Spoilers for “The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes”.
In the early 2010s, dystopian fiction took pop culture by storm, as franchises such as “The Hunger Games” and “Divergent” swept people off their feet, transporting them into an alternate universe filled with angst, adventure, and romance.
On November 17, we got to take a step back in time, and “Hunger Games” fans were blessed with the incredible film adaptation of “The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes” (TBOSAS).
TBOSAS is a prequel to the beloved book trilogy we all know and love, featuring the origin story of President Coriolanus Snow, and his torrid, captivating relationship with Lucy Gray Baird. The story centers around Panem’s 10th annual Hunger Games, which is the first tournament where each tribute is assigned a mentor.
In the aftermath of the war, Panem’s citizens are beginning to lose interest in the Games, but through Coriolanus’ mentorship of Lucy Gray, the event begins to turn into the spectacle we see later in the series. The audience sees Coriolanus’ descent into madness, as he was once motivated by the desire to provide for his family and maintain his father’s legacy, but eventually succumbs to his thirst for power.
Coriolanus is determined to come out on top, and in his attempt at success, he manages to adapt the whole concept of the Hunger Games, commercializing them and dehumanizing the tributes. Before his involvement, the games were just a couple hours long, a brief and devastating battle that Panem’s citizens could forget about for the other 365 days of the year.
But once Coriolanus implements his own policies for the games, such as the idea of sponsorships, betting on the tributes, and personal interviews with each tribute that are broadcasted to the entire country, the event transforms into a permanent threat to Panem’s citizens; they will always be under the Capitol’s iron grip.
However, Coriolanus would’ve never become the monster he is without his convoluted, compulsive obsession with Lucy Gray. Initially, he looks down on her due to her District 12 lineage, but throughout the story, we watch him become captivated by her beautiful voice and charming personality. However, their relationship is tainted by her involvement with the Games, as Coriolanus cheats to help her win.
Even after Lucy Gray remains the sole victor, Snow is obsessed with controlling her, taking on the role of her protector and killing anyone who could cause her harm. However, once they run away at the end of the film, Lucy Gray realizes that the man she loves is untrustworthy and flees from his grasp, never to be seen again.
Rachel Zegler’s portrayal of Lucy Gray is phenomenal. Not only does she have a hauntingly stunning voice, but she sang live for every musical performance in the film. The pure, unfiltered emotion she conveys while singing is unforgettable, and she captures the essence of Lucy Gray’s charm, ambition, and mysterious demeanor perfectly.
Her depiction struck a chord with me at the end of the Games, when Lucy Gray is covered in snakes, looking the cameras dead in the eye, and singing, “I’ll bring the news when I’ve danced off my shoes/When my body’s closed down/When my boat’s run aground/When I’ve tallied the score/And I’m flat on the floor right here/In the old therebefore/When nothing is left anymore.”
Zegler truly embodies the pure desperation and strength of Lucy Gray. Furthermore, her chemistry with Tom Blyth, Coriolanus’ actor, is unmatched, and there are countless moments throughout the film where it feels like they are truly in love.
Blyth perfectly represents Coriolanus’ sly, charming nature, and there are several points in the story where you even sympathize with his character. He’s extremely flawed, but at the end of the day, he uses every single woman he knows as a stepping stone, manipulating them in order to reach his goal of becoming president of Panem.
As someone who did not read the book before watching the film, TBOSAS was an incredible film that definitely satisfies anyone who is a fan of the franchise. There are a multitude of references to concepts from the original trilogy, from Coriolanus’ fixation on roses to the consistent mention of the plant Katniss, and even a few familiar names from “The Hunger Games”.
However, the film did miss out on a lot of content from the source material, and the book goes into a lot more detail regarding Snow’s inner monologue, his cousin Tigris, his fellow peers at the academy, and the time that he spends with Lucy Gray’s covey in District 12.
Nonetheless, “The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes” fully met up to my expectations, and cemented that at the end of the day, Snow will always land on top.