with the complaints. I saw it in an Imax theater, and once the victors/tributes enter the arena the film goes to Imax cameras -- which have a different frame size. So, for the regular theater releases, as well as the DVD, do they just cut off a huge part of the image? I mean, I guess they must have planned the framing to make it work out with either frame size, but it was disconcerting to me, both as a viewer and a vidder.
Speaking of vidding -- the color changes! The first half of the film is so blue and gray, which really adds to the bleak feeling, but it's such a contrast with the second half of the film and the first. Again, the vidder in me couldn't help but worry a bit. Then again, I've seen vidders blend clips from Firefly seamlessly with clips from Serenity, and that had to be a lot harder.
Finally, the ending was of course not super great, with no real sense of completion but also no real sense of "what happens next -- I have to find out!". And not just because I already know. I feel this was an issue with the first movie as well. In both cases I think the mistake is to focus the ending on Katniss. The "what happens next" is so much about other people, a much bigger group of people and a much bigger force than Katniss herself. Asselenak pointed out in their excellent review, the film could easily have ended with *showing us* the destruction of District 12 and Peeta and Johanna getting caught by the Capital. I think that would have left me with a greater sense of anticipation for the rest of the series.
Oh, yeah, I have one more complaint, about the story itself. Destroying District 12 is profoundly stupid and MAKES NO SENSE. I actually think that, for the most part, THG as a series does a decent job in terms of political and economic realities related to social upheaval. Mostly it does this by presenting a limited enough point of view that we just don't see that much of how things actually go down. (And my imagination wanders and I get very excited.) But to the extent that it does deal in strategic and tactical problems, they seem at least within the realm of possibility to me.
But not a huge, complex, and technologically advanced nation DESTROYING ITS ENERGY SUPPLY. That is fucking stupid. I'd buy if they massacred a lot of people in District 12 but left enough terrorized people behind to work under even more horrific and militarized conditions than they already had, but just completely destroying the district so everyone either escaped or is dead? I mean, the whole reason the Capitol goes to so much effort to oppress the people of the districts are because it NEEDS them -- they are the source of its wealth. And coal doesn't mine itself! I seriously don't understand how Susan Collins didn't get this.
OK, but really, I did love the movie! Jennifer Lawrence owns her role just like she owns are her other roles. I love the depth and expressiveness she brings to Katniss. Katniss is not my favorite character in the books, but in some ways I think I like her portrayal more in Catching Fire the film than in the book. In the latter I found that I could understand *why* she acts the way she does, why she is so mistrusting and why it's so hard for her to see past herself and the immediate people around her that she sees herself having to protect. But after a while that behavior gets really tiresome when she's surrounded by people with a broader view, people who have a vision of a better world, people who are trying for more than just survival and are risking so much to get there. So with the film, we aren't stuck in Katniss's POV, and Lawrence brings great emotion to the role so I stayed sympathetic with her far more than I did in the book.
I also connected to Peeta and Effie really well here. In all the books I felt at best lukewarm toward them, but Elizabeth Banks did a marvelous job in her role and I really warmed up to Effie while watching. I also felt like I finally got why a person might think Peeta is a pretty great person. The actor playing him really conveys a kindness that made me understand why Katniss wanted to protect him, why she grew to care for him, and why he was a genuine source of emotional support for her.
Speaking of, I read that in the film they were definitely going to play up the love triangle, but actually it mostly didn't bother me. (My opinion on the love triangle in the books is that it's boring, but I mostly just ignored it rather than getting actively annoyed.) What's funny is that it didn't feel like a triangle at all? I mean, we see that Gale is jealous of Peeta, but I don't recall Peeta ever showing jealousy toward Gale. And from Katniss's POV, instead of seeing her constantly worry about which one she should choose, we see that she genuinely cares for both of them. And that's about all she's got time for in that department. I dunno, I almost saw a OT3 thing for a minute there, except I don't really see Gale going for it.
Finally, I just really enjoyed the broader scope that this movie had. I loved the scenes that showed how things were changing for everyone, everywere. President Snow's granddaughter is a Katniss fangirl. People are leaving political graffiti on train tunnels. Tributes in the games are actively and publicly saying "fuck you" to the gamemakers and the viewers, and are joining together at least to some extent.
Which brings me to my two favorite characters from the books: Johanna Mason and Finnick Odair. Johanna didn't disappoint me a bit. Finnick left me wondering if he actually maybe wasn't *quite* as awesome as I remembered, but I still liked him a lot.
And my favorite scene was basically a mirror of my favorite scene from the first film. It was their visit to District 11. The eulogy that Peeta and Katniss gave to Thresh and Rue brought tears to my eyes -- as did the shots of their families standing in front of their images. The moment of solidarity -- played as spontaneous but I'm sure it was planned -- from the audience gives me chills. And, awful as it is that they shoot the guy who started it (though clearly he knew that would happen), it doesn't scare people enough to stop fighting back. And, like when Katniss's show of respect to Rue led to a riot in District 11 (my favorite moment in the first film), it is an act of love and solidarity -- across districts, something I think is a lot more important than is explicitly acknowledged in the books -- that inspires and directly connects to the act of mass rebellion.
And that kind of sums up what I love so much about the Hunger Games. It doesn't shy away from the ugly realities of revolution. But it also shows us so clearly why it was necessary. Why it was ultimately the right thing. It doesn't use some "circle of violence" rhetoric or provide a cautionary tale to show us that fighting back will only make things worse.
And because, for me, it is not any one individual, whether she's a symbol or a leader or a martyr, who's the hero of the story. It's all the people who had the courage and the vision to seize the opportunity and fight back.
