In the post-9/11 world, can you imagine a major movie release in which the hero is a bomb planting terrorist/freedom fighter in a life and death struggle with his own government? Just such a bold movie is now in wide release, penned by the Wachowski Brothers (Andy and Larry), and directed by their assistant director from the Matrix trilogy, James McTeigue.
V for Vendetta, the first film to be helmed by James McTeigue, stars Natalie Portman as Evey Hammond and Hugo Weaving as V. The movie is set a few decades in the future, in a world where the US has collapsed into civil war and Britain, following a turbulent time referred to as The Reclamation, is now in the hands of one Adam Sutler, played by John Hurt. A strictly religious nationalist, Sutler has turned Britain into a right leaning police state in which dissent and diversity are not tolerated.
Evey Hammond is a young woman who works for a television station who, despite the strictly enforced curfew, ventures out one night only to be accosted by a few men from an organization known as The Fingermen. They are meant to enforce order in the society, and like many men with power they abuse it. With Evey they decide to have their way with her, but their plans are violently interrupted by V.
The masked and mysterious V, a lover of Shakespeare with a penchant for alliteration with the letter by which he is known, invites Evey to a show after saving her from the hands of her would be rapists. He takes her to the London rooftops to watch the demolition of the Old Bailey, a project he has illegally carried out himself, though the government later attempts to spin it their own way.
The next day, with the police coming to arrest Evey for her curfew violation which was caught on tape, V breaks in to her television studio and hijacks the broadcast in which he explains to the people of Britain his position, and invites them to watch Parliament explode exactly one year hence, on November 5th, the anniversary of Guy Fawkes’ attempt to blow up Parliament in 1605. Thus is the stage set for a revolution, with the police — led by investigator Finch played by Stephen Rea — after V and Evey, V after Adam Sutler and the entire government, Sutler and his sidekick Creedy (Tom Pigott-Smith) after V and poor Evey caught in between and unsure which way to go.
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Article comments
1 - chromatius
Worth noting it was written in the early eighties, under Thatcher.
And you can read Alan Moore's reasons for not participating here
Basically he felt DC ripped him off for the rights to to "Watchmen" and "V for Vendetta".
Vi Veri Veniversum Vivus Vici.
By the power of Truth I, while living, have conquered the Universe.
2 - TV Shows on DVD
V for vendetta is good action movie!natalie portman looks like GI jane here...the cast, scripts, and the story line is awesome! now i will wait for the DVD release of this movie..
3 - nogodzone
Good review. Can't wait to see it. You may not know this but the religious conservatives are calling the film a neo-Marxist plot and anti-god. I've blogged on their complaints at www.nogodzone.blogspot.com.
4 - Neil
Here is an opinion. As the previous commenter mentioned, there are those who would say that this film conveys an anti-god message. I beg to differ. What this film displays is how tyrannical governments can use religion in an unethical manner to pull the collective wool over the eyes of their society. It is frustrating to see how the religious right will often accuse Hollywood of being anti-god when the films in question are just exposing the dangers of allowing religion to permeate the fabric of our governing bodies.
Sadly I see striking parallels between this movie and our own society. I believe that it really has something to say about how we should approach our futures as a free society.
Just my 2 cents, either way you cannot dispute the fact that this film is one hell of a ride!
5 - Bob McKinlay
sorry to nitpick but the heart of the movie (& the graphic novel) is the Delia Surridge/Larkhill Detention Centre/Valerie Page thread and in the movie, the only way Inspector Finch (Stephen Rea) finds out about Larkhill is through the tax records of the key personnel (Surridge, Prothero & Lilliman) who all worked there...
good film, if you ignore the plot holes, hope it encourages people to read the book.
Ach, who am I kidding? a hollywood film that's politically dissident? rare, very rare. A mainstream hollywood film that encourages philisophical thought? Scary, Stephen King eat yer heart out...
6 - Tim
Just rented the movie & watched it on InDemand - nice... Gripping story. There was only one bit I wasn't happy with. The opening scene of the 1600's - could have just as well been a reference in the present and it added little to the film. By the end, I was still scratching my head wondering why the editors decided to leave it in at all.
Beyond that, intense and exciting and I would recommend this film to my friends.
7 - Denny O'Rork
V for Vendetta is definitely one of the best movies I have ever seen. I cannot remember when I last saw a movie that kept my interest all throughout the course of it. Hugo Weaving was the perfect V. I'm an actor myself and I do not think I could even do that role justice. This wasn't your typical mind- blowing action movie. This said so much about our own government. I will spare the details but I think you know what I mean. This movie will definitely go down in the history of movies.