Post by Loki on Oct 18, 2006 20:24:57 GMT 3
First off, please allow me to make it clear that this is not my review. I have been bugging a movie-buff friend to do some reviews for the site and he finally agreed. But he is not really a forum person, so I will post them for him until I can convince him to do it himself. ;D
V for Vendetta
DVD release
"People should not be afraid of their Governments. Governments should be afraid of their people."
There's something strangely unnerving about V for Vendetta. It's not the stylised violence, nor the annoying habit of the main character, Codename V (Hugo Weaving from the Matrix Trilogy), to communicate in classical quotations or his annoying over-extended alliterated speech.
The unnerving thing about V for Vendetta is how much resonance it has with our present and potential near future, given that the Alan Moore graphic novel on which it is closely based was written in the early 1980s.
The year is 2015 or so and a totalitarian conservative government has swept to power in the late 1990s on a wave of fear created by apparent biological terrorism (sound familiar?). The all-powerful state has crushed resistance, banned dissent, and erased anyone described as different, such as homosexuals, artists, and non-Christians.
A solitary almost super-human figure partially created by the regime itself in the early days of revolution stands against the state, encouraging the down-trodden and ordinary people of Britain to rise up against their oppressors.
Weaving is faceless throughout, hidden behind a mask taken directly from the David Lloyd's striking artwork. Despite this difficulty, he still manages to communicate the hero's tragic soul as he uses his own quest for revenge in an attempt to build a better future for a people he clearly pities, despite their collective guilt for what they allowed to happen in their name.
Natalie Portman (Closer) puts on a commendable if wavering English accent as Evey Hammond, an important catalyst who propels V towards the final confrontation.
Stephan Rea from The Crying Game plays Chief Inspector Finch, a caricature worn gumshoe of a detective hunting V, one step ahead of the sinister Gestapo of Mr Cready (Tim Piggott-Smith). John Hurt plays the all powerful but personally terrified leader, Chancellor Sutler.
Comedian Stephen Fry puts in a well-crafted if small performance as a closet homosexual who has the audacity to admire the Koran for its poetry and art.
The film is stylish, but well-padded. You're left with the sense that once the story was boiled down, there almost wasn't enough to fill much over an hour. The final product is a few goods points rather belaboured. For example, in one scene, Rea rambles on visually about a dream he has had where everything and everyone is connected, including numerous plots aspects about which his character is ignorant at this point.
The film's strength is the almost overpowering connection to symbols from our present; the rabble-rousing, self-important, bigoted talk show host; the well-meaning scientist oblivious to the pain and suffering she inflicts in the name of progress; the authoritarian figures waiting to capitalise on fear and death for their own ends; the disappearance of those standing in the way; and a public who knows better but is too timid to act.
Moore wrote the tale at a time of a great conservative movement in the Britain, as Margaret Thatcher's ultra-conservative government crushed the miners and imposed a controversial personal taxation regime, using the police quite literally as the battery ram to subdue significant minority elements within British society. That this powerful allegory still has meaning, complete with images of suicide bombers, terror on the London Underground, and the notion that "destroying a couple of buildings" can be an important symbol, is a stark reminder of what the French call plus ca change, plus sa meme chose: the more things change, the more they stay the same.
Edited for typos
V for Vendetta
DVD release
"People should not be afraid of their Governments. Governments should be afraid of their people."
There's something strangely unnerving about V for Vendetta. It's not the stylised violence, nor the annoying habit of the main character, Codename V (Hugo Weaving from the Matrix Trilogy), to communicate in classical quotations or his annoying over-extended alliterated speech.
The unnerving thing about V for Vendetta is how much resonance it has with our present and potential near future, given that the Alan Moore graphic novel on which it is closely based was written in the early 1980s.
The year is 2015 or so and a totalitarian conservative government has swept to power in the late 1990s on a wave of fear created by apparent biological terrorism (sound familiar?). The all-powerful state has crushed resistance, banned dissent, and erased anyone described as different, such as homosexuals, artists, and non-Christians.
A solitary almost super-human figure partially created by the regime itself in the early days of revolution stands against the state, encouraging the down-trodden and ordinary people of Britain to rise up against their oppressors.
Weaving is faceless throughout, hidden behind a mask taken directly from the David Lloyd's striking artwork. Despite this difficulty, he still manages to communicate the hero's tragic soul as he uses his own quest for revenge in an attempt to build a better future for a people he clearly pities, despite their collective guilt for what they allowed to happen in their name.
Natalie Portman (Closer) puts on a commendable if wavering English accent as Evey Hammond, an important catalyst who propels V towards the final confrontation.
Stephan Rea from The Crying Game plays Chief Inspector Finch, a caricature worn gumshoe of a detective hunting V, one step ahead of the sinister Gestapo of Mr Cready (Tim Piggott-Smith). John Hurt plays the all powerful but personally terrified leader, Chancellor Sutler.
Comedian Stephen Fry puts in a well-crafted if small performance as a closet homosexual who has the audacity to admire the Koran for its poetry and art.
The film is stylish, but well-padded. You're left with the sense that once the story was boiled down, there almost wasn't enough to fill much over an hour. The final product is a few goods points rather belaboured. For example, in one scene, Rea rambles on visually about a dream he has had where everything and everyone is connected, including numerous plots aspects about which his character is ignorant at this point.
The film's strength is the almost overpowering connection to symbols from our present; the rabble-rousing, self-important, bigoted talk show host; the well-meaning scientist oblivious to the pain and suffering she inflicts in the name of progress; the authoritarian figures waiting to capitalise on fear and death for their own ends; the disappearance of those standing in the way; and a public who knows better but is too timid to act.
Moore wrote the tale at a time of a great conservative movement in the Britain, as Margaret Thatcher's ultra-conservative government crushed the miners and imposed a controversial personal taxation regime, using the police quite literally as the battery ram to subdue significant minority elements within British society. That this powerful allegory still has meaning, complete with images of suicide bombers, terror on the London Underground, and the notion that "destroying a couple of buildings" can be an important symbol, is a stark reminder of what the French call plus ca change, plus sa meme chose: the more things change, the more they stay the same.
Edited for typos
