THE HUNGER GAMES Katniss Everdeen voluntarily takes her younger sister's place in the Hunger Games, a televised fight to the death in which two teenagers from each of the twelve Districts of Panem are chosen at random to compete.
MEMENTO A man, suffering from short-term memory loss, uses notes and tattoos to hunt for the man he thinks killed his wife.
Memento is an example of a psychological thriller, there is conflict between the main character and he suffers mentally and emotionally and less of the physical aspect.
The Hunger games is an example of an action thriller as there is a larger level of physical violence rather than emotional or mentally affecting scenes, explosions, and other exaggerated scenes that create high levels of suspense, whereas psychological create high levels of anxiety.
In Action thrillers the protagonist and the antagonist are present from the beginning they are represented in either a negative or positive way, whereas in the psychological thrillers the audience is shown the protagonist but create suspense by not always revealing the antagonist up until the end. This allows the audience to decide for themselves who they believe is the good guy and the bad guy whereas action thrillers pre-represent them.
the title memento means 'An object kept as a reminder or souvenir of a person or event' this fits in perfectly with the scenario as the protagonist constantly loses his memory therefore tattoos information onto his body to help him remember what got him to this state and what happened to his wife. This is his weakness the fact that he cant hold new memory, making him vulnerable and also portraying a psychological thriller as they mess with his mind.
The protagonist in memento is Guy Pearce. Although he kills throughout, the audience fails to recognise his position because of the killings. the fact that he constantly loses his memory works at an advantage for the antagonist, they play mind games with him confusing and lead him astray making him feel isolated and victimized this fits in perfectly with his role.
The protagonist in the hunger games, Katniss, has the same problem as all other female protagonists in many films she is in love with two guys and the main focus is which one she chooses this is stereotypical from female protagonists as they always seem to have this form of weakness . this juxtaposes the title as it doesn't matter that people are trying to kill Katniss or that she is taking part in a game of survival, along with the fact that she lives in a world ruled by an oppressive government, or that a rebellion is being started- the only thing important to her is choosing between these two guys. Everything else takes the back seat. The antagonists are president Snow and Cato, president snow runs Panem and all the other districts. She risks the lives of children between the age of 12 and 18 for entertainment making them fight for survival. Cato is bloodthirsty and he does not care who he kills in the process, who lives are spent, as long as he comes out alive, cato uses brute strength for almost everything and fights hard to win making him a threat to the protagonist.
Throughout both films the protagonist is in danger constantly but the difference between them is that the violence in the hunger games is more explicit, although there isn't blood the violent scenes occur more commonly compared to the psychological thriller where the violence is more emotional and mentally violent.
Themes of identity are mainly common among psychological thrillers as more mind games are played. In Memento Guy Pearce carrys a role of constant memory loss, and a new identity can not be formed therefore making him reclusive as his previous memories are his only form of identity. The protagonist, is provided with a limited identity and is unsuccessful in creating a new one throughout the film. However, although he is deprived of this capability that other protagonists within thriller sequences are able to form, he effectively carries out his role being countertypical of a psycological protagonist.
In the Hunger Games, the theme of identity is manipulated as a stereotypical teenager is placed in a countertypical circumstance. Kateniss is given a new identity once she enters the game show, which is visualised by millions of TV viewers. Her new identity allows her to for-fill a strong courageous leading role. Kateniss's dark, practical clothing suggests she is ready for combat as her formation of unity with the male character who she is in love with proves successful in saving their life's.
In conclusion, Action thriller and Psychological thriller films differentiate in many ways however their are many similarities that are apparent throughout. To exemplify this point we have factors such as the generic thriller conventions- enigma, protagonists/antagonist, narrative etc. These points are often similar as they are part of a thriller convention.
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