The Ballard of Songbirds and Snakes was INTERESTING, let's talk about it (book vs movie) *spoilers*

hey guys it's your girl dorum student singer song and everything else in between and welcome back to my channel so get in here because we don't have the time for a big intro okay so I recently just literally last night saw the ballot of songbirds and snakes and I'm not over it I won't be over it for a while so let's get in here let's talk I'm going to say right now this is going to be a spoiler review so if you haven't seen the movie go watch the film and then come back to this for further commentary because after you watch the film you will want to discuss it mhm you will without further Ado let's get into it period Soul break Soul I'm going to briefly talk about the things that happened in the film and the comparison with the book if you guys want the recap of what actually happens in the books you can watch part one part two will be coming later this week and after that I'm also going to talk about the things I missed and likeed slash didn't like so part one focuses on snow becoming a mentor for Lucy gay in the games and also how that kind of builds up basically it's the first it's the first out of three acts in the film and it builds up on the character of corus his family his life his living situation and the fact that his family doesn't have any money but he's just pretending because of the snow name right all this I covered in my recap one of the few things that I definitely did like is how the movie was split into three parts it stays true to the books which I really really like that was a lovely detail the movie first starts out with snow and tigers um sort of briefing on the war that was between the capital and the Rebels the one thing I did like is that they definitely touch a little bit more on corus's father who like because in the books we don't really get much besides like his father was like an officer or Commander or something but in the movie they actually give it a little bit more depth in which they discuss that yeah Cory elen's father wasn't that great of a man TBH which I like the one thing I wish they really did in the opening scenes was to emphasize the importance of Tigress because I feel like Tigress did get a little bit sidelined in the movie like her significance and her importance right they do touch on it a little bit like how they don't really have anything in the fridge you need to eat before the reaping etc etc because tigis I mean in the book and this is a trigger warning to everyone but it is implied a lot of the times in the book in the actual like first chapter that Tigress had to definitely sell her charms her body for the Grandam to be able to eat and for corus to be able to eat and that's something corena even questions when it comes to making his shirt like how did she get the materials to do such things etc etc it's so important because it parallels how the wom in Snow's lives have had to sacrifice so much and even though he's been through it like the woman have been through it more that's such a it's such an interesting parallel How woman play such an important role in his life but that wasn't really Amplified in the movie and that's something I did want there to be a line about or something to say maybe an inner monologue at the same time this movie was very long it was almost three it was 2 hours 56 minutes or something so I understand that they couldn't put everything in but that was something I did find quite interesting another thing that I found quite interesting is the plinth prize so in the movie from like the first scene the plinth prize is me men and how snow is relying on winning the plinth prize due to his outstanding grades with that prize money the his family can eat and have a more sustainable life basically and then he could also go to university I'm surprised how early they brought that in and this is going to go into something that I want to talk about later about the pacing of the film but I was surprised that they brought that in quite early because it wasn't like that in the books I'm not completely mad at it because I can also understand if the writers wanted to just give a little umph to the story because it's already been out for the last 10 years so I completely understand that I do think it takes away the significance of how s janus's father uses money to sort of like make up for S janus's problems because the plint pies was not introduced that early in the books in fact it comes way later when the games are happening changing the motivation from oh I just want to go to University versus oh I want to go to university and there's money involved really gives the story a different sort of perspective and kept it a little bit refreshing because I was like oh okay let's see how they now maneuver this in I do feel it takes away from that part from sanus but then again like am I completely mad at it no one thing I also wanted to talk about is pacing especially and it's extremely significant in the First Act and in the third act so in part one and part three this part one I realized very quickly that they were trying to speed up things so that they can get to the part of The Hunger Games itself and the part later on where snow really gets sort of corrupted as a character more and more and more but the thing is sometimes it did feel like the pacing was a little too fast and this is something that's going to come up but for example a lot of the characters are introduced extremely early saw that they were trying to like speed it up to get everyone's character introduced very very quickly I um noticed that they did that with also with with sanus sanus and his mom who also by the way I feel like ma was also quite sideline because ma had a bigger role in the books and she's like one of the biggest sweethearts but we only saw her for like 5 seconds and then she was gone so Janus in this opening scene was supposed to tell Cory El lenus that the capital wanted to introduce taxes and that's why eventually they would have to