Children of the revolution

Review by Vives Anunciacion
Inquirer Libre
March 15 2005

V for Vendetta
Directed by John McTeigue
Written by Andy & Larry Wachowski
Based on the graphic novel by Alan Moore & David Lloyd
Starring Natalie Portman, Hugo weaving
R 13/ 132 minutes
Warner Brothers/ Silver/ Vertigo

“No one ever seizes power with the intention of relinquishing it. Power is not a
means, it is an end. One does not establish a dictatorship in order to safeguard
a revolution; one makes the revolution in order to establish the dictatorship.
The object of persecution is persecution. The object of torture is torture. The
object of power is power.” – George Orwell, ‘1984’

Beneath the futuristic storyline there is more than just spectacular action and effects. There is an idea, and the idea is of fundamental significance: “People should not be afraid of their governments, governments should be afraid of their people.” V for Vendetta is the year’s The Matrix – visceral, verbose, volatile and very good.

Fourth in a series of graphic novels by visionary Alan Moore translated to the screen (From Hell, The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen and Constantine), V for Vendetta envisions a futuristic Britain overshadowed by dictatorial rule. An enigmatic masked persona declares war against the authoritarian government in order to bring hope back to the nation, even if it means blowing up its Parliament.

Codenamed “V”, the masked terrorist aims to free the people of England from their corrupt government by carrying out the failed November 5, 1605 plot to bomb the Parliament building. On the eve of November 5 1605, Guy Fawkes, an avowed Catholic, was discovered by government troops preparing 36 barrels of gunpowder in a tunnel beneath the House of Lords. Sentenced to death by the anti-Catholic English government of King James I, Guy Fawkes and 12 other conspirators of the “Gunpowder Plot” were tortured, hanged and quartered. Today November 5 is known as Guy Fawkes Day in England.

In commemoration of that day, V plans to blow up the Parliament on November 5, 2020, spread chaos and ignite a revolution that he hopes will eventually replace the despotic government. His unlikely accomplice is Evey Hammond, an ordinary office girl working in the government-controlled TV network, whom V saves when she is attacked in an alley by abusive policemen. V gradually politicizes Evey each time they interact, seeing in her the face of the sleeping citizen who must awaken to the realities of their abused world.

From the makers of The Matrix trilogies come a surprisingly political movie about terror as a means to free people from their manufactured fears. V for Vendetta is a rhetorical ambiguity: the idea of a terrorist as a hero fighting a terrorist government is un-Hollywood at least, the movie might as well have been made by Al-Qaeda.

Terrific performances from the entire cast, especially Hugo Weaving who must articulate all manner of V’s nuanced machinations despite the macabre mask through voice and mannerisms. Natalie Portman saves her bad English accent by revealing a veiled strength under her fragile looks; she gets better after her head gets shaved in her torture scenes. John Hurt is every bit the raving dictator as he appears in huge screens (ala the 1990s Apple Macintosh TV ad also inspired by George Orwell’s 1984).

Great music, great design, great cinematography by Adrian Biddle (who died last December) and great editing help propel the sharp, lashing dialogue (except for Evey’s last monologue at the end of the movie), at some point Shakespeare is quoted in Twelfth Night.

V for Vendetta is no ordinary Hollywood popcorn movie (it isn’t exactly an action movie either); at its core is a chilling warning of a future when the survival of a nation’s people does not depend on whoever holds the mace.