The Hunger Games is the second movie that I decided to write a review after watching it, but it was not at all because I thought it was good. On the contrary, I have never watched a movie with great expectations. After that, I found that I wasted time and I couldn't even comfort myself.
The Hunger Games movie is 2 hours and 22 minutes long. Due to its unique copywriting and promotion theme, people who have never watched it will think this is a connotation drama about complex human nature and social environment, but in fact, it should What the film is going to tell is just an extremely simple story, and there is nothing substantial outside the story.
The following content will have some spoilers, please read it carefully.
First of all, the opening of the film briefly introduces the background of the story with a few subtitles, which is very straightforward. I thought it was a movie that went directly to the theme without any cues, but I didn't expect that after the subtitles, a stinky and long bedding would begin. The film took nearly an hour, which is almost half the length of the entire film, to prepare foreplay, and in this process, it was only in a simple, flat and slow development plot. (After a while, there will be a little excitement One appetite to prevent the audience from falling asleep) The whole thing can be said to be no fun. People with poor patience basically want to sleep after seeing a third of them.
In the middle of the movie, the Hunger Games, which took an hour to prepare, finally began. And at this time, I believe that most of the audience will be in a state of excitement, because many people are attracted just for excitement, especially after such a long and endless super foreplay, everyone is Can't wait to wait for an extremely exciting gluttonous feast.
——And this is the sorrow. Because in fact, when most people see this place, they don’t know that the original director didn’t want to express this cruel process itself. The foreplay would be so long, not to set off the super climax afterwards, on the contrary. "Foreplay" is part of the main course, and the "big meal" that the audience expects later is just an appetizer.
Therefore, the part of the film from then on is like going on in a state of extremely hypnotic effect. There is no ups and downs, no accidents, no freshness, just like a glass of boiled water that has been left for a long time. In fact, there is no taste, but you can drink it. It feels weird. Because the content of this paragraph is not the focus, and the taste should not be too heavy, the director chose an extremely literary method to show the process of a group of boys and girls killing each other at the beginning of the game. It seems to be to take care of the audience and deliberately during this killing process. It avoids bloody shots and sounds, and if you use a Chinese idiom to describe this method, it can be called: cover your ears and steal the bell. If you change the common saying, it can be called: take off your pants and fart.
Why do you say this way? Although this part of the whole film is not the focus of expression, not all the processes of killing and being killed are very literary, beautiful and dreamy. When you watch the first act and think it will be like this later, you just You will see some more direct shots, such as "click" to break the neck of an underage boy. Can the "beautiful" killing process at the beginning avoid the disgust and discomfort caused by the extreme anti-humanity caused by the "click" later? of course not. It is this kind of concealed desire to talk and rest for a while in the sea and flames, which makes people have to endure the distortion of the combination of the two styles. This is not as good as simply being naked and cruel from beginning to end. At least that will make people feel the strong impact that human nature can show in extreme environments.
And in such an atmosphere, the film went on surprisingly smoothly, without fluctuations, and even in some more critical points, nothing was achieved. For example, the death of a kind little girl in the film and the heroine's first murder in the film could have been a good catharsis point, which can stimulate the emotions of the audience and make the film enter a small climax, but the director took this process. It's so dull and tasteless, people can't produce any emotions after watching it. How does this feel? It's like when you walk into the toilet and unzip the belt zipper. At this moment, you may not have the desire to go to the toilet at all. But since you have done all the previous actions, it seems that you won’t be able to pee. ——Although this is a very vulgar description, it is in essence. This plot makes people feel that this part should be a climax, but I don't have any feelings. Because this is a pseudo climax imposed by the director on the audience, to put it bluntly, it is his own climax. The pleasure at the moment of the climax cannot be experienced by the audience, but the emptiness after the pleasure is exuded all the time in the film.
So since the film is not about expressing the process of the Hunger Games, or expressing the changes of human nature in extreme environments, what does it mean to express? it's actually really easy. What the whole film expresses is the words that the president said to his subordinate, the person in charge of the Hunger Games, before the start of The Hunger Games. He asked the person in charge: Why does the Hunger Games need a winner in the end? Why is it necessary to survive alone? Since the Hunger Games was originally designed to warn and punish areas where rebellions have occurred, why not put these selected people called "tributes" directly together and let them kill each other and finally deal with it? The President called this move "hope," the only hope that can be "stronger than fear." But in fact, that's what the literary style says.
