The Hunger games

WARNING: This Outline will have plot spoilers.

Until recently I knew nothing about the Hunger Games. All I knew was the film was an adaptation of a popular books series with a growing following in the young teens demographic. At first I was a bit weary of such a story since it sounded an awful lot like Twilight. But When I saw the film I came to realize that the Hunger games was a story far more rich in subject and depth then most films today.

The Hunger games takes place in a future dystopian world of Panem where the former U.S once was. Here rules the highly advanced metropolis simply called the Capitol. This region holds absolute control over the rest of the nation with comprises of 12 surrounding districts. To assert their control, the Capitol holds an annual Hunger Game where one boy and girl from each district are selected to compete in a televised death match where only one person can survive.

The story revolves around sixteen-year-old Katniss Everdeen. She lives in one of the poorest districts of Panem. When her sister is chosen for the Hunger Games, Katniss volunteers to take her place. She and Peeta, the other chosen contestant, are whisked away to the Capitol to be prepared, trained, and compete in the futuristic gladiator games.

Once again as like many heroes, Katniss has an internal and external conflict to resolve. The first more obvious conflict is that she must survive the Hunger Games to return to her family. The more internal emotional conflict Katniss struggles with is retaining her humanity even while she is forced to kill in order to survive.

Ordinary world: The story begins in the poor coal-mining region of District 12. Here Katniss lives with her distraught mother and younger sister, Prim, who she watches over as main caretaker. Katniss is a skilled archer who hunts game to support her struggling family.

Call to Adventure: The time comes for the Capitol to choose its annual Hunger Game contestants from District 12. Katniss and her younger sister, Prim, are put into the lottery. When Prim is chosen for the game, Katniss storms the stage and volunteers.

Crossing the Threshold: Kat boards the train for the Capitol. She leaves behind the poor, dark, colorless world of District 12. There she finds a bountiful feast has been set up for her and her partner Peeta. The food is far more opulent then anything she has been used to back home. The train then arrives in the Capitol which is a beautiful wealthy metropolis inhabited by colorful people.

Mentor: As part of the Hunger Games tradition, the contestants are trained by those who had survived the game. Katniss is instructed by drunken mentor, Haymitch Abernathy, who was the victor of the 50th Hunger Games. At first he is ambivalent that she is worth his time. But he soon sees her potential and works to ready her for the games while drumming up support from the Capitol population.

Training/Road of trails: There are many challenges Katniss must complete through the story. First she must prove her worth to her mentor and then to the people of Capitol city. Without their support she'll have a difficult time surviving the Hunger Games. Then comes the challenges and dangers once she's in the games. Katniss also needs to deal with the fact that Peeta has claimed that he has feelings for her.

First Transformation: In the first stage of her physical transformation, Katniss is cleaned up and dressed up for the game parade where the contestants are shown off to the world. As her training progresses, Katniss undergoes an emotional transformation. She realizes that she needs people to like her in order to survive the games. She becomes more open and personable with others and makes friends with Peeta and wins over the people of the Capitol. These alliances will prove useful in the trials ahead.

Second Threshold: The contestants are loaded into a transport ship and moved to the isolated forest arena. There the games start and Katniss is seemingly on her own to survive.

Shadow figures: There are two forces Katniss must face in the course of her quest. First she must obviously defeat the other contestants of the Hunger Games is she is to be the sole survivor. But Katniss' other more greater foe in the story is the system. The cold calculated forces that control the Hunger games and force kids to kill each other for sport. This enemy is only hinted at in this film but will probably be flushed out further in future films.

Ordeal/Crucifixion&Dismemberment/Rebirth: During the game Katniss is injured many times. These injuries take their tole on her. But every time it seems like the wounds have bested her, her mentor Haymitch sends her supplies to get her going again. She is healed and ready to fight again.

There is also emotional scaring she faces. In the course of the game she befriends a small girl named Rue who reminds Kat of her sister. She tries to protect the young girl but Rue is killed by another contestant.

Belly of the Beast: Katniss and Peeta are reunited again but he is badly hurt. The two resolved to survive together and hide in a deep cave. Katniss tends to his injury and Peeta confronts her about his feelings toward her. There Katniss is confronted with her own feelings for Peeta and accepts them. But are these feeling genuine or is she with Peeta to drum up support from the Capitol audience?

Apotheosis: When the pair exit the cave, they must face their greatest challenge yet. Wild dogs have been released into the arena. Once they escape the beasts, they're confronted by the final contestant. The pair defeat him and seemingly win the game.

