ENCOUNTER – Eight years after the triumph of the Jennifer Lawrence-led saga, Francis Lawrence joins in The Ballad of the Snake and the Songbird a story about the origins of the fearsome President Snow.
In Hollywood, franchises don’t rest in peace for long. Eight years after the last and fourth part of hunger games, Lionsgate returns to Panem The Ballad of the Snake and the Songbird. This prologue, released on Wednesday, is set sixty years before the rebellion of Katniss Everdeen, the heroine of the original films, played by Jennifer Lawrence. The Ballad of the Snake and the Songbird paints a surprisingly youthful portrait of Katniss’ nemesis, President Corionalus Snow, and gives a face to the games’ first winner from disadvantaged District 12, Lucy Gray Baird.
For this return to Panem, Lionsgate turned to expert Francis Lawrence: the director of the last three films Hunger Games. Suffice it to say that the world of writer Suzanne Collins no longer holds any secrets for him. As he confided FigaroIt’s impossible to resist this flashback. “Like many fans, I really wanted to see Suzanne develop the world of Hunger Games even further. When she told me she was going to write this prequel, I was thrilled. The Ballad of the Snake and the Songbird is a fourfold origin story: that of Snow, that of Panem, that of the games, and that of the folklore of District 12, as we discover the meaning of the first name Katniss and her hymn to revolution “The tree of the hanged man,” the filmmaker deciphers.
Rudimentary games
In Suzanne Collins’ dystopia, set in the post-apocalyptic United States, the Capitol Dictatorship rules twelve districts. After an initial rebellion by the bloodily crushed districts, the Capitol keeps them under its yoke through annual bloody circus games in which two young people from each district compete to the death. The winner is the last participant still alive. “The challenge with this prologue is that the games are handcrafted. They have not reached this dimension of the great spectacle. They are rudimentary and take place indoors in the ruins of a stadium. Without the slightest special effects or deadly embellishments designed by the organizers of the games. So it’s even more realistic and brutal.” notes Francis Lawrence. So Lucy is released into an arena littered with rubble, metal bars and concrete blocks. Those brave enough to brave the initial carnage will be offered a few weapons.
To give substance to this Panem, which has barely emerged from war and instability, the director was inspired by post-war Germany, the Berlin of ruins. After I turned around The Ballad of the Snake and the Songbird, he had no trouble finding brutalist-inspired buildings and locations. “It’s not for nothing that the costumes, cars and hairstyles will be reminiscent of the 1940s and 1950s”promises the director.
A miserable Corionalus snow
As in the previous parts, Francis Lawrence paid attention to the intensity of the violence shown on the screen. “Showing bunches of blood, the act of killing, is out of the question. What I wanted to film was the emotional impact of his actions.”. The director is also aware of the ridgeline he is walking on. All fans of The Hunger Games know that Corionalus Snow will not remain this mentor for long, hesitant to embrace the dark side of Hunger Games. Sooner or later the pact and the loving friendship that binds him to Lucy Gray will be betrayed.
Peter Dinklage and Viola Davis, who play the games’ feared organizers, pose alongside Josh Andres Rivera, Tom Blyth, US actress Rachel Zegler, Hunter Schafer, Jason Schwartzman and singer Olivia Rodrigo. VALERIE MACON / –
Keep The Ballad of the Snake and the Songbird Under tension, a different approach is required. “It’s not a matter of when, but rather how and why.” pleads Francis Lawrence. “We meet a young man, played by Tom Blyth, who has not yet formed a conviction. He is a thousand miles away from the powerful man Katniss will fight», he deciphers. «This Snow doesn’t entirely believe the Capitol’s propaganda; he is shocked by the treatment of the honors. He craves power because he is hungry to provide for his family, which has fallen into poverty. What a surprise to discover him surrounded by friends and loved ones and tempted by the resistance!“. And to emphasize: “When we watch Tom in the role of this loser, we quickly forget about the aging tyrant played by Donald Sutherland. We even begin to feel compassion for him».
An anti-Katniss
The other crucial element was Lucy Gray Baird. Camped with vigor through the revelation of West Side Story by Steven Spielberg, Rachel Zegler, who reveals a certain talent for country and guitar, turns out to be just as ambivalent as Snow. A traveling artist, his character earns his living by singing. And he owes his selection to the games to the daughter of the mayor of District 12, who is extremely jealous of him. “Katniss was an excellent hunter with undeniable physical abilities, but very introverted. Lucy is his opposite. An extrovert who enjoys being on stage. She is an actress. She loves to charm, the truth is irrelevant. who would‘Are they or Snow manipulating the other?», s’amuse Francis Lawrence.
If Suzanne Collins’ original trilogy, published in the late 2000s, questioned the severity and trauma of war, The Ballad of the Snake and the Songbird reflects the polarization of our societies, believes Francis Lawrence. And finally: “Is man by nature brutal and doomed to trample on rights, or can he be just? Snow is torn between these two instincts.
