We Were Right: The Hunger Games Will Be Told from Multiple Perspectives

One of my problems with the first Hunger Games teaser trailer was that it only showed us Katniss (Jennifer Lawrence) running through the Arena. But director Gary Ross just filmed a quick video talking more about the movie, and while he didn’t address the trailer, he did soothe our other big fear: The movie won’t just be from Katniss’ point of view.

When talking about the story, I’ve said over and over that the movie can’t afford to follow the book and only narrate through Katniss’ eyes. Even though that made the action more immediate and tense for readers, a movie necessitates multiple narrators. And actually, the story is well set up for that: You’ve got Katniss and Peeta (Josh Hutcherson) fighting at opposite ends of the Arena; then Gale (Liam Hemsworth) and their sponsor Haymitch (Woody Harrelson) watching the action on TV with everyone else.

From what Gary said, it sounds like the narration is going to be even more multi-faceted than that. Seeing as the Hunger Games are a fight to the death with only one victor, we’ll get to see the action unfold from the perspective of many of the other 22 tributes in the Arena. As he says, “There are other times where you witness [Katniss] the way they witness her in the Games. You pop out and… She’s constantly being watched.”