The Hunger Games prequel, The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes is finally here – and winning rave reviews.
Set during the 10th annual Hunger Games, the film follows a young Coriolanus Snow (Tom Blyth) as he mentors District 12's female tribute, Lucy Gray (Rachel Zegler). The story may be set 64 years before Katniss Everdeen volunteered as tribute, but there are plenty of hidden Easter eggs that hint at original trilogy's characters. Not only do we get to see Snow's origin story, the prequel also has plenty of subtle visual nods to the original Hunger Games films.
*Warning: spoilers for The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes ahead.*
Katniss references are everywhere
This film may be set years before Katniss' birth, but there are plenty of little references to the future rebel dotted throughout The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes.
The most obvious may be Lucy Gray’s ostentatious bow that directly mirrors Katniss iconic bow in the first Hunger Games film.
"It was actually an improvised moment," director Francis Lawrence later said to Business Insider. "I came up with the idea on the day for her to do it, to do the curtsy bow."
Lawrence explained that he decided that Katniss' bow years later may have actually been a reference to Lucy Gray. "We were always looking at any given moment, through the process of making this film, of nodding to the origins of certain things," he said. "I thought it could be really interesting if Katniss had done it because she's heard that, generations ago, there was a woman who sort of irreverently did this curtsy bow after this performance on stage when she's dragged off to the games. I just liked the idea that Lucy Gray was actually the first one to do it and that there was a history of it."
Lucy Gray also does a series of spins that mirrors Katniss spin in her flame dress. “I also added a spin when I got on stage at the Hob in District 12 because of how many times Jennifer Lawrence had to spin as Katniss to get the dress to flame,” Zegler explained to Total Film. "I thought that was really important as well [to have] as many nods to her attitude as I could find. They are really very different characters but I think there are elements of them in each other respectively."
You will also hear Katniss name during the film. While Lucy Gray and Coriolanus are at the lakeside, Lucy Gray explains that her nickname for a swap potato is “Katniss”.
"I love the moment," producer Nina Jacobson told Today. "I can't wait to watch an audience and that first moment."
Finally, the new film also contains a subtle reference to Katniss' bow and arrow. "I placed a broken bow with a quiver of arrows in the arena when Snow is walking through that he sees, just as a quick nod to Katniss in the future," said Lawrence.
We will definitely all need to keep our eyes peeled.
The flowers on Lucy Gray's dress
There is one final reference to Katniss and her sister, Primrose. If you look very, very closely at Lucy Gray's dress, you'll notice that it is embroidered with both katniss and primrose flowers.
"You wanna give something to the fans and you wanna keep them really interested. So, in her corset, I had it all hand-painted with katniss and primrose flowers, and snakes," costume designer Trish Summerville told Variety. "So it kind of gives a nod to Katniss and Primrose in the other books and the other films."
“I don’t love your odds, but may they be in your favour.”
One line in the new prequel may stand out to fans of the original Hunger Games movies. You may remember that Effie Trinket (Elizabeth Banks) had a famous catchphrase: “May the odds be ever in your favour.”
While this quippy phrase hasn't quite taken shape by the 10th annual Hunger Games, host Lucky Flickerman does tell Lucy Gray, "I don’t love your odds, but may they be in your favour." It's a subtle nod to Effie's famous line that will come 64 years later, and we are here for it.
Tigris' backstory
In the original Hunger Games trilogy, we meet Tigris as a tattooed double agent who helps Katniss and her fellow rebels by feeding them information from the Capital. In the prequel, we learn a lot more about her: she is, it turns out, President Snow's older cousin. Throughout the prequel, we see Tigris work with Snow — however, by the end, it seems that her allegiances have shifted. By the end of the film, it's clear that Tigris has seen Snow's dark side — and she doesn't like it. No wonder she later played such a big part in his downfall.
Flickerman, Crane and Heavensbee
While Snow and Tigris may be some of the only familiar characters who appear in the prequel, there are plenty of family names you may recognise from the original series.
"The last names are really cool because they are the ancestors of other people that we meet later on in the books," Hunter Schafer, who plays Tigris, told Today.
For instance, Snow's classmate, Arachne Crane, has the same last name as the gamemaker, Seneca Crane, in the trilogy. There's also Hilarius Heavensbee, another of Snow's classmates, who shares a name with Plutarch Heavensbee, another gamemaker in the trilogy. Finally, there's Lucky Flickerman, the first-ever Hunger Games host. He has the same name as Caesar Flickerman, who later hosts Katniss's Games — evidently, hosting became something of a family tradition!
Snow's roses
If you're a fan of the original Hunger Games movies, you'll remember Snow's final moments were spent in his rose garden.
The new prequel sheds some light on why Snow had such an affinity for the flowers. We learn that Snow's mother always smelled of roses — he even keeps her scent in compact to remain calm. Plus, we learn that his grandmother had her own rose garden. Finally, we also see Snow give Lucy Gray a white rose when they first meet.
This guy loves his roses — and, clearly, it goes way back.
Mockingjays
Mockingjays eventually become a symbol of Katniss Everdeen's rebellion — and while the birds mean nothing much to the characters in the prequel, there is a little hint at their future significance.
While Lucy Gray and Snow are visiting the lake, she points to some mockingjays above them — he, however, has never seen them before. It's a small hint at Snow's future as an enemy of the rebels.
Look closely, and you might also spot mockingjay feathers in Lucy Gray's hair while she's performing on stage in District 12.
“The Hanging Tree”
In the original films, Katniss sings an old folk song called “The Hanging Tree” — it eventually becomes a symbol of rebellion.
In the prequel, we learn that Lucy Gray actually wrote the song 64 years earlier about a man from District 12 who was sentenced to death.
“You see (Lucy Gray) in the meadow that we've seen Katniss in in the earlier films, playing and singing and figuring that out. And you actually see the hanging tree itself. You start to understand the origins of all these things,” Lawrence told Today.
Added producer Nina Jacobson to The Wrap, “that song would then be passed down.” Apparently, Katniss is actually a descendent of Lucy Gray's cousin, Maude, which would explain where she might have first heard the song.
Donald Sutherland's voice
The prequel ends with an ominous reminder of Snow's future as the villainous leader of Panem. We even hear an echo from that future in the form of a clip from the original films of Donald Sutherland's voice saying, "It’s the things we love most that destroy us." Spooky!
The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes is now in cinemas.
