"Strength Through Unity, Unity Through Faith!"

V For Vendetta

2005; USA; 132 min.

Director: James McTeigue

Screenplay: Andy Wachowski, Larry Wachowski, David Lloyd

Music: Dario Marianelli

Cast:
Evey Hammond - Natalie Portman

V - Hugo Weaving

Inspector Finch - Stephen Rea

Gordon Deitrich - Stephen Fry

Adam Sutler - John Hurt

Creedy - Tim Pigott-Smith

"Remember, Remember, the Fifth of November, the Gunpowder Treason and Plot. I know of no reason why the Gunpowder Treason should ever be forgot... But what of the man? I know his name was Guy Fawkes and I know, in 1605, he attempted to blow up the Houses of Parliament. But who was he really? What was he like? We are told to remember the idea, not the man, because a man can fail. He can be caught, he can be killed and forgotten, but 400 years later, an idea can still change the world. I've witnessed first hand the power of ideas, I've seen people kill in the name of them, and die defending them... but you cannot kiss an idea, cannot touch it, or hold it... ideas do not bleed, they do not feel pain, they do not love... And it is not an idea that I miss, it is a man... A man that made me remember the Fifth of November. A man that I will never forget."

"V For Vendetta" is a simply amazing film! The acting was fabulous, the writing was great, and the plot was quite intriguing! I had never seen Natalie Portman in a movie before - she did an amazing job of creating the character of Evey Hammond. V (Hugo Weaving) was another character who was beautifully developed. When watching the movie, V's charismatic personality captivated the audience, yet at the same time, the audience has to question V's intentions. Is V a "freedom fighter" or just a villain with vendetta (hence, the title)? At first, during the film, I felt afraid and uncomfortable when the scenes in the film dealt with V, as did Evey. Then, as the film progressed, I began to really like V and his ideas. The writing in the film is outstanding! The quote above ("Remember, Remember...") was such a catchy tagline for the film. Another part of the writing that I loved was V's "V" vignette:

"Voila! In view, a humble vaudevillian veteran, cast vicariously as both victim and villain by the vicissitudes of Fate. This visage, no more veneer of vanity, is a vestige of the vox populi, now vacant, vanished. However, this valorous visitation of a by-gone vexation, stands vivified and has vowed to vanquish these venal and virulent vermin van-guarding vice and vouchsafing the violently vicious and voracious violation of volition. The only verdict is vengeance; a vendetta, held as a votive, not in vain, for the value and veracity of such shall one day vindicate the vigilant and the virtuous. Verily, this vichyssoise of verbiage veers most verbose, so let me simply add that it's my very good honor to meet you and you may call me V."

To be able to write an excerpt such as the one above is amazing. I can't even fathom trying to write something as coherent and creative as that passage! The plot of the film was one that I found extremely interesting. While the same totalitarian concept has been discussed in other works (such as George Orwell's 1984), I still found the topic to be fresh and new. The whole concept of government deception is something that I took away with me from the film. Are we being tricked by leaders like the Chancellor tricked the society in the movie? Another interesting concept that the movie brought up was, "Can violence be used for good?" such as V supposedly used it for when dealing with Evey's fear. Despite what V believes, I think that violence is violence and cannot be used for good.

While watching the film, I came across a couple of interesting production elements. I'm not sure if I'm reading too much into the film, or if my thinking is too abstract, but I've listed what I noticed below:

1. Repetition of the "V" shape
- government packaging boxes (spiral, "V" shape)
- fireworks
- elevator button
- v-neck shirt (worn by Evey)
- way the flags are crossed (in the senior center)
- corner angle of the desk at the BTN Office
- hands of a clock
- v-neck dress
- v-neck hoodie
- Roman numeral "V" on the room, signifying the number five

2. Foreshadowing

- Evey under the bed as a child forshadows Evey under the bed as an adult

3. EVEy?

- One of my thoughts is that Evey is possibly a symbol of Eve, as in Adam and Eve. In a way, Evey and V are the only ones who are aware. They're the only ones who are aware of the government and they way in which it deceives people. Could this truly be an allusion to Adam and Eve?

4. Evey's Connection to V

- Evey's name has the letter "v" in it, which I believe represents how connected V is to Evey. V is literally a part of Evey. At the end, his thinking becomes a part of how Evey thinks, which I believe is what prompts Evey (SPOILER ALERT) to follow through with V's plan to blow up Parliament.

The film was great overall. There are still some aspects of the plot that are a bit foggy, so I'd like to watch the film again. This film is definitely one that you could watch over and over again. Here's a big shout-out to blogger Banama (http://moofahsah.blogspot.com) for the awesome film suggestion! I would definitely recommend this to anyone, and I plan on viewing it again very soon!

iRate: 4.8/5 Guy Fawkes masks

Trailer: http://vforvendetta.warnerbros.com/trailer.html