Through that long foreplay and the regional riots that occurred after the start of The Hunger Games, it is not difficult to see that the authority represented by the president in the film is unpopular. Although the riots will be suppressed, this action alone is not enough to reassure those in power. Sleep well. The Hunger Games is a symbol. It is not just a punishment and warning. A person can be killed by you, but it does not mean that he can be conquered by you. As the saying goes, people can be killed, but hearts cannot be destroyed. Blindly killing will only intensify the anger of the people and plant the seeds of another rebellion.
If a so-called victor survives, he is actually able to survive with the gift of those in power. Although this seems to have been won by himself, it is actually controlled by those in power. (When the Hunger Games is in progress, the person in charge can control the life and death of each player at any time) At the same time, he cherishes this opportunity to live, and his dignity will be completely destroyed. He is already a true succumbed to power. This is a spiritual symbol that the ruling class needs. Just like an infectious disease, this symbol is passed on to everyone. The surrender of the victor is not only his own surrender, but also the surrender of the region he represents. Therefore, the Hunger Games must have a victor who can survive in the end.
The so-called hope in the President’s mouth is nothing but the survival of the victor. It is a boost to keep the people sane and not collapse due to despair. This is why at the end of the film, the person in charge of the game backtracked. After changing the rules again, the heroine and the male protagonist decided to commit suicide by eating the poisonous fruit at the same time, and no longer succumbed to them, forcing the person in charge of The Hunger Games to stop. Their actions, and then very humiliatingly declared that they were the common victor.
This also means that in the power class represented by the president, there was a small accident when playing with and oppressing the people. This accident is that the people in power had to make concessions, albeit small. Of course, because of this "humiliating" concession, the person in charge of the game also paid the price for it, that is, he was given death. I don't know how he would feel when he faced a plate of poisonous fruits that had not poisoned the heroine and heroine but was about to poison himself in that gorgeously decorated room that couldn't open the door and couldn't escape.
In the end, the film ends with the hero and heroine becoming a hero returning home. So in the end, there is actually no result. The victory of the victors only means that they have saved their lives. The forced concessions of those in power do not mean that this absurd and ridiculous rule is about to be overthrown. The film is neither to tell you a black comedy that tried to resist but was unsuccessful, nor to give you a beautiful illusion that "power can be overthrown" that can make people excited, just like after the climax of the film at that moment. The emptiness is the same as the feeling of powerlessness, and even the final ending is plain and flat without any bright spots.
And if the director is willing to put more effort on this topic, perhaps the film will not be so shallow. But the problem is that there are many things the director wants to express. For example, the Hunger Games, a symbol of those in power playing with the people, is also a commercial act, similar to the gladiators in ancient Rome, and because of this, many commercial industrial chains were born, such as Participants who perform well will be sponsored. If they are favored by business giants, they can also get airborne aid during the game. This seems to be a portrayal of the deformed industrial chain, but it is very nondescript. Because it is impossible for a successful commercial activity to change the rules casually during the game, since this is a TV show, are you not afraid to offend the audience? It's all these things that seem to be very distinctive, but they don't make sense in reality. They are mixed together, but the film loses the theme and becomes a deformity of four differents.
So if it is a movie that wants to be expressed and has something to say, "The Hunger Games" is undoubtedly a failure. And the most tragic thing is that the audience can't even find any other comfort in this film. For example, if I can't find the deep connotation, can I treat this as a purely low-level entertainment and exciting commercial film? Look? Of course not. Because of the beauty and ugliness of the heroine, the low IQ and weak vase hero, the boring action scenes, the literary and artistic scenes that are silenced and specially processed when killing people, and sometimes very direct killing scenes (such as breaking the neck) , Coupled with careless details (such as the heroine’s bows and arrows will never decrease), a completely unreasonable plot coupled with a very ridiculous steampunk + fantasy adventure + science fiction overhead + weird fairy tale mix and match the fictional background, it is impossible Let you produce any trace of the pleasure of watching movies.
And just such a movie, it took me more than two hours. Therefore, I deeply feel that the director of this film has made a superb film that, although dull as water, is impressive, and although it is ridiculously deformed, it does not touch anyone. If you like being curious, go see it. I believe you will not be disappointed.
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