Once more unto the breach: Felix reviews Mockingjay, Part 1

Mockingjay – Part 1

Director: Francis Lawrence

Screenplay: Peter Craig, Danny Strong, Suzanne Collins

Cast: Jennifer Lawrence, Josh Hutcherson, Liam Hemsworth, Woody Harrelson, Donald Sutherland, Julianne Moore

Rating: 4/5

Katniss Everdeen is broken. Being thrown into the arena for the Hunger Games twice in quick succession would be enough to break anyone. Add in the chaotic climax of the second round, and it’s a surprise she’s still going at all: the collapse of the arena, the revelation that the rebellion is underway and spear-headed by the previously lost District 13, and the crushing reveal that District 12 – home – is no more. Small wonder she spends the opening moments of this, the third film in the series (and the first part of the final book – split, predictably, into two parts), curled up in a corner, reciting her name, her home, her participation in the Hunger Games and her relationship with Peeta over and over again.

The following two hours chart Katniss’ attempt to claw back her sanity, to fight through the extensive post-traumatic stress disorder and to keep doing what she has always tried to do – survive. Survive, and protect her family. True to the sense of escalation that was so plain in the first two films, the stakes for survival are higher than ever – the rebellion has begun, districts are in open conflict with the Capitol, and war has arrived. No-one is safe. As the Mockingjay, Katniss is the face of the rebellion, a figurehead for the districts to rally behind – but as becomes plain, she is really just a pawn in someone else’s game.

Just as her image was manipulated in The Hunger Games and in Catching Fire, so too is it twisted here, to suit the ends of President Coin, the leader of District 13. The idea of figureheads, of public perception and the way propaganda allows the state to toy with it, is one of the core concepts running through the first Mockingjay instalment – one of many – and it’s one returning director Francis Lawrence takes great delight in playing with.

This is very much a film of concepts, of high ideas and worrying questions about society and its darker nature. It’s a trait that stems from the original books, which were always wonderfully subversive, and nowhere was it more evident than the final book. The decision to split the films was a predictable one, but what appears to be a cynical cash grab has actually worked in the series’ favour. The doubled run-time gives this first film room to breathe, to introduce the key new players and flesh out old faces, allowing for maximum impact come the second part’s far-more action heavy bent.

If that makes it sound like Mockingjay wanders towards the Interstellar route of extensive dialogue that examines the key themes intensely, then it’s a misleading sentiment. Mockingjay manages to weave its themes delicately into the backdrop of civil war, finding time for both riotous action scenes and tongue-in-cheek mockery of its own marketing campaign. Admittedly, the lack of an actual Hunger Games leaves it with considerably less in the action stakes than before, but the series has – at heart – never really been about the violence. It’s always been about something more, andMockingjay marks the point at which it can finally embrace it.

It’s an opportunity seized with both hands by all involved, from the directing Lawrence to the acting Lawrence, along with the entirety of the supporting cast. Jennifer Lawrence continues to prove her talent, out-doing herself here as the mentally fragile Katniss, forced into becoming a symbol of a resistance she never wanted to start, while Donald Sutherland as the malevolent President Snow remains a highlight. The late, great Phillip Seymour Hoffman comes to life in this, his last film, taking his weirdly subdued Plutarch Heavensbee to far greater heights, and new cast member Natalie Dormer continues to prove herself the queen of supporting actresses. Josh Hutcherson is finally given something more complex to toy with, as Peeta is forced to turn traitor on TV, becoming the Capitol’s equivalent of Katniss, a mouthpiece for those more powerful than himself, and it’s to his great credit that he pulls it off. Jeffrey Wright, too, deserves a mention – his Beetee is turned into a Hunger Games equivalent of Bond’s Q, with a gadget-lab sequence to match.

Combined with the goosebump-inducing score by James Newton Howard, which re-uses and manipulates its familiar motifs into something even more unsettling, the cast are universally excellent, selling every moment of the film – not least the sheer devastation of the ruined District 12, the images of which push the limits of the film’s 12A rating. Always a series that teetered on the upper limits of the rating – the original was deemed a 15 until cuts were made – Mockingjay continues to find new ways to stretch the so-called ‘acceptable’, and it’s all the better for it. This is not a film that pulls any punches, and nor should it. The same streak of dry humour evident in all three films is alive here, but so is something more – a darkness, an anger, bubbling up and boiling over. The Hunger Games series is heading to its conclusion. The greatest fight is yet to come, and as Part 1 of Mockingjay comes to a dramatic, heart-breaking close, it can’t come soon enough.