Temptation: As Kat and Peeta are the last two contestants of the game, the game announcer orders Kat and Peeta to kill each other. Only one can survive. The pair instead resolve to eat deadly berries rather than kill each other. When the gamemakers realize the two intend to commit suicide, and that two winners are better than none, they announce both Kat and Peeta victors of the Hunger Game.

Ultimate Boon: Kat and Peeta are returned home as allies and heroes. They have overcome the games and, to an extent, the cold unseen shadow figured to control it.

Let the Games begin.

Next up in my films to be reviewed is "The Hunger Games'. I just saw this film in theaters yesterday and really enjoyed it. It was only later when I went home that I started seeing parallels between Campbell's heroes journey and the film. There will be SPOILERS in my outline but its hard to spoil a film when there's a best selling book about it already out.

Casablanca

Casablanca Is one of those classic films you just can't hate. Is it any surprise that this gem of a film also has all the staples of a hero's journey as well?

The film takes place in 1941 during World War 2. The story centers around cynical saloon-owner Rick Blaine who's secret painful past catches up with him. He's a cold man who only looks after himself. However as the story progresses and Rick falls in love again, he softens up a bit. In the end, Rick must choose between love and doing his patriotic duty.

Rick's basic conflict in the film is between selfishly doing whats best for himself or sacrifice for the greater good. There is also the internal conflict of Rick dealing with his past. First he must deal with the fact that Ilsa, the woman he once loved who scorned him, has returned in his life. But Rick must also deal with the fact that he was once an freedom fighter and still has the urge to fight the good fight against tyranny. His encounters with Ilsa's husband, legendary hero Victor Laszlo, rekindles Rick's idealist nature. Both Ilsa's return as well as Laszlo's influence help bring about change in Rick's life and his persona.

1) Ordinary world: Casablanca, Africa in 1941. During World War 2, The Nazi Shadow force threatens the security of the whole world. It was in this climate that refugees from Europe flood into the African city looking to escape to America. In Casablanca, Rick makes a decent living running his popular nightclub. He's a cold secretive cynic of a man who looks after himself only.He is an anti-hero who's cynical shell protects his broken heart, his inner conflict.

2) First Call to Adventure: (Journey of the Higher Cause) Rick's associate Ugarte, a black market trader, gives him stolen visas for safekeeping. These rare items are sought after by the Nazis and local police who arrest Ugarte before he can recover them from Rick.

3) Herald/Mentor: Rick is approached by his friend Captain Louis Renault who notifies rick of the coming Czechoslovakian resistance leader, Victor Laszlo and his beautiful wife. Renault acts as Rick's mentor in a way. He's an ideal model for being cold and unsympathetic as Rick tries to be. Also he see's Rick for who he really is. An sentimentalist. He warns Rick not to get involved with Laszlo.

4) Refusal of Call: Rick agrees not to get involved with Laszlo or help him escape Casablanca

5) Accepting the call: Rick eventually dons become involved with Laszlo's cause against the Nazi's and helps him escape Casablanca.

6) Second call to Adventure: (Journey of the Heart) Laszlo wife Ilsa turns out to be Rick's former lover from Paris who abandoned him. Rick encounters Ilsa and he fights to hide the well of emotions her arrival sparks.

7) Refusal of the Call: Rick pretends that Ilsa's arrival does not bother him.

8) Accepting the Call: Rick realizes that he still loves Ilsa and wants her back.

9) Belly of the Beast: In a darkened room Rick drinks his sorrows away. There he realizes his greatest fear, that his past has caught up with him.

10) Ordeal/Crucifixion&Dismemberment/Rebirth: In a flashback we see the Paris romance between Ilsa and Rick. The two plan to escape Paris before the Nazis invade but Ilsa abandons Rick at the train station with nothing more than a goodbye letter. This experience is what caused rick to go from an idealist freedom fighter to a cold-hearted cynic.

11) Road of Trails: (Journey of the Higher Cause) Through the film, Rick's decision to not help Laszlo and Ilsa escape Casablanca is challenged and weakened. First Rick is pressure from the Nazi's helps Rick see the danger Ilsa, Laszlo, and himself are in. But the real trial comes when Laszlo confronts Rick to buy the visas. In this moment Rick not only see's that Laszlo is a good man who love Ilsa dearly, but has the flames of his inner freedom fighter stoked by Laszlo's passionate words. In this scene Laszlo becomes Rick's mentor in the ways of being a true hero. Laszlo even asks him to use the visas to escape with Ilsa in order to ensure her safety. Rick is moved by this noble sacrifice. With each one of these trials, Rick gets closer and closer to returning to his idealist roots. Laszlo is soon arrested and Rick must choose what to do next.

