Watch Effie Shine in New 'Mockingjay' Clip

One notable change-over from book to movie for the upcoming Mockingjay — Part 1 is the increased presence of Elizabeth Banks' Effie. Though Effie disappears (at least for the most part) in the books, the movies have made the conscious decision to keep her around. The newest Mockingjay clip showcases a bit of Effie's increased presence, and it's got me convinced it's a good move.

Debuted by Yahoo!, the clip features Haymitch running a meeting and trying to get people to share moments from Katniss' past that genuinely moved them. This is a scene that's in the books, although, within the pages of Mockingjay, it's not Effie doing most of the sharing. Both work, in my opinion, but the inclusion of Effie in the film makes the most sense for what the movies have been doing with her.

Effie's role in the Hunger Games series has always been to act as a window to the excesses of the Capitol. In the books, she's empathetic to Katniss, but she's a relatively morally ambiguous character, clearly still mentally all tied up in the internalized (and effed-up) habits of the Capitol. In the movies, though, the depth of her allegiances are made clearer in Catching Fire and she's made more heroic (if quietly so), which sets us up nicely for Mockingjay. She's chosen her side, and now she's in a very peculiar place of having had all her excess stripped away.

Check out the clip below.

Image: Lionsgate