64 years before the 74th annual Hunger Games, Coriolanus Snow, future president of Panem, was made to be a mentor for the runt tribute, Lucy Gray Baird. Ever since then, the Hunger Games has been a bloodbath aimed at squashing any hope of rebellion against the Capitol from the districts. “The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes” by Suzanne Collins, famed author of the original “Hunger Games” trilogy, takes a deep dive into the creation of the system, but was this movie as successful as the first three? And did they stay true to the original depiction of Snow’s story?
The movie featured a cast perfectly fit to portray each of the characters. Tom Blyth, who was previously in “Billy the Kid” and “The Gilded Age,” buzzed and bleached his hair to play Coriolanus Snow. Lucy Gray Baird was played by Rachel Zegler, who rose to fame as María in the 2021 movie musical reboot of “West Side Story”. Viola Davis is also featured in the film as Dr. Volumina Gaul, the current game maker for the tenth annual Hunger Games.
As a fan of the original trilogy (I was definitely too old when I read it for the first time, but I digress), I was excited to see the new adaptation, so excited actually that I saw it on Thanksgiving. Snow’s backstory was hidden in the originals, but fully unearthed with the print release of “The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes.” Historically, the movie adaptations of the “Hunger Games” have been almost scarily accurate to the books, and the same holds true for the newest edition. However, since the book was over 500 pages long, some parts had to be either cut short or cut out totally.
There were some adjustments to the timing and chronology of the plot from the book to the movie. The opening scene of the movie shows young Coriolanus and his cousin Tigris, portrayed by Hunter Schafer, during the Dark Days of Panem. They are seen scavenging for food and witnessing a man cut off the leg of a carcass. This scene does appear in the book; however, it is later in the book and right before the 10th annual reaping.
The Plinth Prize is also revealed way earlier in the movie than in the book. In the book, a cash prize is announced shortly after Sejanus Plinth, played by Josh Andrés Rivera, almost got himself and Snow killed in the arena. In the book, Snow says the prize was a “hasty attempt to bury his son’s outrageous behavior in cash.” In the movie, the Plinth Prize was supposed to be granted before the games even started. It then became the reward for whichever student could create the biggest spectacle out of their assigned tribute.
Some things were completely cut from the movie. One of them was Lepidus Malmsey, a Capitol reporter who was at the tribute zoo when Arachne Crane was murdered by her tribute. The character was replaced by Lucretius “Lucky” Flickerman, a fan favorite and relative of Caesar Flickerman. Lucky was a Capitol reporter, weatherman and host of the 10th games. Another omitted part of the original book was Lucky’s pet parrot named Jubilee.
The fate of Clemensia Dovecote was also never revealed in the movie adaptation, and her character was cut almost completely after getting bitten by Dr. Gaul’s snakes. Dr. Gaul implies that she may have died from the strange “flu” given to her from the snake bite. In the book, Clemensia survives her bite but has some reptilian side-effects including yellow eyes, a jutting tongue, and a development of rainbow scales.
The last changes I’ll mention are the various differences in the deaths of some of the tributes. The deaths of Wovey, Dill and Reaper are different in the movies than in the book. Wovey, in the book, drinks Lucy Gray’s poisoned water, and Dill succumbs to her illness before ever getting attacked by another tribute. Reaper gets away from the snakes and is left with Lucy Gray as the final two. Reaper meets his demise when he takes a sip of water from a puddle but does not realize that it has been poisoned by Lucy Gray.
Some details, though few, were actually added to the story to create even more parallels to Snow’s future. For example, although quite small, it was said in the book that Cassus Snow, Coriolanus’s father, was killed by a rebel during the First Rebellion. In the movie, it is revealed that Cassus was killed by a District Twelve rebel, leading to Coriolanus’s deep hatred for both Katniss and Lucy Gray’s home district.
“The Ballad of Songbirds of Snakes” was a hit at the box office, earning over $100 million internationally in its opening weekend. This figure, while impressive, pales in comparison to the original four movies, which each earned over $300 million when they came out.
Overall I thought “The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes” did a fantastic job of staying true to the book all the while keeping the plot moving. Part of the appeal to me personally was Rachel Zegler’s incredible voice and Tom Blyth’s stellar performance of such a complicated character. It also didn’t hurt that almost everyone was drop-dead gorgeous.