It's really too bad that most of the people who see the Wachowski Brothers' great new film V For Vendetta are going to mistake it for being nothing more than a stylish, if ultra-violent, futuristic action movie loaded with awesome effects.
Don't get me wrong, because V For Vendetta is absolutely all of that, and more.
But to mistake it as being merely that, would be to completely miss the point. And V For Vendetta is clearly a movie with a point to make — even if it has been somewhat cleverly dressed up as a Hollywood popcorn movie.
The hero of V For Vendetta is something of a cross between the masked serial killers of slasher fare like Friday the 13th and Halloween, and the avenging angels of Reagan-era action movies like like RoboCop and The Terminator.
But "V" is no angel.
"V" is a terrorist.
But this is no ordinary terrorist.
"V" is a sympathetic terrorist.
And therein lies the paradox of V For Vendetta.
In the post 9/11 world we live in, the idea of cheering for someone blowing up government institutions like the British Parliament (which are mere "symbols" as "V" reminds us) is not one many people should be comfortable with.
Which is why I found V For Vendetta to be such a fascinating — even courageous — film.
You see, V For Vendetta challenges those conventions.
If you are anything like me, the thing about the first (and only truly great) movie in the Wachowski Brothers' Matrix trilogy that first sucked you in wasn't so much the revolutionary time stop action sequences, cool as they we're.
Rather, it was the whole underlying theme of totalitarianist oppression (by computers of all things) epitomized by Hugo Weaving's Agent Smith character.
Cold. Clinical. Detached.
And dare I say, absolutely corporate. Agent Smith reminded us of the everyday oppression many of us feel in the daily workplace.
V For Vendetta visualizes much the same future political minefield, but this time it is seen through the eyes of masked hero "V" (also played by Weaving), who has decided to take matters into his own very dexterous (even if deformed by fire) knife-wielding hands.
In a not too distant future, America has been destroyed by civil war and England is ruled by the iron fist of High Chancellor Adam Sutler (John Hurt), with the aid of jackbooted goons "The Fingermen," headed up by a very nasty guy named Creedy.
Article comments
1 - E. Nough
I found Vendetta to be tedious, both in its plot and in its utter conventionalism.
Not to burst anyone's bubble, but in this day and age, movies based on loopy conspiracy theories are hardly brave, or even original. Muslims are killing prominent Europeans, newspapers in England are being pulped because they show "offensive" cartoons, Swedish police shut down web sites with the same cartoons, Muslim terrorists blow up trains in London and Madrid, critics of Islam need 24 hour armed guards and safehouses, blasphemy laws are being considered in Europe for the first time since the Dark Ages -- and what's the danger this movie so keenly perceives? Why, yes, the UK might get taken over by fascists, wearing black with red highlights and symbolized by something that looks vaguely like the product of a mating ritual between a yen symbol and a Norwegian flag. All leading to the extermination of Muslims and gays -- gays, for Bub's sake? circa 2015? in Europe? -- and all at the behest of some cheesy Hitler clone with bad teeth and a taste for extreme close-ups. And all by way of a conspiracy theory that borrows from the reject bin of early-1990s militia movements, somehow triggerd by the expanding "America's war." And, of course, the few remaining good guys decorate their basements with modern-day anti-American "peace" posters and hold on to precious copies of the Koran. (Because if history teaches us anything, it's that tyranny is best fought through pacifism.) It's like a case study of left-wing scaremongering clichés.
Speaking of clichés -- explosions set to the Overture of 1812? Hasn't that been done to death in Fourth of July shows already? Could no one in the production crew think of any better music?
And just how was V a "terrorist"? He blows up buildings, sure, but at night, when they are empty. You don't see him kill a single unarmed civilian. About the worst thing you see him do in the movie is set a bomb inside the TV production room, but of course that gets disarmed. Well, we wouldn't want the audience to have to make a moral judgement or anything. Whew.
This movie had an agenda, all right, which was three angstroms deep and about as subtle as an embassy burning. (I guess it's quality propaganda work by comparison with the mind-numbing drivel that Michael Moore produces, but that's not exactly high praise.) All it made me think was, that the Wachowskis should have stopped with The Matrix.
2 - Glen Boyd
V doesn't kill any unarmed civilians?
Obviously you did not see the same movie I did.
V kills plenty of people in this movie. The ones who are armed he slices and dices with those damned trailing knives of his.
