By VANESSA SKILDUM
The Ballad Of Songbirds and Snakes is a prequel to the famous Hunger Games series by Suzanne Collins. It is told from the perspective of eighteen-year-old Coriolanus Snow before he becomes President of Panem. It takes place during the tenth annual Hunger Games which have students from the Academy mentor the tributes. Snow’s tribute happens to be Lucy Gray Baird, the girl from District 12.
The book comes in as a 16-hour-long audiobook and has 528 pages. Looking just at the numbers, that is a lot of action to fit into the 2-hour and 38-minute movie. However, the translation from book to movie was done beautifully. It did not disappoint in the slightest.
To start off the casting was done excellently. Each actor and actress did a wonderful job portraying their character and embodied them exactly how I envisioned them. I was especially impressed with Viola Davis’s portrayal of Dr. Volumnia Gaul. She was utter perfection. Jason Schwartzman’s character Lucretius “Lucky” Flickerman was a perfect predecessor to Caesar Flickerman from the original trilogy.
Music was a major part of this installment as Lucy Gray Baird is a member of the Covey, a musical group. The book provides many songs that were in the movie. Rachel Zegler, the actor portraying Lucy Gray, actually sang live during the scenes. In doing so the emotion came across in a way it can’t when it is being lip-synced to.
The scenes that were pulled from the book were done in an extremely accurate way. They keep the scenes that are important to the story of the book, and the changes they made did not take away from the original message. A thing I was personally thrilled about was the dialogue. A lot of it was actually directly taken from the book, not just the important lines that appear throughout. Minor conversations that took place in the book also take place in the movie.
A concern I had going in was how they were going to portray some of Snow’s choices. His internal monologue within the book showcases the two-sidedness of his character, and without that, I was worried that the intention of his actions would not come across. Tom Blyth, the actor portraying Snow, did a wonderful job of coming across as cunning and one step ahead. His facial expressions and body language were perfect and brought the desired effect.
This is definitely one of my favorite book-to-movie adaptations within the Hunger Games world. I think they captured the post-war Panem perfectly. It provides a clear direction for how the games got to where they are by the time Katniss Everdeen comes into play for the 74th Hunger Games.
Every minute kept me invested. As someone who normally struggles to make it through long movies, this one was not an issue. I even wished it was longer in order to dive more into certain parts. The pacing of the movie was fast in order to fit everything in. As a result, some things were brushed over which might leave people who have not read the book wondering why they are doing certain things. It is not required that you read the book to enjoy the movie, but I do recommend doing so.
The cast did a wonderful job of telling the story of young Coriolanus Snow. My expectations walking in were exceeded, and I walked out of the theater beyond satisfied. Whether you are a diehard Hunger Games fan or not it is an excellent movie, one definitely worth watching.
Featured Image Credit: Pittsburgh Magazine
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