After the onslaught of the
Twilight films (although I will admit that I watched every single one and that too in the theatres) it is a relief to finally have a franchise that gives us intelligent and capable protagonists with a sense of humour.
Kristen Stewart’s annoying and glowering Bella Swan is a sadly flat and pathetically fragile character compared to
Jennifer Lawrence’s Katniss Everdeen – who embodies loyalty, integrity, strength, and as an added bonus: wields a fierce skill with a bow. The icing on the cake is that, although she does have, like Bella, two perfectly acceptable boys head over feet in love with her, neither of them is either a werewolf or god forbid – a vampire.
But I’ll stop teasing and move on to the good stuff: Catching Fire is the second instalment in the Hunger Games quartet (there will be two more films after this one based off of the three books by Suzanne Collins). While the first film was captivating enough, this second film rises above the usual ‘film for young adults’ category in a detailed and spirited adaptation of what are a thought provoking series of books.
Katniss Everdeen and Peeta Mallark (Josh Hutcherson) have survived the 74th annual Hunger Games (a horrific tournament/reality show where a boy and a girl from each of the 12 districts must compete to death, with only one coming out alive) and miraculously both have come out alive – saved by their love for each other – a gimmick that their mentors came up with in order to try and salvage both their lives.
Katniss’ bravery during the previous games has made her a symbol of rebellion – the mockingjay pin that she wears becoming the code for all who wish to stand up against the might of the horrifyingly suppressive Capitol.
Katniss and Peeta are forced to tour the districts as the victors of the past year’s Hunger Games. On their tour, they are confronted with open rebellion and people raising their hands in the three-fingered salute that has come to represent defiance and solidarity. As they witness increasingly more brutal acts of suppression by the state, they are also confronted with another, even more deadly turn of events (mild spoiler alert): the 75th Hunger Games will reap ‘tributes’ from among the previous surviving victors of the games. And so the horror begins again.
Catching Fire is therefore not a film for the weak of stomach. It deals with children being forced to kill each other and with a murderous state. One must also come to terms with a status quo that involves immense poverty, repression, and of course, hunger. While film is overall a voyeuristic medium where the audience is complicit with the protagonists in all their adventures – one can’t help but be just a little bit more self-reflexive in a film like this which involves such truly grave subject matter.
So we root for Katniss and Peeta, willing them to live, but even as we do, we are aware of the inherent moral problems at the crux of this. Perhaps this is the greatest achievement of Catching Fire.
Watch trailer