March 18, 2006 -- “V for Vendetta” is a stylish psychological-political thriller about a crazed man who mixes his desire for personal vengeance with political violence. V is a man who blows up buildings and assassinates people for reasons that are more personal than political. His motives are complex. While he models himself after the famed would-be bomber Guy Fawkes, he also has a personal score to settle with some high government officials. His journey through this film is as much a psychological one as it is a journey into politics, vengeance and fight scenes.

The story, based on a 1989 graphic novel by Alan Moore and David Lloyd, is set in a future London when England is controlled by a repressive totalitarian government. The screenplay was written by Andy and Larry Wachowski, who wrote the screenplay for “The Matrix” trilogy. Secret police, known as fingermen, prowl the streets at night, and the public is always under electronic surveillance. None dare speak out or criticize the government. The government, led by Adam Sutler (John Hurt of “Hellboy”), rules by fear and intimidation. It controls the mass media and plants stories meant to scare the public into obedience.

One night Evey (Natalie Portman of “Closer”) is attacked by Fingermen on her way to a friend's house. She is saved by V (played by Hugo Weaving of the “Lord of the Rings” trilogy). V gives Evey a ringside seat to his destruction of a building and tells her (in a speech overloaded with alliteration) that he plans to overthrow the government. Evey becomes an unwitting accomplice to V's scheme, but she eventually comes to believe in his cause, to a certain extent. V becomes a kind of mentor to her, along lines of the masked man and heroine in “The Phantom of the Opera.” V's scheme to overthrow the government is exceedingly massive and complex, depending on the psychological manipulation of hundreds of thousands of people, the distribution of a like number of costumes, and prodigious mining, engineering and bomb manufacturing activities. This enormous task would certainly be well beyond the resources and abilities of any man forced to work alone and undetected.

Nevertheless, it is a compelling parable. Comparisons to the current Bush Administration in the United States are obvious. The words and images in the film provide many hints about this, including some that say the Iraq War was one of the key events that led to the downfall of the United States and the rise of the conservative regime in England. A conservative talk show host who sounds like Rush Limbaugh is seen in the film stirring up hatred toward minorities with a religious zeal. The toxic combination of religion and politics, now at the forefront of American life, is referenced in the movie. One character in the movie is executed by the government because he owns a copy of the Koran. Homosexuals are hunted down and killed. It appears this government is involved in a kind of religious-based ethnic cleansing.

As obvious as the film is in its attack of governments that rule through fear, it should be pointed out that the original story on which this film is based, was written during the Reagan and Margaret Thatcher administrations. The story has been tweaked to take aim at the Bush Administration, which is very similar to the Reagan Administration, complete with the same old “trickle down” economics and cold-war “evil empire” fear-mongering. The story also has parallels to George Orwell's classic “1984.” There are also similarities between this film and “Fight Club” which also features a mentally-unstable rebel leader and a similar explosive attack against the system. In fact, it can be argued that both “Fight Club” and “V for Vendetta” make similar arguments in favor of anarchy.

It can also be argued that the film calls for an end to apathy. It may be a call for activism, for opposition to any government which increases its own power by appealing to public prejudices and exploiting public fear. Whatever it is, it is not politically neutral. It is a bold statement in favor of action. Like “Fight Club,” however, it is also a cautionary tale. It clearly shows that a rebel leader, no matter how popular, just might turn out to be crazy as a loon, as the followers of Hitler found out too late. Some have labeled V as a terrorist. He seems to me more like a rebel with a personal score to settle, like the vengeful hero of “Darkman.” His primary goal is not to terrorize people by indiscriminate killing, but to kill precisely those people who have hurt him in the past. The explosions he sets off in the movie are not designed to kill large numbers of people. Rather, they are attacks against symbols of government power, meant to rouse public action.

This film looks great with wonderful production and set design. Cinematographer Adrian Biddle of “Shanghai Knights” did some spectacular work in this film. Biddle died after filming. There is a dedication to him in the film's credits. The stunt work is also good with some well-choreographed fight scenes. Despite the fight scenes and explosions, this is really more of a psychological drama than an action film. The characters are well fleshed out in the script. We learn a lot about them, and many of them change during the course of the film. The main characters, in addition to V and Evey, include Police Inspector Finch (Stephen Rea of “Breakfast on Pluto”), television writer and host Gordon Deitrich (Stephen Fry of “The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy”) and Creedy (Tim Pigott-Smith of “Alexander”) head of British secret police. The film is well acted, although the plot is really not character-driven. Perhaps had the story been less political and more character-driven it might have been more effective, but it is fascinating, nonetheless. It rates a B.

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Copyright © 2006 Robert Roten. All rights reserved.
Reproduced with the permission of the copyright holder.

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