The Hunger Games

THE HUNGER GAMES

Directed by Gary Ross

Based on novel written by Suzanne Collins

With Jennifer Lawrence, Josh Hutcherson, Woody Harrelson, Stanley Tucci, Elizabeth

Banks, Toby Jones Lenny Kravitz, and Donald Sutherland

     “The Hunger Games” may have just opened but it is bound to be a cult classic.  With breakneck pacing, it tells an absolutely riveting story of violence, slaughter and survival.  “The Hunger Games” is based on a popular teen trilogy written by Suzanne Collins who also collaborated on the script.  The film is loaded with references to, among other things,

gladiator battles, chariot races, the Weimer Republic, even American Idol.

     It has been 74 years since some apocalyptic event has leveled almost everything on earth.  In this new totalitarian world called Panem, most people live in squalid “Districts” and must bargain and quarrel for food.  The wealthy elite are decadent hedonists who wear exaggerated hair styles and garish silks and velvets. They spend their time eating, drinking and partying. Theirs is a gleaming and glorious city. Avuncular President Snow (Donald Sutherland) oversees everything.

      To keep the districts in order, there are annual games.  Two adolescents, called ‘Tributes’ are selected by lottery on “Reaping Day” from each of 12 districts to be the contestants.  The object of the game is for them to stone, slice and/or beat each other to death until only one remains alive.  The first prize is a life without starvation.  The story focuses on the Twelfth District’s Katniss (Jennifer Lawrence) who belongs to the lowest of classes, coal miners.  She is selected as one of the two Tributes for that district.  The other is Peeta (Josh Hutchinson) .

     Haymitch Abernathy (Woody Harrelson) and Cinna (Lenny Kravitz) groom the two contestants for display for the elite.  All contestants are dropped into a wilderness arena.  The ensuing chases and killings are captured for display on gigantic flat screen TVs as cheery entertainments for the elite.  Watching is mandatory for all members of the 12 Districts. The ‘game makers’ use computer touch screens to create fireballs, savage beasts, explosions to make the games more fun to watch.. Unctuous bright blue haired Cesar Flickerman (Stanley Tucci) is the ringmaster.  Everyone in the privileged class is having fun.

     “The Hunger Games” moves lickitysplit as the teens conspire to kill one another.  There are riveting moments when they run through the forest, tumble down hills, lie in waiting to slay one another.  Kandiss proves to be a steely survivalist.  But she also has a heart,

which makes her vulnerable.

     The Hunger Games is a provocative entertainment.  The parallels between the Games and reality TV are clear.  The timely themes of greed and elitism (the “one Percent”) are here.  Director Gary Ross does not focus on the blood and gruesome killings.  Every now and then he very briefly shows the aftermath of a kill, but the faces of the deceased are almost angelic.  He keeps this film moving, and his casting is impeccable.

     Jennifer Lawrence as Kandiss is the heart of “The Hunger Games.”  She positively shines in this role.  Woody Harrelson is perfect as her drunken mentor.  Stanley Tucci clearly had a ball overacting as the campy commentator. And Donald Sutherland couldn’t be bested as the stodgy President of privilege. 

     The story is not a new one, but the theme of the oppressed vs. the privileged has never been so imaginatively portrayed.  It is much more than a kids’ movie.  “The Hunger Games” is a dazzling, creative and intelligent entertainment.  There is a good reason why it is breaking spring box office records.

In Darkness

In Darkness

Directed by Agnieszka Holland

With Robert Wieckiewicz, Benno Furman, Agieszka Grochowsha, Michal Zuraski and Kinga Preis

There are hundreds of stories about the Jews and the Holocaust, however it remains nearly impossible for us to sense the miseries they suffered. In director Agnieska Holland’s film “In Darkness,” you experience the hellishness and terror of existence of a small a group of Jews in Poland during World War II. The film was nominated for an Academy Award for best foreign film this year.

Imagine living in a noxious sewer infested with rats, filth, stink and unyielding dampness, shrouded in darkness for 14 months. In 1943 in Lvov, Poland, as thousands of Jews were being rounded up to be shot to death or herded into death camps, one small group of 14 escaped to a sewer. This is a chronicle of what happened.

They form an unlikely alliance with Leopold Socha (Robert Wieckiewicz), an anti-Semitic Catholic sewer worker who understands the maze of the sewers like no one else. Socha is a petty thief who steals and hides his loot from his wife, Wanda (Kinga Preis). He discovers the Jews cowering in the sewer and senses a business opportunity. 

They offer to pay him a huge sum each week if he will provide them with food, water and other necessities. The film shows the shift in his sentiments from capitalizing on their misery to genuine and selfless concern for them and their well being.

“In Darkness” shows how this trapped group tries to live a “normal” life. The few children play games and sing, there are religious services, there is sexual activity. They, although horribly filthy and living in sewer sludge, manage to maintain their dignity.

Socha has to keep them hidden one step ahead of the suspicious Germans. The close calls are totally unnerving to watch. “In Darkness” has all the elements of a thriller. You don’t know what will happen next.

Director Agniezska Holland captures the wretchedness of the group’s underground existence. Much of her movie takes place in oppressive darkness.

The film seems all the more authentic because Holland has filmed it in the three languages used: Polish, German and Yiddish. The characters often don’t understand each other, as it would have happened. All actors do convincing work. Robert Wieckiewicz’s Socha illustrates the complexity of human behavior. In very small shifts his sentiments change as he becomes more humane.

“In Darkness” provides an unflinching and honest look at a horrifying event. It is spellbinding to watch, capturing the aura of what these people endured. It can be tough to watch, but it is worth it.