What about her best friend Gale?
The long wait is finally over (or in my case, the month wait); The Hunger Games opened in cinemas across the world last week and had a pretty big opening weekend raking in a cool $214.3million worldwide, eclipsing (see what I did there) The Twilight Saga series. The film was released to mostly positive reviews (of course, there will always be people who are disappointed) and has an average Rotten Tomatoes rating of 85% (at time of writing).
I, for one, personally enjoyed the film (review here). I felt that it was relatively faithful to the book and conveyed, as best as they possibly could, the voice of the book. This was due, in part, to the fact that Suzanne Collins, author of the series, was also one of the screen writers. However, no matter how well a film is made, there will always be changes some good and some bad.
J.K. Rowling (author of Harry Potter in case you’ve been hiding under a rock) summed it up best when she said this of the film versions of Harry “It is simply impossible to incorporate every one of my storylines into a film that has to be kept under four hours long. Obviously films have restrictions novels do not have, constraints of time and budget; I can create dazzling effects relying on nothing but the interaction of my own and my readers’ imaginations – hence my preference for the page over the screen.”
Keeping all of this is mind, there were a number of changes from the book to the film version of The Hunger Games and I wasn’t happy about all of them and here’s why.
*SPOILER ALERT* Do not continue reading if you haven’t seen/read The Hunger Games. But if spoilers don’t bother you, by all means, read on.
The Mockingjay Pin
In the movie, Katniss buys the pin at the Hobb (where she trades her ‘game’) and gives it to Prim to keep her safe. Prim gives it to Katniss after the Reaping for the same reason. Cinna then secretly gives her the pin to wear in the arena. In the book, Madge, the daughter of the mayor of District 12, visits Katniss after the Reaping and gives her the Mockingjay pin to wear as a token in the arena. While I can understand cutting Madge, by leaving this out, we get no indication of the government in District 12 and that they are sympathetic.
I have so much love for Haymitch, but he should have been drunker
Haymitch
Apart from the fact that I’m kind of in love with Haymitch, the Haymitch we see in the movie is quite different from the book. In the movie, they don’t show him as being drunk enough (in my opinion) and Peeta basically has to beg him on the train for training tips. In the book, he not only makes an appearance on stage at the Reaping (left out of the movie), but he launches into mentoring straight away. I don’t really understand why they changed him.
The Control Room
As the book is written entirely from Katniss’s point of view, we never see the control room where the Gamemakers change the arena. I really enjoyed this little addition; it added more depth to the story and gave the audience something outside the arena.
Conversations between Seneca Crane and President Snow
In the book, these didn’t exist, due to it being written from Katniss’s point of view. President Snow is a very important character across the series, but isn’t prominent in the first book. I liked that they added these conversations in the movie and director Gary Ross was happy as well; “I’m really proud of the Donald (President Snow) scenes that contextualized the movie. I’m really proud of the idea that hope is a stronger agent of manipulation than fear is….I like how he talks about sort of the haves and have-nots…and that neo-colonial relationship is sort of articulated.”
Katniss finding water
In the movie, Katniss finds water as soon as she enters the arena. In the book, she is on the brink of severe dehydration before she finds a stream. I understand that you need to keep things fast paced in a movie, but surely they could have demonstrated a struggle to find water?
Bread from District 11
In the book, after Rue (sadly) dies, not only does Katniss sing a longer form of the song affectionately known as “Rue’s Lullaby”, but District 11 send Katniss a loaf of bread. In the movie, no bread is sent, and an uprising occurs in the district. I personally feel they needed to send the bread, as it shows that Katniss has support outside of District 12. And as for the uprising, it does happen, just not in the first book. Ross defended this decision to MTV: “I thought it was important that you begin to make the turn into [sequel] Catching Fire, that you see the seeds of the rebellion, you see what Katniss has caused. It’s a change Suzanne loves. It’s something that she’s fully embraced as well, that you begin to see the incipient beginnings of this rebellion.”
A rare moment of affection between Katniss and Peeta
Affection between Katniss and Peeta
In the book, Katniss and Peeta kiss, a lot. Katniss does this as she knows that will get them sponsors. While at first it is for show, Katniss slowly becomes confused about her feelings. She also screams out “PEETA” when the Gamemakers change the rules, allowing two victors if they are from the same district. In the movie, they hug and kiss only once. It wouldn’t even have taken more screen time if they kissed instead of hugging. Maybe it was a ratings issue. Either way, I was unimpressed. I don’t think they show enough affection between them and this becomes very important later on.
Cato’s speech
In the movie, as he is about to kill Peeta, Cato goes into some speech about how he knows he was just a pawn in the Capitol’s messed up game. In the book, never happens. I don’t like that they added this because this was completely out of character.
Peeta’s leg
In the book, one of the huge dogs attacks Peeta’s leg as he climbs up on the Cornucopia. Katniss ties a tourniquet around it that ultimately saves his life but also results in the loss of his leg. Katniss’s reaction to Peeta’s worsening condition and the news of his artificial leg are really important in the development of the series. None of this happens in the movie and I think this is a disservice.
Conversation on the train
In the movie, Peeta and Katniss seem happy and contented when they arrive back in District 12 to a smiling Gale. In the book, Peeta realises that the kisses were probably just for show and that she is torn between her feelings for Peeta and her feelings for Gale. The way it plays out in the movie does not do well to set up for the sequel.
Despite these changes, I still really liked the film and would recommend it to anyone.
Photo 1 (Haymitch) found here. Photo 2 (Katniss & Peeta) found . Photo 3 (Katniss & Gale) found here.