evict their house because they couldn't afford it anymore but that wasn't introduced in the early scenes so that's what I mean with the pacing it felt like they were trying to just like get everybody involved so that we can start with the drama immediately also um Lucy Gray's entrance was very very interesting um simply because it is a I'm going to be extremely honest it was a weird scene it was weird to see happen in real life but also in the books it's the same Lucy gray is called out in the reaping when she comes out you know the snake leaves her well I think she either throws the snake or the snake escapes her dress and into mayfair's outfit and Mayfair screams and mayor lip slaps her which is all like it's all Canon the one part that I never even really sat with me in the books was how a child starts singing in the in like the middle of the reaping which I okay then Lucy gay takes over from that singing which they kept too in the movie did that make that scene any less cringe no one thing I also picked up on was Lucy Grace southern accent because she's cvy it gives her something different it gives or something interesting it's not really criticism but it's something I noticed is that when Rachel zler like tries to imitate that like Southern accent sometimes with her facial movements and with like the bottom of her jaw um it becomes very evident that a Southern accent is not very natural to her and that's okay I can't like necessarily judge her on that but sometimes it was a little noticeable but honestly like kudos to her I wasn't mad about her performance I thought it was good there are some moments where I was like okay but we'll get on to her performance and Lucy gray herself later on one thing that I do have a controversial opinion on and you guys can let me know down in the comments I do feel like Lucy Gray's portrayal while like again they're trying to keep it fresh and you know trying to modernize it a little bit I did feel that Lucy gray in the books had more mystery than the Lucy gray in the film I don't really know how to explain it but sometimes I did feel like they were trying a little too hard with the bad assery when it comes to Lucy gray and not letting that Mystique of her to be implied for example in the reaping Lucy gray does not say kiss my ass at the at the reaping itself that's very brave um but she just sings and she lets the crowd take it in and they're so moved that even the peacekeepers cannot touch her for a little bit and everyone is like oh my god wow does snow think that she's kind of insane yes but he also immediately admires her and that wasn't very well translated in this scene specifically it felt like okay okay girl there's so much happening much at the same time and that's also what ties in with the pacing of the film if the scenes were not so fastpaced then perhaps we would get time to develop in that but sometimes it just went too fast but let me know what you guys think in the comments below it could just be me but sometimes I was like eh well all so anyway we continue and Corina snow goes to visit Lucy gray he follows them into the cage and then they're all dropped from the cage into the monkey bars I really loved that scene I really L that scene I thought it showed how the both of them really became the iconic performing Duo of panm also one thing I did like about the tributes relationship was Reaper Ash and Dill because in the book Reaper Ash is kind of St offish and he's just like really brutal but here it showed that he is still a kid even though he had to grow up in a sort of adversive environment but his relationship with dill and that kind of like sisterly brotherly Bond was really hurtful to see dissipate eventually in the movie but that I love that the give the tribute just more things to do and more things to say so I definitely love that addition I do definitely wish that they gave more Mentor meetings and I'll explain why in a bit so in the movie they all like are sitting in this like like circular build s thing situation I don't know what to call it and they're all discussing the games and what could be add it and what could be added to make people want to watch the games the thing is is that there's only one of those scenes and these meeting are super important because they built upon things and themes that come later in the film and also in the book and because the film only had one scene again this is where I criticized the pacing because it didn't really build as much as it should have when they were inside that little meeting they were talking about like how can they improve the games and Dr G was there who we'll talk about in a second and suddenly out of nowhere Cory elanus is like Cory elanus it it sort of feels like because of the pacing Cory elanus like already knows what to say and he's like how about we place bets on the games for people to to be interested but originally it takes time for Cory elanus to get there and it takes a discussion and there's other students in the classroom as well who put their brains together and I felt like that was definitely missing and that could have built on to something to show more the perspective of the capital kids and also how Dr Gul uses her intellect each time around to seep into their mind but again I this is also almost a three-hour movie so yeah which Speaking of Dr G I think that Viola Davis is an amazing actress when I saw her that she was going to play Dr G I was like yeah okay I could totally see it happening either her or Helena Botham Carter I did like Davis's performance as Dr G I did think she gave a different kind of Dr G like Dr G in the books was eerily steadily creepy but also still mysterious but Dr G in this one was a little bit more silly not silly and goofy but like yeah just a little like 5% Siler which was an interesting interpretation but I'm not mad at it like I I think because eventually we get to find out Dr G's motives more and more and her obsession with power and control and so they definitely took a different angle with VI Davis's performance