iREVIEW: The Hunger Games

Starring Jennifer Lawrence, Wes Bentley, Stanley Tucci, Josh Hutcherson, Elizabeth Banks and Woody Harrelson. Written by Gary Ross et al. and Directed by Gary Ross. 

Sometimes even when the premise of a film is set in a future so unimaginable, an unmistakable connection with our lives resonates through the entirety of it. The Hunger Games revolves around the same Earth, the same humans and the same relations, except all of them blooming at their rawest.

We are taken to the world where humans are so hopped-up on decadency and pleasure, a murderous game is a blockbuster reality TV, probably monopolizing TV ratings.

This is a special film. I believe the message of the film should be like an aroma that is absorbed almost subconsciously but is enjoyed at the sensory level. An Indian story writer Salim Khan said it rightly that a film is a garland of flowers woven over a string, where flowers are the entertainment and string is the message.  We know the string exists, which is why the film is bearable, but we just don't see it (and we don't want to see it).  This is one of such films and that's why it's special.

The Hunger Games is a leftist film, an exaggerated take on the occasional communistic nature of our governments.  Instances such as the ludicrous trailer being presented to justify the barbarism behind the annual hunger games; the controllers of the game whimsically making up rules and interfering in the natural course of the game and so forth, are some of the loud moments in the film clearly instilling in us a fear for a totalitarian government.

The film is indeed a grim representation of our distant future with little hope for redemption, but not none.  "The hunger games" part of the film is simply a roller coaster ride for the audience. This magical connection we have with the game is partly because the making of the film and "the game" in it run hand in hand.  "When we want a relationship" as the controller thinks, we get a relationship between Katniss and Peeta.  When it's time for a finale, we get a finale in form of the vicious beast.  Katniss actually says during the climax "it's the finale"! You wish "the games" have started earlier in the film at the cost of the passive first half and those pesky (and nonsensical) brief flashbacks, but nonetheless, it's a wholesome thrill ride.

Jennifer Lawrence as Katniss takes the middle seat in the film and all you care is the preservation of her innocence and sanctity, which more or less represents our hope.  This film is one of those rare occasions, which is why it is so precious, when we truly feel the nausea associated with lust for decadency.