Thoughts on the First Trailer for Sunrise on the Reaping

It’s nearly a year until the release of the film adaptation of Sunrise on the Reaping, the second prequel to Suzanne Collins’s Hunger Games trilogy. Of course, as we’ve already discussed here, the novel is a powerful look into the trauma that shaped Haymitch Abernathy, sleeper rebel agent and mentor to Katniss Everdeen and Peeta Mellark. The Hollywood Gamemakers, however, are not wasting any time ramping up the PR machine with plenty of the old “razzle dazzle” that Plutarch Heavensbee appreciates. Just a few days ago, Lionsgate released a brief teaser trailer calculated to drive the fans wild, but it also has some interesting points to consider. Although this film will doubtless, like the others, have some serious missteps, it will be interesting to look into the choices made by the filmmakers, people who apparently don’t know or care that their creations justify Collins’s scathing criticism of an entertainment-driven culture that mercilessly abuses and sacrifices its darlings. Join me after the jump for  three (of course) quick thoughts on the trailer and what we might expect from the film next year.

 

1. Visuals that work…and don’t

One of the issues with the visual media of film adapting the print media of a book is the way in which visuals do or do not match up with or interpret the text. Sometimes, when an author has been vague on a detail, film can create a nice interpretation that fits well with the textual focus. Other times, what appears on the screen can jar with what the author is doing on the page.

In this new trailer, there are a few images that are fascinating. My favorite so far is Drusilla Sickle being wheeled in on a dolly, evidently due to the ridiculous high heels that Maysilee Donner will critique mercilessly (and accurately, as they do eventually lead to Drusilla’s literal fall). Although her costume is somewhat different from the text, with what looks like a crow on her head instead of a tall hat reminiscent of a band uniform, the military and sassy combo is there, with three medals that look like fashion accents, not actual accolades, and the bird headpiece is good fit with the themes and symbols of these stories that also mirrors the big Capitol seal behind her as she is rolled up to the reaping bowls. Best of all, on  that dolly, she likely puts most viewers, myself included, in mind of Hannibal Lecter being wheeled around in Silence of the Lambs. Whether it is intentional or not, it’s a good connection.

The tributes’ arena clothing is also somewhat different from the text, with white ponchos and pants, and the distinctive district colors just used on the shirts and trim. The white is nice, though, as it stands out against the scenery. Oddly enough, one tribute, Panache, pulls off his poncho and drops it while they wait for the gong to sound. According to Katniss, the mines should have blown him up, like they did the girl she remembered dropping her token on the plate.  Several of the shots involve the tributes at the bloodbath, revealing that the cornucopia for this movie looks just as silly as the ones in the previous films. Maybe it’s because these films come out at Thanksgiving, and the movie people don’t want the pilgrim decoration motif to be too obvious, but they keep making these things look less and less like a cornucopia, although Collins specifically describes them as thus.

There are a few shots of middle-aged Snow, young Plutarch, young Effie, and the Reaping in 12, all of which give the impression that the visual design team is going for a 1960s took for this film, something I suspected from the descriptions in the novel (the building where the tributes stay has pretty standard 1960s décor). That makes sense with the 1920s look of Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes. It also allows for some nice touches, like Effie’s net-like headpiece and the very 1960s-looking butterfly necklace she wears. The filmmakers are likely also saluting the butterfly dress she wears in Catching Fire, showing the circle from Effie’s first year working with 12 until the last.

District 12 itself, matching up more with the last four films than the book, looks like a textile or steel town, not a coal-mining one. I don’t know what all those pipes are supposed to be for, but that is not even what a coal processing plant from the 1960s looks like (there was one on my granny’s road. I remember it well) But the use of fog, in the transition to the arena, is a nice touch, referencing Lenore Dove’s affection for fog, the “friend of the condemned.” Ironically, much of the scenery, particularly the arena, is very obviously CGI, and possibly AI. Considering the whole series’ indictment of artificiality, that is interesting.

2. Continuity Compliments and Concerns

Since the folks making this movie are clearly trying to match it up with the other films, rather than the books, I do have a few continuity concerns. Thankfully, they have decided to depict Snow without a beard. As handsome as Donald Sutherland is with one (and as much as I generally like beards), Snow should never have had one with his Imperial Roman motifs. He does wear a red jacket with black and red details and a white rose in his lapel, a wonderful homage to the book’s alchemy and principal symbols.

The other flowers are a mixed bag, as that does really appear to be gas plant that Haymitch and Lou Lou set on fire, but the berms seem to have varieties of flowers, rather than specific varieties for each one, like in the book.  They all look sort of marigold-like, and I did not see any bee balm, the flower that kills Lou Lou, although I think one scene is the set-up for her death.

There is also a nice moment with Lenore Dove and her geese, and I expect we’ll see Haymitch with his at the end. When we see Haymitch opening her birthday gift to him, I was surprised to see that the striker is colorful, not merely brassy. That is probably meant to evoke the rainbow horrors of the arena or the colorful Covey from whence it comes. Since the first film completely fumbled Katniss’s acquisition of the mockingjay pin (a merchant in the Hob just gives it to her. Unlike any true Appalachian in general and Katniss in particular, she just takes it and gives nothing in return), let’s hope the origin story of the striker is preserved, and in the process, the mistake with the mockingjay pin is rectified by its first owner, Maysilee, who appears several times in the trailer.

3. Numbers game

It’s no secret that Suzanne Collins is doing some clever things with numbers in each of these books, so the way that the trailer does a countdown from ten, the start of the Games, with quick shots of scenes and characters, is clever and reiterates the use of the countdown motif from the other films and Collins’s number symbolism. For example, number 10 features Panache, appropriate since 10 is a number connected with the Capitol, and Career lapdog Panache is a Capitol darling (note how Snow’s book, The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes, has sections with 10 chapters each, not 9, like the other books do). By contrast, number 9 is Maysilee, as Collins deliberately uses 3s and multiples of 3 for symbolic heft in this novel and in the trilogy. Number 3 appears to be Haymitch and Maysilee working together, also appropriate, although 6 seems to be Silka, a strange choice. The shot of her from behind with her signature axe while Haymitch writhes on the ground seems to indicate that the filmmakers are going to tone down the gore that their final encounter would appear to demand. We can also hope that the death of Ampert, who appears several times in the trailer, will be less graphic on screen than on the page.

Number 1 takes us back to the cornucopia, where, oddly, no supplies appear to be scattered around toward the tributes. Then, there are numerous other flashes of scenes. Interestingly, many of these involve fire, like Haymitch showing Sid the striker and the burning of the Abernathy home with Burdock (?) holding Haymitch back, leading up to the volcano erupting in the arena.

The countdown tool is a nice touch, especially as it begins with Drusilla saying “It’s time”; time in general is a central element of the series, and has some interesting uses in this novel in particular.

Although this is a very short trailer, and much could change between now and the film’s release, it is interesting to see how the film makers are presenting the film they plan to release next year. If you’ve seen the trailer, drop your thoughts below! As we draw closer to the release next year, I am sure we’ll have much more to discuss!