but I still loved it and the one eye that's a different color from the other eye because that wasn't like you don't get that much um description on Dr G's physique so I think that was also like an interesting interpretation she's still creepy nonetheless so she's done what she needed to do and that's on period but I did think it's a different interpretation of Dr G also one person I quickly wanted to give a shout out to that was also sidelined in the film again I think it's because the pacing was clemencia the actress who plays clemencia stunning gorgeous beautiful period but the the way the film was it made clemena seem like an ultimate brat who wanted to take coralus aside only because he was known as a snow but that's not fully what clemencia does in the book she she wasn't trying to like take all the power and recognition from snow because in the film um when snow makes the assignment um that Dr G or like the proposal that Dr GA asks for um clemencia in the books tells snow that she hadd been crying because me in past and she just didn't have time to do it so what's on the what's on the paper give me the headlines and snow actually tries to actively cover for her but in the film they take this other direction where clemencia actually stands in front of him and she's like oh it was all my idea no I don't know how I feel about that and also the reason I feel a little bit weird about that is because clemencia story ties into the games and that's not really addressed in the film and and I'll also talk about it in the games but basically clenia after being bitten by the snakes that that Dr go makes her put her hand through in the little like aquarium tub thing clemencia not only goes to the hospital but eventually has some extremely bad side effects that causes half her body to turn into like a reptile's body which is insane and it freaks out corilanus right because of the fact that she has to be isolated because she got bitten by these snakes nobody is able to visit her in the hospital and she is not allowed to see anybody either so she thinks everybody abandoned her in the hospital but the truth is in real life nobody knew what happened to her not even her parents when she gets into the games she punishes her own tribute and a weird way to get back cor lenus because she feels like corenas abandoned her that really affects the tribute Reaper Ash later in The Hunger Games my boy Reaper deserved a little bit more mention here because clemencia and the book starved Reaper Ash for a very long time we're going to get into the part of The Hunger Games in a little bit but I just wanted to discuss that okay I will say I think the special effects were amazing I think the coloring was gray I think besides Lucy Gray's wig cuz that wig wasn't looking okay okay besides everything like that I think the costuming was great I thought like the special effects the Aesthetics of the film were amazing but it did also make me wonder what era um is The Hunger Games made in because it's funny because they were kind of going for like a 1950s 1960s Vibe with the cameras and the telephone and the television that is like you know shaped like a 60s television that you would normally see in a' 60s themed film and the trains were also rickety and old but at the same time they also have security cameras and state-of-the-art recording equipment do you know what I mean okay but anyways let's move on to part two the games okay the games are brutal the games are brutal the games are so brutal and I forgot how violent The Hunger Games can be sometimes until I watched it and I was like ah no also one thing I do have to say is wovie wovie deserves so much better I don't know who cast wovie yeah but that hurt my heart I heard people cry when wovi died yeah yeah whoever did that illegal lamina also not being the straightup killer like she was portrayed in the books really added a layer of depth and understanding because man that had me crying it had me crying I won't lie to you but the one thing I also did like is that they fleshed out Coral because Coral Tanner and mizen were the most brutal in the book and the fact that they gave them roles I really did like that and there was more interaction um between them the one part that I didn't like was um when sanus snuck into the arena Dr G confronts Cory elanus about sanus sneaking into the arena when he was still at Heaven's be Hall I thought that was an interesting choice originally SJ janus's mother actually shows up to corus's home and meets the Grandam and Tigress and then they're like consoling her because she can't can't find her son and then after they're consoling her and it's a little bit awkward she looks on the television and she sees that her boy sanus has snuck in to the to the arena that's what originally happens in the books and they didn't really follow that in the film I would have loved to see that I would have loved to see the interaction with everybody else and Ma because ma plays a significant role later on and also towards the end as they decide to adopt cor lenus like I feel like that should have been mentioned but okay and the one part that was really unsatisfactory when it came to the game games towards the end of the games was when Reaper Ash dies as a result of the snake bites I didn't like that that was the only part where I was like you should have given my man more screen time so what happens is that Reaper Ash um in the movie also starts to take the bodies and puts them together but in the books he already started doing that from the beginning and he interacted with lamina as well there was a lot more interactions that I think were somewhat important but also that in the books Lucy gray had to do this thing where she actually made sure that Reaper um ran constantly around the arena to Tire him out so that he would get thirsty and then drink water that was poisoned that didn't happen in the movie in fact in the movie it's like the remainder tributes beside Lucy gray were just eaten alive by the snakes and I didn't feel like that was very