The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes: Review
By Sioph LealWelcome back to the world of Panem, a bleak futuristic America that punishes a rebellion by killing their children in a blood soaked spectacle that the fascist century celebrates. The Hunger Games is still a new feature and only in its tenth year when we return to Panem and we see how the powerful exploit the weaker for their own gain and entertainment. We all know from the previous movies what a cruel force President Snow was but now we see his rise into the ruthless leader with an exceptional performance by Tom Blyth.
Many fans of The Hunger Games movies and books will know just how sadistic and torturous President Coriolanus Snow can be. The origin of Snow’s rise to power is explored in three parts, showing the key moments of Coriolanus Snow’s younger years, all woven together seamlessly. Younger Coriolanus is a completely different character to his older counterpart, but the younger Snow has a lot more intrigue. After the brutal death of his father and having to care for his grandmother and cousin Tigres (Hunter Schafer), Coriolanus’s actions affect his entire family. It is established early on that the future of the Snow’s rest with Coriolanus and plays a part in the different factors that have contributed to the future President Snow. Throughout the movie, young Coriolanus strives hard to achieve his goals and have the Snow family back on top, but no matter how hard he works, how he plays the system; everything that he is promised is taken away, be it love, money or status. Like the tributes of the Games, Coriolanus has to adapt to different arenas and fight for his own survival. Blyth gives a brilliantly layered performance as young Coriolanus Snow, showcasing the many different layers and intelligence to the man that will one day rule and shape Panem. In the original movies Donald Sutherland gave a calm yet menacing performance as Snow and while Blyth makes the character his own, by the end of this movie the emerging shadow of the future comes through in Blyth’s final scene with Peter Dinklage’s Casca Highbottom. Blyth’s iteration of Snow has a compelling dynamic with every character and each shows a different mask the young Snow wears to ensure that snow lands on top.
While The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes focused on Snow’s eventual rise to power, the story could have easily focused on the tragic life of Sejanus Plinth (Josh Andrés Rivera). Born in district two, Sejanus’s family made their fortune during the rebellion, allowing Sejanus’s father to buy his sons freedom from the games by moving them all to the Capitol. The people of his former district hate him for turning to the Capitol, and his peers at the academy see the Plinths as less than for being from a district. Serjanus separates himself from his classmates by viewing the tributes as human beings and the Hunger games as barbaric, while they all, including Snow, see them as animals they must train to perform to further their own careers. The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes is primarily about Coriolanus but also about his relationships with Lucy Gray (Rachel Zegler), and the love story between two brother figures, Corolinus and Serjanus, gives a richer story. Sergsnis's need for the world to be better gets in the way, leading him to be taken advantage of by his friends, rebels, and teachers. He is constantly reminded that he is not truly part of the Capitol but also that he no longer has a place within the districts.
Also on the outskirts of the story is cousin to Coriolanus, Tigres (Hunter Shafer), and despite Tigres’s limited screen time, Schafer gives a warm and beautiful performance while perfectly embodying the empathetic and hopeful character the movie needed. Tigres is the compassionate one of the Snow family; she guides Coriolanus towards solicitude, and when he is away from her influence, he embraces every part of the Capitol and shows hints of his future self. A special mention has to go to Dinklage’s Casca Highbottom, who carries the guilt of creating the games, feels the loss of every tribute, and harbors an unrelenting anger towards the Snow family. Highbottom plays his own game and, as a result, helps shape Snow into the man we see in the future. There are many parallels between Casca and Serjanus, both tragic characters who feel the games deeper than anyone and who have strong influences over Snow.
In the books and previous films, the arena changes locations, has a vast terrain, and almost sets the theme of the games, but that is not the case in The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes. The arena is in the Capitol; it's a dilapidated amphitheater previously used for sporting and entertainment events, so it is fitting that it sets the stage for the Hunger Games. Being used to the different locations and expansive area, it was a worry that this arena would fall flat and lose the unique factors that we have seen previously. However, the area being enclosed and volatile from rebel explosions created a grander sense of violence that was more intimate and brutal. The tributes are enclosed in this small place, and the camera does excellent work of showcasing the desperation and how feral they become in order to survive. The arena and the tributes feel more defined because of this. We see their personalities, their cruelty, and their compassion for how destructive and vulnerable both can be. There is not just violence in there; compassion prevails. Given current events of the world, scenes with Reaper pack an emotional punch as he cries out against the Capitol's cruelty and control over the tributes and districts with their bloodthirsty and authoritative ways that they have no control over, but he remains innocent and shows remorse for the fallen tributes. It is a powerful scene as he rips down the Capitol banner and drapes it over the bodies of their victims. In his actions and Lucy Gray’s arena song, we see that people are momentarily affected by the arena, but in the cruel style of the Hunger Games, the Capitol sees how they can exploit that for their own entertainment.
During the first two parts of the movie, Lucy Gray Baird is more of a supporting character to Corinolius’s story. She is a performer whose voice captured the attention of the Capitol and Coriolanus, and while she may not be physically strong, she uses her voice and her emotional strength to aid her in the run-up to and during the games. Her voice seems to unlock compassion in Coriolanus, who wants to help her survive for his own success as well as a genuine desire to save her. Zegler is well known for her impressive vocal skill, and she showcases it throughout the movie with raw emotion. When covered in a rainbow of destruction, she delivers a powerhouse performance that radiates strength despite the cruel nature of the games. Lucy Gray can be charming for the cameras, bringing the people of the Capitol to her side, but she doesn’t lose her care for others and is seen being affected by the deaths of the other tributes, even ones that try to kill her. Those who liked Finnick during the quarter-final interviews will see Lucy Gray pull off similar maneuvers, but as an act of vengeance to the people responsible for manipulating her being chosen. She is a charming character, able to draw people in and use that to her advantage so smoothly that in the final part of the film, you will wonder if she used her singing not just to charm snakes to her will but also Coriolanus.
In the final third of the movie, viewers get to see more of District 12 through the eyes of a newly enlisted peacekeeper, Coriolanus Snow. When focused on the peacekeeper and military aspects of the district, it works, but once it shifts briefly to the romance being the main focus, it loses pacing and is the weaker part of the movie. A lot of the issues are the pacing in District 12, which feels like it should have been a separate movie to expand on the area, and the ramifications Coriolanus and Serjanus face because of their actions. That being said, by the end of the movie, it makes sense as to why they would rush it, so we can see Coriolanus evolving from who he was with Lucy Gray to the man he is well on his way to becoming. At times, the romance between Lucy Gray and Coriolanus falls flat, mostly in District 12, but it does add to the mystery of whether she was ever in love with Coriolanus or used him as a means to survive and escape. If that is the case, it is never begrudged, given how the Capitol acts towards the people of the districts. In the third act, there is a lack of character from Lucy Gray outside of the arena; Coriolanus seems more affected by the games than Lucy Gray, and it seems as if the games never happened to her. It adds to the feeling that it should have been a second movie to allow that development and characterisation.
The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes expands the world of Panem and offers us a grittier, ruthless world than the original movies had. The areas are smaller, but the characters are bigger. Tom Blyth is exceptional as Coriolanus Snow and gives a layered performance. The world of Panem feels darker in this installment of The Hunger Games, more chaotic with escalated violence, and more focused on the Capitol to show their callous nature and how they hunger for violence as entertainment. Snow sees the world as an arena for the Hunger Games, and he will ensure he is the victor, unafraid of killing his closest companions to ensure Snow lands on top.
The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes releases on 17 November 2023