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"Remember, remember the fifth of November," for on this day, in 2020, the minds of the masses shall be set free. So says code-name V (Hugo Weaving), a man on a mission to shake society out of its blank complacent stares in the film V For Vendetta. His tactics, however, are a bit revolutionary to say the least. The world in which V lives is very similar to Orwell's totalitarian dystopia in 1984: after years of various wars, England is now under "big brother" Chancellor Adam Sutler (played by John Hurt, who ironically played Winston Smith in the movie 1984) whose party uses force and fear to run the nation. After gaining power, minorities and political dissenters were rounded up and removed; artistic and unacceptable religious works were confiscated. Cameras and microphones are littered throughout the land, and the people are perpetually sedated through the governmentally controlled media. Taking inspiration from Guy Fawkes, the 17th century co-conspirator of a failed attempt to blow up Parliament on November 5, 1605, V dons a Fawkes mask and costume and sets off to wake the masses by destroying the symbols of their oppressors, literally and figuratively. At the beginning of his vendetta, V rescues Evey (Natalie Portman) from a group of police officers and has her live with him in his underworld lair. It is through their relationship where we learn how V became V, the extremities of the party's corruption, the problems of an oppressive government, V's revenge plot and his philosophy on how to induce change.
Based on the popular graphic novel by Alan Moore, V For Vendetta's screenplay was written by the Wachowski Brothers (of The Matrix fame) and directed by their protégé James McTeigue. Controversy and criticism followed the film since its inception, from the hyper-stylized use of anarchistic terrorism to overthrow a corrupt government and the blatant jabs at the current US political arena, to graphic novel fans complaining about the reconstruction of Alan Moore's original vision (Moore himself has dismissed the film). Many are valid critiques and opinions, but there's no hiding the message the film is trying to express: Radical and drastic events often need to occur in order to shake people out of their state of indifference in order to bring about real change. Unfortunately, the movie only offers a means with no ends, and those looking for answers may find the film stylish, but a bit empty. --Rob Bracco
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
33 of 36 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Brilliant,
By Evey "sigil" (UK) - See all my reviews
This review is from: V for Vendetta [DVD] [2006] (DVD)
This film stands as strong as the Matrix did in its day. Being loyal to the Matrix film, V for Vendetta is also decieving until the end. At first the film seems to be a comic book action film (similar to the Matrix) but by the end it asks some challenging questions about the nature of our reality and I believe there are many truths in this film. Notice the government logo is a doublecross and this is not by accident. The film asks the question, 'who are the real terrorists?' - and I think it is a viable question since this film is based in a fascist England with the gagging of the media to fabricate the news and the imprisonment of those who do not fit within the regime.
Evey's parents were imprisoned and died after becoming political activists when their son died of a virus outbreak and Evey realises that there is something wrong with their country. In many ways this film paralells real life, many have said that the media is controlled, the government using covert means to control its people. I completely fell in love with 'V' played by Hugo Weaving, and I must say is acting in this is flawless. I found that I could not entirely connect Hugo with 'V' as his accent was wonderful and his portrayal of 'V's character was a lot different to characters I have seen Hugo play before. 'V' is such a lovable character, there is one scene where Evey walks in on him play acting and he is embarrassed and doesn't know what to do with himself which I found hilarious. But as with many characters 'V' has a tragic background which has sort him to exact revenge on others. The film doesn't patronises the audience by showing the wrongs of violence, instead it gives us 'V's point of view that sometimes violence is needed, and although we find ourselves grappling with the argument that it is not, I believe that the audience knows that the violence is wrong, that 'V' is wrong, but you can't help being sympathetic to his cause as he has also been wronged. All in all I found it an enjoyable film, slightly slow at first, speeding up towards a crescendo ending. If you love films which challenge our view of reality then this is a film for you.
97 of 111 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A Subtle Triumph,
By
This review is from: V for Vendetta [DVD] [2006] (DVD)
Having been a fan of the graphic novel for many years I was interested to see how exactly the Wachowski's intended to translate Moore's early 90's view of the future into a believable concept for the twentieth century. Despite what most of the purists may say, Moores original view of totalitarian britain has aged somewhat, and an exacttranslation of the graphic novel onto the silver screen would have been far too esoteric and inaccessable for those who had not been previously introduced to the material. What we have here the is an adaptation of the original concept of the novel, with some of the plot points rearranged and characters redrawn, in order to fit a movie format, and to better explore the intricacies of this fascist police state. Whereas moore portrayed a world where the government is in complete control, both of the nation and the hearts and minds of the citizenry, the Wachowski's have altered this somewhat. What we have now is a government that controls through deception and spin, by creating fear in the populace and presenting Anglo-christian based national socialism as the cure for all ills. This is in contrast to moores vision where the government rules by intimidation and violence, the citizens of britain are brow beaten dogs utterly submissive and incapable of thought, in this movie the populace have simply been kept in the dark and are awaiting someone to turn the light on. Enter V.
What makes this film such a triumph is it's assertion that no matter how entrencehd a governments control becomes, there are always going to be people who question them always people who look at the world and sense something is wrong. People know when they're being lied to, know when spin becomes outright lies and are perfectly capable of standing for their own rights. Of course V's attacks act as the catalyst for this process ut the ultimate act of herosim is performed by the public. Yes there are better action films, yes there are better films that question the world we live in, but very few do both with such style and grace. This time the wachowski's managed to of their message without recourse to big black coats and rage against the machine music. Rebellion isn't just for angry teenagers- it must be for everyone.
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Blu-ray review,
By
This review is from: V For Vendetta [Blu-ray] [2006][Region Free] (Blu-ray)
I dont see many blu-ray reviews here so I thought I would address that imbalance.
This is top notch entertainment. The film can be interpreted on many levels. It can be seen as an action flick with many amazing set pieces with gunfire, explosions and gory violence. Or it can be seen as a deep political statement with strong relevance to the uprisings happening currently in the middle east and north africa. The recurring message of mass popular acceptance of a dictatorship which is corrupt, violently reactive to any form of criticism and outrageously favouring cronies could have been referring to any one of the regimes now undergoing revolution. In Tunisia a man set fire to himself and provided the stimulus for people to wake up and use their collective power to overthrow their totalitarian government. In Egypt a Facebook page was the initial stimulus. V only exists because the fascist state experimented on him and his wish is to be the spark for a British revolution. It is a complex story of government manipulation of media, the deliberate creation of an atmosphere of fear where the populous feel a need to depend on the government. The parts are played beautifully. The lengthy verbose utterings of V are given life by Hugo Weaving who also plays small side roles. Natalie Portman doesnt quite pull of an English accent but still gives a deeply moving performance which completely drew me in and made me believe. John Hurt plays a psycho-nutter-fascist prime minister very well too. Is it worth buying the blu-ray if you already have the dvd? Well, hmmmmmmm, sort of. I didnt see much improvement in the picture quality. But the soundtrack is a completely different story. If you select the DTS-HD soundtrack, which is not the default, your expensive sound system will treat your ears to a feast of amazing zinging explosions and gun battles. The music, particularly at the climax of the film, will just about lift you out of your chair. For me, it was worth the money just to repeatedly sit through the 1812 overture with synchronised sub-woofer assisted explosions coming from all corners of my tv room.
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