satisfactory because that took away from Lucy Gray's moment and one thing I did like that they did is that like Reaper Ash had a moment where he was collecting the bodies and he actually spoke towards the camera and then that moment was caught by Dr Gaul showing how like these children are still kids and Dr Gaul is using this situation as propaganda and because reer Ash's mov was so powerful so I did like that they did that but I really felt like the game should have been extended for the amount of of time they should have been extended I don't like the fact that all the snakes ate up all the tributes later on I don't know how I feel about that personally but I did like Reaper Ash's moment I did I did um also Lucy gay singing moment was fantastic fantastic I I know that they were supposed to circle around her dress they did that as well and all of her body fantastic that was most of my commentary on the games before we get onto part three I do want to mention something that I think should have been worked on more was the chemistry between Lucy gray and coral lenus now I feel like this movie because of the pacing did not build up corus's and Lucy Gay's romance early enough there was something that was supposed to happen Cory lenus and Lucy gry were to kiss before she went into the games and in the film Lucy gray tries to kiss cor lenus and it doesn't work which was interesting because cor elanus originally was the one who was super infatuated with Lucy gray don't know if it's just me but let's take an example in the books Cory elanus is constantly thinking about Lucy gray and he really like becomes super obsessive about her and jealous about her and controlling about her in the books and that's just kind of touched upon when Lucy gray sings her song in the film but because it's not really established and Built Well in the earlier scenes it kind of feels weird and when she tries to kiss him in the movie I was actually glad that they didn't kiss because it didn't feel like the right time it really did not build until later in the film when he became a peacekeeper that's when I felt chemistry like properly between them but in the early scenes I was kind of like uh girl you sure you want to do that like okay also another thing that I wanted to touch upon was the building of Snow's character I definitely felt like the movie the way it went and especially with the pacing of the film the movie builds him as like this sort of bratty kid who's just trying to live his life and like pay his bills and then eventually when he becomes a peacekeeper he goes into madness but I think that gives Cory lenus too much credit because Cory elanus originally was a menace to society from day one and I think the movie did not emphasize enough how horrible Cory elanus really is in his own head how manipulative and how arrogant how entitled and self-absorbed coralus is and especially the theme of control which I'll get to in part three of the Peacekeeper but control is so important to coinus and that's not really discussed in the movie I don't know if they're they're trying a more sympathetic view for corus in the film but Cory lenus does not deserve sympathy like in his head in the books like he and he thinks about controlling her and he says things like I wish she was still in the capital like after she's released from the Hunger Games I wish she was still in the capital so that it would be easier to just have ax her CU when she's no longer in the capital she's free like that's that's something a narcissistic person would say or a psychopath I'm not even sure and also another part that ties into that was Cory elanus and San's friendship this is the one thing I did really like and I felt like could have been built up upon in the movie um Cory elanus does mention that he tolerates sanus and the hate for sanus is established quite early on in the film outside of that um it sort of makes things feel like like cor lenus and him were friends and then he just betrayed a friend right that's what it looks like well to some degree and again this could just be me and the book talking I really wish that they built upon the fact that corus never likes to Janus from the beginning in fact corus doesn't like sanus and was jealous of sanus for a very very long time because s janus's father got rich from the war from making Anum missions in a specific district and corus's father and their family lost their money in District 13 that's not really touched upon in the movie and I feel like that depth could have been added in some shape or form in the rest of the film for sure it's so horrible how Cory lanus thinks of Janus sometimes you know what I mean and it shows his slow descent into Madness by forming his original thoughts about life and how bratty and how entitled he is and how he thinks the capital is better than everything else and that's not really touched upon in the movie I feel like they could have done that a little bit more um for example corol lenus um even though he hates the Janus in the books what he does to get sanus to confess about his plans with the rebels or the people from The Districts etc etc is that he tells s Janus like oh like you're my brother like I see you like a brother which in corus's mind was not true he only said that to just like because he knew sanus would fall for it and sanus did fall for it but in the movie that wasn't really done so let's talk about part three cuz I have some interesting uh opinions so part three starts with snow being a peacekeeper after the games and I did notice that they skipped out a lot of the jeury parts about being a peacekeeper this is exactly what I mean with the pacing corol lenus says to sanus which we're going to talk about that in a second but he says to sanus like I was thinking of ending it all but you don't really know why and how deep it is because you don't really see him go through the motions of being a peacekeeper every single day I feel like they could have done like a little Montage of how empty the Peacekeeper life is maybe like constantly