In more fantastic interviews, Amandla Stenberg, Dayo Okeniyi and Willow Shields talk about the Hunger Games and the dvd release with 10 News!
In new interviews for the Saturday release of the film on DVD and Blu-Ray (Lionsgate Home Entertainment), Stenberg and fellow stars Diyo Okeniyi and Willow Shields told me they’re excited about the release of the film on home video because it will give fans access to even more of the worldwide movie hit.
“This thing is chock-full of special features, so people will really get a chance to delve into what it was really like to make this movie and to bring Suzanne Collins’ vision to life,” said Okeniyi, who plays Thresh, Rue’s fellow District 11 Tribute. “They’re going to be really pleased with all the stuff on the DVD and Blu-ray.
Directed by Gary Ross from a script co-written by Ross and Collins, “The Hunger Games” is set largely in the evil Capitol of the nation of Panem, the future ruins of what was once known as North America. It’s there where each of the country’s 12 Districts annually sends a teenage boy and girl to compete in the Hunger Games: a nationally-televised event where the participants, known as Tributes, must fight each other to the death, until one survivor remains.
Jennifer Lawrence stars as Katniss Everdeen, a District 12 Tribute who volunteers herself to take part in the games in place of her younger sister, Primrose (Shields), who would likely not survive long in the brutal environment.
Although a controversy about the violence in the film brewed around the time of its release in theaters, Shields said viewers with concerns need to look beyond that.
“A lot of people may want look at that book and movie and say, ‘Oh, my God, it’s just full of violence.’ But I think of it as a story about Katniss fighting for her family, so I don’t look at it that way,” Shields said.
Okeniyi agrees with Shields’ assessment, saying it’s the bond between Katniss and Primrose that should matter most to people.
“If you look at the core of the story — it’s about a girl sacrificing for the one she loves. It’s the story about a girl who takes the place of her sister, knowing that she might not make it back to her family. I think that intrigues people more than the spectacle of the action and the sci-fi element,” Okeniyi said. “The part of the story that really gets people is the thought of, ‘Oh, my gosh, what if my sister was put in Prim’s position, would I sacrifice for her? Would I be courageous enough to boldly go to a place where I might not make it back? The violence is just a backdrop for the whole thing.”
That’s not to say the violence doesn’t have any meaning. Stenberg believe it’s a very important element of the story that drives the film’s point home.
“The story is kind of like a cautionary tale. It’s happened in the past with the Roman Coliseum and people fighting each other to the death, so the story sort of pulls from that and puts it in the future,” Stenberg said. “It’s like a word of caution because people have become too desensitized to violence.”
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