12) Road of Trails: (Journey of the Heart): As the film progresses, Rick tries to win Ilsa away back. However at every try she refuses him. But finally when she is forced to decide whether or not to kill Rick for the visas to save Laszlo, she breaks down. He finally confesses her love for Rick and explains why she left him in Paris. With this Rick is finally able to forgive the past pains but is now faced with a hard choice about what to do next.

13) Temptation: With Ilsa's confession of love, Rick is tempted to run away with her and leave Casablanca, Laszlo, and the troubles of the world behind. Whether or not Rick will give into that temptation is a mystery to the vary end of the film.

14) Apotheosis: After Laszlo's arrest, Rick acting as a shape shifter convinces Renault to release the freedom fighter. That night at the cafe Renault attempts to rearrest Laszlo but Rick intervenes wearing acting as the Hero finally. He demands the safe passage for Ilsa and Laszlo to the airport.

At the airport Rick decides to make his own noble sacrifice and sends Ilsa away with Laszlo. He realizes that they must all accept the call to the higher cause. Without Ilsa's support and love, Laszlo cannot fight the evil Nazis.

15) Ultimate Boon: Ilsa and Laszlo escape Casablanca and Rick is redeemed as a hero and patriot.

70 Years and still so Good

I figured with the 70th anniversary of Casablanca coming up that maybe I should pay homage to one of the greatest films of all time. So this week I'll be giving Rick the hero's treatment with a hero's journey outline of his own. Planning to have it up online sometime Saturday.

All in Good Time

Sorry for the delay in my posts. My own hero's journey has been a bit hectic lately. In the future I'll try to be diligent with getting outlines online.

Anyways.. onto the next film. In Time


As mentioned in an earlier post, the story takes place in 2161 where genetic alteration has allowed humanity to stop aging at 25. However people are required to earn more time after turning 25 or die within a year. In this future time is money and society has been split between two vastly different class systems. Those poor who work constantly just to add mere hours to their lives and those rich who live forever without having to work at all. The film revolves around character Will Salas who is born in the ghetto working just to survive another day. When he is given the chance to leave his meager existence and live among the rich, Will discovers the injustice in society and decides to rebel against it.

This isn't the most deeply philosophical film besides the interesting reflection of the economic divide in our society. However, like most films, there are two key conflicts present in the film. One external and one internal. The external conflict being Will versus the system. Will feels outraged by the huge class divide in society and fights to disrupt the system. The internal conflict is with Will's motives. Is he robbing the rich for his own profit or the profit of his people? Will's motives flip-flop through the film until the end when he has to decide to survive or sacrifice himself for the cause.

1) Ordinary World: 28 year old Will lives a meager life in the ghetto of Dayton. He lives with his mother and works as a poor factory employee who only about a day left on his time clock until he dies.

2) The Call to Adventure/Mentor: Will meets 105 year old Henry Hamilton in a bar. The stranger has nearly unlimited time on his clock which makes him a target in the ghetto. Will saves Henry from nearly being time robbed and the two take refuge in an abandoned factory. There Henry reveals the truth to Will saying, “For few to be immortal, many must die.” He continues stating that there is plenty of time to go
around and that no one needs to die. That night Henry transfers over all his remaining time to Will, killing himself in the process.

3) Refusal the Call/Accepting the Call: At first Will doesn't think much of what Henry has told him and sees the extra time added to his clock as a bad thing likely to get him robbed/killed. But when his mother runs out of time and dies, Will decides to take the extra time given to him and put it to good use.

4) Crossing the First Threshold: Will leaves his poor Dayton toward his new life in the big city. On the way he must pass through several boarder check points that tax his time. Finally he reaches his destination of Greenwich city. This city populated with the wealthy and immortal is a total opposite of Will's Dayton.

5) Road of Trials: Will has several challenges to test his skills and resourcefulness. First there's the poker game against millionaire Weis where he bets all his time, risking his own life, in order to win a huge pool. Then there are his numerous escapes from both timekeeper police and gangs trying to steal his time. Finally there are the bank robberies where Will takes time and gives it out to the poor in a very Robin Hood sort of way.

6) Crucifix- Will's 'scarring' comes at the point in which Will is captured by Timekeeper Leon and gets his time confiscated by the police. In a scene they strip him of his life leaving his at the brink of death once again. It is after this encounter that Will is reborn into a life devoted to fighting the system.

7) Temptation: While As Will and his partner Sylvia rob time banks and amass a vast amount of time they contemplate running away together and living forever. However they would have to abandon their mission of fighting the status quo. They continue fighting the system and instead give the time away to those who need it most.

