The highly anticipated movie adaptation of The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes by Suzanne Collins came out on November 17th. TBOSAS is the prequel to the well-loved The Hunger Games trilogy, exploring the background of one of the main antagonists, President Snow. Fans have been eagerly awaiting this movie since it was announced. Although production halted during COVID, the movie has been in the works since before the novel was published in May 2020.
As a longtime fan of The Hunger Games series, I was also super excited to see this movie in theaters. I’ve watched it twice since it was released, once in a normal theater and once in IMAX. I’ll admit some time has passed since I last read The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes, but overall, the movie met (and in many ways, surpassed) my expectations for a Hunger Games film.
Francis Lawrence, who directed the first three Hunger Games movies, returned to adapt TBOSAS. The fine details and parallels that fans loved seeing are still present in the new movie, and so are many callbacks to the original trilogy. One of Suzanne Collins’ most applauded talents is her ability to connect everything in her books, something that must require her to plan for years before the books reach readers’ hands. This ability is proudly displayed in the most recent movie, and while this is a spoiler-free review, I can tell you that so many scenes, dialogues, and concepts from TBOSAS are eerily reminiscent of the rest of the series. The movie takes place 64 years before the events of The Hunger Games, and despite it coming out years after the original books and movies, so many parallels occur between the most recent movie and the older ones in terms of not only filmography but characterization and meaning as well.
The book and movie effectively provide answers for some of the more questioned parts of the original trilogy, as well as showing the origin of many ideas that we know as an integral part of the Hunger Games. Seeing the rise of President Snow years after we saw his fall was important to understanding the true context and motivations behind many parts of the dystopian society Collins wrote about.
Critiques of the movie often mention the lack of the actual “Hunger Games”- less than half of the movie took place during the games, and the parts outside were, admittedly, a little less fleshed-out and more rushed than in the book. For a franchise where the details are so important to understanding the motivations and aspirations of every character, many people were upset that small but important parts of the book were left out in the movie. However, a 517-page book is difficult to adapt, especially considering the small details and subplots that build up the story. Despite their limited screen time, the producers and directors did an amazing job capturing the most important parts of the book that truly and faithfully set the scene for the original Hunger Games trilogy.
Even with the time constraints, the movie still adds up to a hefty 2 hours and 38 minutes. This time is packed with Lucy Gray’s music (performed live on set by Rachel Zegler!), brutal battle scenes, and suspenseful moments that truly put us inside the mind of Panem’s best-known dictator. Despite missing the element of Coriolanus’ internal monologue that the books had, the movie still portrays not only his narcissism and greed but also his desperation and paranoia in a detailed way.
The soundtrack of this movie was also amazing, featuring sweeping instrumentals to accompany scenes of panic, excitement, and sentimentality. It also featured music from Rachel Zegler, who recently starred in Spielberg’s West Side Story (2021) as her first major role. Her voice is perfect for the role and the translation of lyrics to music from the book to the movie was done incredibly well.
The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes translated amazingly from book to movie. Although there were things that could have been done differently or more in-depth, it continued the Hunger Games trilogy’s record of having some of the best book-to-movie adaptations I’ve seen. Fans of The Hunger Games or even just people who like a good movie will love TBOSAS. I’d even suggest going back to watch it a second time so you can really pick apart all the symbolism hidden in every nook and cranny of the film. If you don’t want to purchase a movie ticket, the movie should be out on streaming services sometime next year.
