Hunger Games on Prime Video: 10 things to know about the saga with Jennifer Lawrence

Muscular workout

Jennifer Lawrence, Josh Hutcherson and the other actors of the Hunger Games saga have obviously undergone intense physical training before slipping into the skin of these teenagers forced to face each other to the death. The interpreter of Peeta Mellark thus gained seven kilos of muscles in a few weeks, while his partner on the screen trained in archery, climbing and combat, among others.

The inspirations behind the saga

Metropolitan FilmExport

When writing the literary saga, novelist Suzanne Collins was particularly inspired by Greek mythology, and in particular the myth of Theseus and the Minotaur. In it, seven young boys and seven young girls are sent into a maze every nine years to fight the ferocious Minotaur, a creature that is half man and half bull. Suzanne Collins also said she was influenced by her own experience as a spectator by zapping from a reality TV show to a report on the war.

The symbol of rebellion

Lionsgate

In the Hunger Games saga, the famous hand gesture of the heroine Katniss Everdeen, arm raised to the sky with three raised fingers, becomes from the second opus one of the symbols of the rebellion against the Capitol. From fiction to reality, there is sometimes only one step: this salute was subsequently used as a sign of protest by pro-democracy demonstrators in Thailand in 2014, and more recently in Burma!

French decors

Studiocanal GmbH / Murray Close

Several scenes from the movie The Hunger Games – Mockingjay: Part 2 were shot in France. On their way to President Snow’s home located in the heart of the Capitol, the heroes of the saga must cross the trapped streets of the city. In one of the sequences, the spectators thus find Jennifer Lawrence, Josh Hutcherson, Liam Hemsworth and their comrades in the decoration of the spaces of Abraxas in Noisy-Le-Grand, a building complex of the beginning of the Eighties with the very architecture. feature.

President Snow’s castle

Studiocanal GmbH / Murray Close

In the same opus, the Château de Voisins in Saint-Hilarion served as the backdrop for the residence of President Snow, played by Donald Sutherland. The interiors of the mansion were thus used for the reunion scene between the former winners of the Hunger Games, among others. The character of Katniss also crosses the castle grounds to find the dangerous ruler in his famous rose garden.

A French star in the casting!

Screenshot / The Hunger Games – Mockingjay: part 2

It is also during this same scene that the singer David Hallyday appears on the screen to the surprise of the French spectators. Johnny Hallyday’s son plays a Panem guard who momentarily prevents Katniss from entering the rose garden in Hunger Games – Mockingjay: part 2.

A new passion

Metropolitan FilmExport

At the time of its theatrical release, the first part of The Hunger Games greatly benefited archery clubs across the Atlantic, which saw the interest of amateurs soar for their discipline. A new attraction obviously linked to the archery talent of the heroine of the saga, of which it is the weapon of choice in the arena!

A winning method

Metropolitan FilmExport

After reading the script for the first film without even being offered the role of President Snow, Donald Sutherland sent a letter to director Gary Ross to convince him to let him play this manipulative leader. In it, the Canadian actor delivers his vision of the character. “I thought it was an extremely important film and wanted to be a part of it,” he told the magazine GQ in 2014. “I thought it might wake up part of the electorate that has been inactive since the 1970s.”

Mother and daughter

StudioCanal Germany

Before playing the mother of Katniss Everdeen in the Hunger Games saga, actress Paula Malcomson had already played the mother of Jennifer Lawrence in an episode of season 4 of the series Cold Case: Classified cases!

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