The unarmed are given the mercy killing of a rose and a shot in the arm.
I'll give you the benefit of the doubt on just how unlikely a fascist huntdown of gays would be in ultra liberal Europe (it'll more likely be Christians...in Europe at least...if and when it ever does happen).
But fascism is fascism.
And "V for Vengeance" is a very timely reminder of the need for vigilance in this age of Bush driven neo-conservatism expoited by fear.
It's a very timely "popcorn parable" for my money.
3 - Cobra
I agree with you totally, Glenn. In "V" you have the antithesis of the "Stalone/Scwartzenegger" jingoistic action flicks of the 80's and 90's, where you have a thinking person's action movie.
E.nough, if you think black-bagging and renditions aren't occuring today, I recommend you actually READ the Patriot Act. If you think warrantless wiretapping and eavesdropping isn't occuring you're not keeping up with current events. If you don't think a democracy is capable of conducting biological experiments on its citizenry, you need to review the Tuskeegee incident. If you don't think that the corporate media broadcasts government propaganda you simply need to tune into to FOX NEWS, or right winged talk radio.
This is indeed a courageous film.
--Cobra
4 - E. Nough
Yes, much courage is needed to criticize the scaaaary Bush people. Not quite as much as, say, the bearded freaks who stab movie directors in European parks, but hey. And yes, the Patriot Act definitely authorizes disappearances of U.S. citizens. No doubt a warrantless wiretap of a conversation where the other end is in Afganistan is exactly the same as a parabolic mic pointed at your window. And finally, I'm sure the importance of vigilance against "Bush-driven neoconservatism" can't be overstated. Truly, those are the pressing issues of our day, not, say, the actual terrorists killing actual people by the score in actual European cities. Priorities, man, priorities.
I'm dying to know: where's the "courage" in this film? What's the risk the Wachowskis took? What danger did they put themselves into? Michael Moore put out flicks that were far more direct and critical of the Bushies -- when do the stormtroopers come for him? Who is in more danger, Mssrs. Moore and Wachowski, or the Danes who drew some cartoons of Mohammed? Whose freedom of speech has been trampled on in the real world?
V was a pitiful attempt at the same left-wing propaganda that we've been exposed to since before the dust settled on the World Trade Center. Apparently, some people like being hit in the head with the same obvious drivel, just as long as they agree with the drivel. Which makes it all that much easier to see how real fascists get into power.
5 - Brent
V may be a terrorist, but it's worth remembering that one man's terrorist is another man's freedom fighter, and if they win their liberator.
6 - D. Eric Harmon
What troubles me most about the world is the apparent lack of any objectivity-driven self-analysis or introspection. The people on this blog who want to point the fingers at Arab and Middle-Eastern extremists and envelope them with a monopoly on terrorism refuse to see our own culture told from from a perespective that does not include a priori that we are the good guys. V fo Vendetta is set in England because it is a self-analysis of our culture which warns that we are becoming the societies of a "1984" or an "Animal Farm" or even Nazi Germany. We are in the nascent developments, but like the people of Germany, we refuse to see how our support or complanceny helps to fuel the demise of our own freedom. Yes, some extreme people in Arab and Middle-Eastern countries are doing heinous acts and are curbing freedom and encouraging rutheless intolerance. But our notion of ourselves prevent us from seeing the same actions in ourselves. We see ourselves as victims staving off an implacable enemy. But who has all the military bases around the world? Who is dropping bomb on villages and innocent civillians all in the name of bringing liberty to "backwards" people. I think we will be better off anaylzing our own burgeoning facism (some would say it is well underway), and better off looking the catalyst of the "war on terror"--9/11, with objectivity...not hatred and revenge. If, as it is portrayed in V for Vendetta, that the government orchestrated a terrorist act to instill fear into the public, then this movie and more like it are the best public service announcments we can generate. And for those who readily dismiss the U.S. government's likelihood of staging an attack against its own people, check out history--look up Operation Northwoods (google it with ABCnews in the search and you will get a "mainstream news" rendition of the op)--this is a historical fact that the government once plotted such an act in the 1960's--so let's do more introspection and less name calling of our oil rich friends overseas...
7 - Ian S.