OK, I'll start off with the complaints. I saw it in an Imax theater, and once the victors/tributes enter the arena the film goes to Imax cameras -- which have a different frame size. So, for the regular theater releases, as well as the DVD, do they just cut off a huge part of the image? I mean, I guess they must have planned the framing to make it work out with either frame size, but it was disconcerting to me, both as a viewer and a vidder.
Speaking of vidding -- the color changes! The first half of the film is so blue and gray, which really adds to the bleak feeling, but it's such a contrast with the second half of the film and the first. Again, the vidder in me couldn't help but worry a bit. Then again, I've seen vidders blend clips from Firefly seamlessly with clips from Serenity, and that had to be a lot harder.
Finally, the ending was of course not super great, with no real sense of completion but also no real sense of "what happens next -- I have to find out!". And not just because I already know. I feel this was an issue with the first movie as well. In both cases I think the mistake is to focus the ending on Katniss. The "what happens next" is so much about other people, a much bigger group of people and a much bigger force than Katniss herself. As
selenak pointed out in their excellent review, the film could easily have ended with *showing us* the destruction of District 12 and Peeta and Johanna getting caught by the Capital. I think that would have left me with a greater sense of anticipation for the rest of the series.Oh, yeah, I have one more complaint, about the story itself. Destroying District 12 is profoundly stupid and MAKES NO SENSE. I actually think that, for the most part, THG as a series does a decent job in terms of political and economic realities related to social upheaval. Mostly it does this by presenting a limited enough point of view that we just don't see that much of how things actually go down. (And my imagination wanders and I get very excited.) But to the extent that it does deal in strategic and tactical problems, they seem at least within the realm of possibility to me.
But not a huge, complex, and technologically advanced nation DESTROYING ITS ENERGY SUPPLY. That is fucking stupid. I'd buy if they massacred a lot of people in District 12 but left enough terrorized people behind to work under even more horrific and militarized conditions than they already had, but just completely destroying the district so everyone either escaped or is dead? I mean, the whole reason the Capitol goes to so much effort to oppress the people of the districts are because it NEEDS them -- they are the source of its wealth. And coal doesn't mine itself! I seriously don't understand how Susan Collins didn't get this.
OK, but really, I did love the movie! Jennifer Lawrence owns her role just like she owns are her other roles. I love the depth and expressiveness she brings to Katniss. Katniss is not my favorite character in the books, but in some ways I think I like her portrayal more in Catching Fire the film than in the book. In the latter I found that I could understand *why* she acts the way she does, why she is so mistrusting and why it's so hard for her to see past herself and the immediate people around her that she sees herself having to protect. But after a while that behavior gets really tiresome when she's surrounded by people with a broader view, people who have a vision of a better world, people who are trying for more than just survival and are risking so much to get there. So with the film, we aren't stuck in Katniss's POV, and Lawrence brings great emotion to the role so I stayed sympathetic with her far more than I did in the book.
I also connected to Peeta and Effie really well here. In all the books I felt at best lukewarm toward them, but Elizabeth Banks did a marvelous job in her role and I really warmed up to Effie while watching. I also felt like I finally got why a person might think Peeta is a pretty great person. The actor playing him really conveys a kindness that made me understand why Katniss wanted to protect him, why she grew to care for him, and why he was a genuine source of emotional support for her.
Speaking of, I read that in the film they were definitely going to play up the love triangle, but actually it mostly didn't bother me. (My opinion on the love triangle in the books is that it's boring, but I mostly just ignored it rather than getting actively annoyed.) What's funny is that it didn't feel like a triangle at all? I mean, we see that Gale is jealous of Peeta, but I don't recall Peeta ever showing jealousy toward Gale. And from Katniss's POV, instead of seeing her constantly worry about which one she should choose, we see that she genuinely cares for both of them. And that's about all she's got time for in that department. I dunno, I almost saw a OT3 thing for a minute there, except I don't really see Gale going for it.
Finally, I just really enjoyed the broader scope that this movie had. I loved the scenes that showed how things were changing for everyone, everywere. President Snow's granddaughter is a Katniss fangirl. People are leaving political graffiti on train tunnels. Tributes in the games are actively and publicly saying "fuck you" to the gamemakers and the viewers, and are joining together at least to some extent.
Which brings me to my two favorite characters from the books: Johanna Mason and Finnick Odair. Johanna didn't disappoint me a bit. Finnick left me wondering if he actually maybe wasn't *quite* as awesome as I remembered, but I still liked him a lot.
And my favorite scene was basically a mirror of my favorite scene from the first film. It was their visit to District 11. The eulogy that Peeta and Katniss gave to Thresh and Rue brought tears to my eyes -- as did the shots of their families standing in front of their images. The moment of solidarity -- played as spontaneous but I'm sure it was planned -- from the audience gives me chills. And, awful as it is that they shoot the guy who started it (though clearly he knew that would happen), it doesn't scare people enough to stop fighting back. And, like when Katniss's show of respect to Rue led to a riot in District 11 (my favorite moment in the first film), it is an act of love and solidarity -- across districts, something I think is a lot more important than is explicitly acknowledged in the books -- that inspires and directly connects to the act of mass rebellion.
And that kind of sums up what I love so much about the Hunger Games. It doesn't shy away from the ugly realities of revolution. But it also shows us so clearly why it was necessary. Why it was ultimately the right thing. It doesn't use some "circle of violence" rhetoric or provide a cautionary tale to show us that fighting back will only make things worse.
And because, for me, it is not any one individual, whether she's a symbol or a leader or a martyr, who's the hero of the story. It's all the people who had the courage and the vision to seize the opportunity and fight back.