Moviecation: Divergent

Writer & Producer: Veronika Kondratieva
Other Side Drive Producer: Shannon Williams
Editor: Fernando Espinosa de los Monteros

Oh, Hollywood! It finds a lot of its inspiration from books. Yet another book adaptation came out on the big screen nationwide on March 21st, finally putting anxious viewers at ease.

You’re right! I am talking about the highly anticipated adaptation of Veronica Roth’s best-selling novel Divergent that everyone was just buzzing about. Thanks to director Neil Burger, the characters of the book came to life, and the viewers plunged into the fantasy world, forgetting reality for more than two hours.

Divergent takes place in a futuristic, dystopian Chicago. In the film the world is separated by five groups called factions, based on human virtues: Abnegation (selfless); Erudite (intelligent); Candor (honest); Amity (peaceful) and Dauntless (brave).

On an appointed day of every year, all sixteen year olds must select the faction to which they will devote the rest of their lives.

For the main character, Beatrice “Tris” Prior, the decision is between staying with her family and being who she really is—she can’t have both. So she makes a choice that surprises everyone, including herself. What does she choose?

She chooses the Dauntless. During the highly competitive initiation that follows, Beatrice renames herself Tris and struggles alongside her fellow initiates to live out the choice they have made. Together they must undergo extreme physical tests of endurance and intense psychological simulations, some with devastating consequences.

As initiation transforms them all, Tris must determine who her friends really are—and where, exactly, a romance with a sometimes fascinating, sometimes exasperating boy fits into the life she’s chosen.

But Tris also has a secret, she finds out she is Divergent and will never fit into any group. When she discovers a conspiracy by a leader of one of the factions to destroy all Divergents, Tris must learn to trust in the mysterious Four, and together they must find out what makes being Divergent so dangerous before it’s too late.

The acting was spot on for stars that are somewhat starting out their acting careers, and big applause to the director for casting them.

Shailene Woodley really embodies the spirit of Tris, the young girl who’s trying to make the biggest decision of her life and is thrown into some serious complications.

Plus, Theo James as Four was just brilliant. He simply embodied Four, and managed to capture the tough exterior of the character, while showing that Four does in fact have a softer side as well.

I will say that I was surprised how much of a role Jeanine Matthews, the anti-hero, had in the movie, despite not being so prevalent in the book. That being said, Kate Winslet acted beautifully, and I was absolutely fascinated by her American accent.

The cinematography of the movie is beautiful. The film was shot in Chicago. It was really amazing to see how Chicago would look like in the future.

But the story delves much deeper than a simple coming-of-age tale. It’s about family and choices, wanting to feel like you belong. Most importantly, it’s about fighting for who you really are.

This film is packed with action, romance and adventure. It has something for everybody. I would say go check it out, it is definitely worth seeing.

And if you’re excited about the film, you can get even more excited, because author Veronica Roth has gotten an early peek at the movie based on her work. And according to her interview at the movie’s world premiere, she thinks it’s awesome!

“I think the cast did a good job, and the city of Chicago is represented beautifully thanks to visual style of Neil Burger. It’s also just really fun; the movie is fun, so I love that.”
– Veronica Roth

From the Other Side of Radio, this is Veronika Kondratieva with Moviecation.