The final instalment of The Hunger Games franchise, Mockingjay Part 2 is said to be the saga’s most violent film yet, with scenes showing the bombing of young children and a public execution. But director Francis Lawrence and star Natalie Dormer have defend the film’s level of violence, saying they didn't want to shy away from the book’s original content.

Natalie DormerNatalie Dormer at the Hunger Games London premiere.

“In the visual interpretation of the stories, I wanted to make sure that we were again focusing on the emotional consequence of it, not the carnage, not the blood… you’ll notice there’s very, very little blood. That’s not what I wanted to explore, that’s not what I’m interested in,” said director Francis Lawrence.

Speaking about deciding how much violence to include in the movie Lawrence added: “That was probably the biggest challenge I had in the making of this movie specifically. I think each of the movies has been violent in its own way, but this was going to be the toughest.”

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“Suzanne wrote these books with the intention of writing about the consequence of war for teenagers. And you go to make a movie about the same thing, and I think part of the reason the books are so popular is that she did not flinch. She didn’t patronise kids."

“She didn’t flinch at the telling of the stories, and her treatment of the themes, and so I felt like we couldn’t either.” The film has initially been given a 12A certificate, with the BBFC saying it contained “moderate violence and threat, and infrequent strong language”. However a long insight report by the board is due on November 9th.

Star Natalie Dormer also spoke about the film’s violent content during its London premiere on November 5th. "I think the Hunger Games is a phenomenon that's rewritten the rule book about what can be commercially viable. It's not condescending, it's not patronising to its young audience,” the actress said.

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“It fully understands that they can process and explore, cathartically, ideas and consequences or war, radical oppression, liberty, human beings struggling with their sense of self-identity, love, loss, sacrifice. It doesn't sugar coat any of them.”

"This overwhelming need that Hollywood has to sugarcoat things to make them more palatable ultimately doesn't help the younger generation who have got so much to deal with. They've got so much on their plate, don't lie to them about what the world is really like because it doesn't help them. Give them the opportunity to explore how they handle the future,” the actress added.