How Real-World History Inspired The Look Of Panem In The Ballad Of Songbirds And Snakes [Exclusive]
Panem today, Panem tomorrow, but what about Panem yesterday? "The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes" gives us our first real look at the Capitol from long before Katniss Everdeen and her not-so-merry band of rebels ever stepped foot in the decadent, palatial estates brimming with undisguised luxury. By comparison, the war-torn city we see in the prequel film couldn't possibly look or feel more different. Still reeling from the events of the First Rebellion roughly a decade prior, the remaining survivors are in full rebuild mode. Look closely and it's clear that rubble lines the streets, buildings are still in various stages of disrepair, and even many of the characters themselves carry a haunted look in their eyes.
Given the cogent thematic core laced throughout the original "The Hunger Games" franchise, it's probably not a shocker that the creative team, from director Francis Lawrence on down, brought the same attention to detail to this origin story detailing Coriolanus Snow's (Tom Blyth) first steps in his rise to power. In an interview with /Film's Jacob Hall, Lawrence broke down exactly what went into crafting this much more rundown version of the Capitol over 60 years before the one we saw in the 2012 movie. Fittingly enough, this meant pulling from real-world history. Lawrence explained:
"If Hitler were to have won the war, and he had the plans laid out for what the city was going to look and feel like. And so a lot of that look and feel was based on that ... I worked with Uli Hanisch, who's a Berlin-based production designer. He and I started having conversations that because this story takes place 10 years after the wars that kick off all the Games themselves, it's still in a bit of a reconstruction era."
'Little hints toward what Panem might look like in the future'
Even while World War II was still raging, Hitler had already begun planning his massive rebuilding project after his planned Nazi victory, centered on the city of Berlin and which would've been renamed Germania. Lawrence explained to /Film that he had actually used this as the chief inspiration behind much of the Capitol aesthetics in both "Catching Fire" and the "Mockingjay" movies. So when it came time to further flesh out the world of Panem and specifically the Capitol city in "The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes," it only made sense to turn right back to the pages of history. He went on to say:
"And so we started to look at Berlin, again connected to Germania, but Berlin post-World War II. That reconstruction era of '45 into the early '50s, to see there's no rubble on the streets, just scaffolding. Where are the cranes, what's still in rubble? What classic buildings are being reconstructed, what new buildings are popping up? With little hints toward what Panem might look like in the future."
Although most of the marketing push has focused on the main arena battle and several scenes set in the outlying District 12, much of what Lawrence explains here comes through resoundingly in the brief snippets of footage we've seen of the Capitol exterior. Even in the image above, you can see construction cranes and scaffolding and even some hints of leftover battle damage, all of which goes a long way towards conveying the brutal war that led to the Hunger Games as a means of punishment in the first place.
'A much more rudimentary time'
That was for the history nerds; this next tidbit is for those who enjoy hearing about hair, costuming, makeup, and other aspects of filmmaking. In a demonstration of just how intertwined all levels of production really are, Lawrence went on to explain how his creative team's conception of the Capitol soon extended to their approach to production and set design, hair and wigs, wardrobe, and more:
"Because we were looking at that era, it started to inform other things. It started to inform auto design, it started to inform hair. It started to inform makeup and wardrobe, and even technology. We started talking about, this is a much more rudimentary time in the Capitol's history. The games are more rudimentary, the technology has to be. So we also looked at the same era. So it really all came from that late '40s, early '50s, post-war Berlin."
Having seen the movie myself (you can check out my review for /Film here), I'd recommend paying close attention to the interiors of the Capitol just as much as the spectacular shots outside. Especially compared to the almost nauseatingly luxurious design from the original movies, there are countless world-building details built right into the sets and production design of every location — from Snow's own stately (yet noticeably drab) rooms to the chambers where Snow and his fellow students gather for lessons, to the arena itself. All of it adds up to one of the more visually spectacular movies in the entire franchise.
"The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes" is now playing in theaters.