8) Apotheosis: Will and Sylvia pull off a daring robbery of 1 Million years. Pursued relentlessly by Timekeeper Leon and with their time clocks running out, they manage to get the time to the ghetto and selflessly give it out to the people. On the brink of death with their lives ticking away to zero, they are captured by the Leon who holds them at gunpoint. However his time clock runs out first and he dies immediately. Will and Sylvia make a desperate run for it and are barely able to find time to keep themselves alive another day.

9) Ultimate Boon: With the surge of 1 million years floating around the ghetto, the poor are able to rise up. Factories shut down and people begin leaving the ghetto for Greenwich. The wide divide between the classes has been taken down and the system destroyed. Will and Sylvia have survived the ordeal, won a huge victory for their goal, and now head to rob yet another bank.

Gunslinger Journey

Unforgiven is a story of revenge and one man's struggle to overcome the darkness within. The story revolves around Will Munny, an aging outlaw and killer who takes on one more job years after he had hung up his guns and turned to farming. After many years of bloodthirsty killing, Munny was reformed by his late wife who 'cured him of drinking and wikedness'. Now in his old age Munny is forced again to kill for money in order to save his struggling pig farm.

The film centers around two conflicts. First there's the outer conflict of Munny's gang versus the Cowboys and Little Bill. Then there's the inner conflict of Munny struggling to deal with his shadow self. He main quest through the film is to complete the task of killing the cowboys without reverting back to his wicked ways or forgetting the lessons of his wife.

1) Ordinary world: 1880, Wyoming. Will Munny is a pig farmer and father who lives the simple life tending to his struggling pig farm. He honors the memory of his late wife by holding fast to her lessons of morality and 'right living'. He resolved long ago to leave his old life of killing behind.

2) The Call to Adventure/ Herald: One day Will is visited by a young gunslinger calling himself The Schofield Kid. This Herald speaks of Will's past sins and calls him to join in a quest. A prostitute in a town called Big Whiskey was attacked and cut up by a pair of cowboys. The kid seeks revenge and payment by killing the cowboys.

3) Refusal of Call: Will refuses the kid's offer on account of his reformed ways. He claims he no longer kills for money.

4)Accepting the call: Munny realizes that his struggling family needs the money from the killing job. Alone in his room, Will puts away his wife’s photo (representation of her lessons) and pulls out his old pistol (representation of killing and his old ways).
Crossing the First Threshold:Will leaves his home.

5) Road of Trails: Munny and his gang undergo many trials. First Will must convince the kid to allow his partner Ned to join the quest. Then he and Ned test the kid's eyesight. Then there's the ordeals of killing the two cowboys.

6) Crucifixion&Dismemberment: When the boys enter the saloon at Big Whiskey, Will, stricken by the flu, is confronted by the threshold guardian and shadow Sherif Little Bill. He is beaten to near death and kicked out of the saloon.

7) Temptation: when Will finally heals after his beating, he's offered a 'free one' by one of the prostitutes who feels sorry for him. Seeing that this would go against the lessons of his wife, Munny refuses the offer.

8) Second Crucifixion&Dismemberment: While going through their trails and ordeals Munny's gang are traumatized by murdering. In a way each man is emotionally crucified. Ned leaves the quest realizing he can't bring himself to kill anyone anymore only to be captured and murdered by Little Bill. The Kid makes his first kill but is sickened by it. And Will draws closer and closer to his shadow self with every kill he partakes in.

9) Apotheosis: When a prostitute herald comes to pay Will for the killings she notify them of Ned's capture and death. With this news Will embraces his shadow self and allows it to overcome him. He rides into town and guns down Little Bill and his gang.

10) Ultimate Boon: In the epilogue we learn that Munny returns to his farm with the money and the family moves to San Francisco where they prosper in selling dry goods. From that we can assume that Will was able to purge himself of his shadow and return to his family life. Furthermore, Will's move to San Francisco suggest that he was finally able to let go of his wife's memory and live his own life.

One more Time

Another film I'll try to get to this week is the recently released dystopian science fiction thriller 'In Time'. The story takes place in 2161 where genetic alteration has allowed humanity to stop aging at 25. However people are required to earn more time after turning 25 or die within a year. In this future time is money and society has been split between two vastly different class systems. Those poor who work constantly just to add mere hours to their lives and those rich who live forever without having to work at all. The film revolves around character Will Salas who is born in the ghetto working just to survive another day. When he is given the chance to leave his meager existence and live among the rich, Will discovers the injustice in society and decides to rebel against it.