make can do all the mopping and do all the chores and do all the dishwashing and then you see it like over and over in a montage and then it makes you want to go insane and that's why he's feeling like super suicidal because he's like okay this is my life now this is all there is and I wish they could have touched upon that because it didn't really hit as much as it should have right also secondly sanus was not supposed to be introduced that early he was not supposed to be introduced that early into the Peacekeeper life he was not supposed to be there that early and one thing that was missing which ties into what I've been saying about ma is that when sanus shows up what Ma does is that she sends like sanus a box of goodies and cakes and just just delicious because she's a great cook and she's a Great Baker and she sends that to sanus every time and everybody in the Peacekeeper like field is super happy and they're like yay and they actually use the food to barter things um in order for Cory elanus to get a ticket to see Lucy gray at the hob that wasn't really touched upon and I wish they did that because like SJ janus's ma like she plays such a fun role in SJ janus's life in this whole entire story and it also ties down to Cory Linus's ability to have a fortune in the first place one thing that I I think was very much missing in this part three was the importance of the jabber Jays versus the Mocking Jays so what the film did is that they actually introduced snow to the jabber Jays in Dr G's lab when he went goes back for stitches and he sees the jabber Jays and he's like what are those and then Dr G tells him about the failed experiment right thing is is that while I thought that was an interesting choice I did not like how they skip past it in the Peacekeeper era because see the jabber Jays were like Capital made Birds to be able to record people but the Jabra Jays were released into the wild or into the district and they eventually made it with mocking birds and then they made Mocking Jays Mocking Jays cannot repeat the sounds of words but they can repeat like harmonies and like song basically um while jabber Jays actually just record people in the books one of the things that shows Snow's descend to Madness with symbolism is actually the symbolism of the mocking jay because snow does not like the Mocking Jays in fact he hates hates them so much that he ask the commander to make them Target sh practice because he hates them so much and Lucy gray um doesn't agree with corilanus on his hate for the Mocking Jays and the reason that he hates the Mocking Jays in the first place is because they are not controlled because they are like a mix between the Mocking Bird and the jabber J snow doesn't like that because it feels like it's an Abomination and that's out of control and that ties into his constant KNE for control which turns him into the psychopath that he already partly was later in the book and that symbolism could have been more powerful for sure because snow really hates mocking Jas really hates them but in the movie that wasn't really touched upon like that they were just uses instruments later on but it also ties into the whole like saying that Lucy gray had it's not over until the Mocking Bird Sings I feel like they missed that opportunity with the symbolism I feel like that could have been like a little symbolism hint there also for the future for The Hunger Games you know because it's a prequel one thing that I really really did like about the ending scenes the confrontation between Lucy gray and corilanus right because in the books it's never actually fully clear how it goes down because you're in corus's POV but the movie did a great job because um what Cory lanus did is that he gave Lucy gray this orange scarf that was his mother's and the book I don't think that really ever happens but in the movie it adds so much more significance because as she leaves a scarf on the ground when she escapes finds it on the ground and then a snake comes to bite him it's so much more significant because it's like oh this is something I gave you that was my mother's and of course only you would plant a snake with something that I've given you that symbolizes the love for my mother right like that's that's something that's super powerful so I did like how they do that and they I like how they showed the slow distrust between Lucy gray and Cory lenus especially when he finds the weapons and they have that little like tension moment and you know they're both lying to each other that was great that was everything I loved that that was really really really good and I loved how they like played with the illusion of Lucy gay how like we saw her figure and her silhouette I loved how they showed her to the way but then there was more body that was so good beautiful ending scene love that all in all I thought it was a great film I'm definitely going to give it a 7 and 1/2 out of 10 let me know what you guys felt down in the comments below also talk about the things that you that I didn't mention cuz these are all just my notes if you guys have any more comments let me know we can discuss it down below because I am not over this film I don't think I'll be over it for a while I will see you guys in the next video also um I will be dropping the recap part two very very soon uh so for everyone wants to like watch that and you don't have access to the audio book you can watch that let me know Down Below in the comments what you guys would like to see from me and that's it for me okay bye

Channel: Deborah The Explorer

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Keywords: hunger games songbirds snakes, hunger games ballad of songbirds and snakes, hunger games ballad of songbirds and snakes trailer, hunger games ballad of songbirds and snakes trailer reaction, ballad of songbirds and snakes review, ballad of songbirds and snakes review spoilers, the hunger games the ballad of songbirds and snakes review movie

Id: q40VtNfA674

Length: 26min 52sec (1612 seconds)

Published: Sun Nov 19 2023