Courageous? Please. I've yet to see any critic of the Bush administration be "disappeared". Michael Moore's still popping Krispy Kremes in his 40-acre lakefront mansion. Cindy Sheehan still gets national TV coverage every time she changes a tampon. Russ Feingold, apart from being shunned by 90% of the Democratic caucus, hasn't encountered hard times. Where is the great and scary Bush Jackboot of Oppression? Last stats I saw the Patriot Act was used almost exclusively against gang members and drug smugglers.
8 - J.W.R.
The fact that I enjoyed the movie not withstanding, I felt that while it did carry a lot of 'leftwing' baggage it still had a reasonable message to send, anyone who thinks otherwise has forgotten what our forefathers intended, all you need do is read the Tree of Liberty letter from Thomas Jefferson to William Smith.
Now having said that, Mr. Harmon, perhaps you and I read different Northwoods documents, in none of it do I see anything about attacking US citizens. The only mention of harm I saw was the possible wounding of cuban exiles, note I said possible. Many of whom would have gladly accepted that if it meant the downfall of the Castro regime. The plan while not perfect would have enjoyed some chance of success and had it been allowed to proceed, perhaps 40 plus years of suffering by the cuban people could have been negated.
9 - Dan
Oh brother. V for Vendetta was nothing but a crappy wanna be Batman Begins with a little shakespeare dialogue and idiotic politics thrown in to make the America is bad crowd smile.
I love the twits who say "this movie will make you think." All it made me do was vow to avoid any more films made by these two hacks.
Are we supposed to like this V character because he recites Shakespeare? We have seen bad writers do that with both heroes and villains before and it's always a bad sign. We have also seen this vision of the future in countless movies and books so again, nothing original.
I found it hilarious that the TV guy humiliates the dictator on his show and the dictator actually allows the show to air? What kind of fascist is that? Oh, and the Benny Hill music, wow, how retarded.
As for the oh so obvious shots at conservatives in this "movie". The fact is that it is not Conservative America who is targeting civillians, repressing religion, or even homosexuality. It is dictators of socialist, communist, and Islamic nations who do that. I'm sure I'll get attacked by some leftist fanboy who thinks this borefest is a "metaphor" for our culture of today but, while he will spend his evening masturbating to paused shots of Jessica Alba on his DVD player, I'll be making love to my girlfriend in our bed.
10 - B for Beer -- Mmmm Beer
I'm wondering if anyone sees the irony that "V for Vengeance" was the name given to the Nazis V1 flying bomb and the V2 rocket.
That being said, it was an entertaining movie and it did make me think. Although, it had an obvious left wing slant and think it's important for people to remember no political belief is immune from fascist influences -- may it be left or right. Also, if it wasn't for both Conservatives and Labourists in Britain, Hitler would have succeeded. Whether you're left or right of centre, it's important not to drift to far from the middle.
11 - brian
you people have to realize that there is no left or right....its all twos sides of the same coin....as for the "terrorist attacks" those are merely false flag operations perpetrated by our own government to control, dehumanize, and get us behind the NWO......Think im joking? google anything i tell you and see if im lying...i assure you im not....false flag operations have been admitted by our govt....they were used to start both world wars, among others....
12 - Chris mankey
" Not to burst anyone's bubble, but in this day and age, movies based on loopy conspiracy theories"
Loopy conspiracy theories about what? How Norsefire came to power? I don't believe the actually exist, but if you know other wise please fill the rest of us in!
13 - Chris mankey
"I'm sure I'll get attacked by some leftist fanboy who thinks this borefest is a "metaphor" for our culture of today but, while he will spend his evening masturbating to paused shots of Jessica Alba on his DVD player, I'll be making love to my girlfriend in our bed."
I'm certain you have no idea what a metaphor is to begin with. I'm pretty certain that your girlfriend is inflatable and twice as smart as you are!
14 - Chris mankey
The fact is that it is not Conservative America who is targeting civillians, repressing religion, or even homosexuality.
Conservative americans aren't targeting civilians? Tell that to the Iraqis! They aren't targeting homosexuals? What planet are you living on? Not this one!
15 - Clayton Jones
E.nough is an operative. His/her arguments are shallow, several angstroms to be exact. The "V" was right there is something wrong with this country/world and the movie makes the viewer reevaluate
what's going on. Is the 6:00 o'clock news propaganda? Was 911 a false flag like Pearl Harbor or the sinking of the Maine? Nice try E.nouh, but no banana! Lies can't be fixed with lies... Good day.