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One of this years most talked about films The Hunger Games is the latest film from LA native and director Gary Ross. Most known for his works Seabiscuit, Pleasantville and a personal favorite, Big, Gary Ross has brought to life a modern sci-fi masterpiece with The Hunger Games. With the film depicting a future society by the name of Panem that contains 12 districts, there is orchestrated chaos shown in this society with the ruled under advanced states of eccentricsm, class wars, the art of survival, sensationalism in the exponentially growing field of reality TV, consumerism as a whole and an oddly placed sense of retribution for a pass rebellion that defines the purpose and intention of The Hunger Games. There is an Alice in Wonderland and Fahrenheit 451 meets Nazi Germany aesthetic that characterizes this juxtaposed society. With these 12 districts in the Panem world, a boy and girl of any age are selected from each for inclusion into the savage Hunger Games. These are public spectacle games where these children fight to the death and the citizens of Panem are forced to watch and respect this aspect of their society. It’s the meeting of the Gladiator spectacles of Rome along with the technological big brother state of 1984; it’s a twisted potential of modern brutality in everyday society. This brutal and relentless game was brought on from a rebellion that occurred in the past and was the governments way of enacting control through fear and entertainment, something that is a deep metaphor for the society we do live in now. I felt like this movie was hinting at problems our society is headed towards, something that has been shrouded from the constant comparison to other films and the amount of “Hollywood” traits defining the movie. The potential reality of our society diving into this deep end is unquestionably real, something this movie touches on from beginning to end.

I had the pleasure of experiencing this new film at the Van Buren Drive-In located in Riverside, CA. It seems like the Drive-In experience has come a long way from my youth when you would stick a box inside of your car window and hope the speaker was working good. With a packed house, The Hunger Games presence on the big, big screen gave this movie a really endearing and huge feeling. The psychological impact of the movie was thrilling as I imagined myself strapped into a real life situation like this, forced to play a game to the death with people I had never met and were actually blood thirsty. Centered around main character Katniss Everdeen, played by actress Jennifer Lawrence, there is a resilience and sense of strength in honor that resides in her character that gives the movie a feeling of hope despite the crushing conditions of society they live under. The way she doesn’t allow the game she is forced into to change her humanity is a romantic look into how one would react in this situation and one that everyone as a society deep down can never let go. The inclusion of Woody Harrelson as a drunken mentor to Katniss comes at the hands of his former victory in the Hunger Games. Known as Haymitch Abernathy, Woody Harrelson does a marvelous job with this film and is one of my favorite characters. The Hunger Games from director Gary Ross is one of the best movies I have seen on the big screen in some time and a film that has left a reminder to the social framework that we have to be mindful of how far fear and destruction take away the morals and ethics that are hardly keeping society attached as is.

-Erik Otis

thehungergames.co.uk

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In a dystopian future, the totalitarian nation of Panem is divided between 12 districts and the Capitol. Each year two young representatives from each district are selected by lottery to participate in The Hunger Games. Part entertainment, part brutal retribution for a past rebellion, the televised games are broadcast throughout Panem. The 24 participants are forced to eliminate their competitors while the citizens of Panem are required to watch. When 16-year-old Katniss’s young sister, Prim, is selected as District 12′s female representative, Katniss volunteers to take her place. She and her male counterpart Peeta, are pitted against bigger, stronger representatives who have trained for this their whole lives. Written by Suzanne Collins