V: “People should not be afraid of their government. Government should be afraid of their people.”
“V for Vendetta” (2006) is a stimulating and eerie watch given the world today. This swashbuckling dystopian thriller takes place in 2020. A virus called St. Mary’s has buckled the world and killed 100,000 people. Americans are engaged in a second Civil War and England is being run by an Orwellian mercurial fascist who controls the media through the British Network News. High Chancellor Adam Sutler persecutes political opponents, immigrants, Jews, Muslims, atheists, homosexuals, and other “undesirables” through imprisonment and execution.This is challenging subject matter, and it’s prescient, fascinating, rattling and exhilarating all at once. “There are no coincidences, only the illusion of coincidences,” says V. the main protagonist.
V is the mysterious crusader who stands up against the oppression. He’s a mixture of Edmond Dantes from “The Count of Monte Cristo” and “The Phantom of the Opera” and wears a Guy Fawkes mask. Fawkes was involved in the failed 1605 assassination attempt against King James I by a group of English Catholics – known as the Gunpowder Plot. Guy Fawkes Night is celebrated on November 5, and the celebration becomes integral to the storyline. The mask has become a symbol of anti-establishment sentiment across the world. “I know his name was Guy Fawkes and I know, in 1605, he attempted to blow up the Houses of Parliament,” exalts Evey (Natalie Portman) – V’s protégé – at the beginning of the film. “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.”
The film is based on the comic book which started publishing in 1982 by Englishman Alan Moore. His other works have also been adapted to the screen and TV including “Watchmen” and “The League of Extraordinary Men,” and he’s responsible for bringing greater respectability to comics. The film is produced and adapted by Lana and Lilly Wachowski – known as “The Wachowskis” famed for The Matrix franchise – which is also about a rebellion against the system. The Wachowskis offered the directing gig to their first assistant director of The Matrix trilogy, James McTeigue. It is worth noting that Moore was not involved in the production and has disagreed with the changes made to his original story. He’s rejected the movie and refused to be credited or paid royalties for it. After its successful release, both critically and at the box office, the film has become a symbol for endurance – and seems especially so in light of our recent Black Lives Matter protests.
“Artists use lies to tell the truth, while politicians use them to cover the truth up,” idealistic Evey remembers her dad telling her. She works for the British News Network and is saved from rape at the hands of the “Fingermen” secret police by V on the eve of Guy Fawkes’ Day. He invites her to watch a concert atop London – the demolition of the Old Bailey orchestrated by him to the tune of Tchaikovsky’s 1812 Overture. The following day, V takes over BTN airwaves and claims responsibility for the prior night’s revolutionary act and urges the people of Britain to stand up against their totalitarian government and join him in a year on the 5th of November outside the Houses of Parliament. After the broadcast the police try to capture V, but Evey comes to his aid. “I maced him. Why did I do that?” she questions. “You did what you thought was right,” he tells her. She’s knocked unconscious and V has no choice but to take her to his lair – where she finds out the reasons for V’s quest and is indoctrinated. He was subjected to experiments in government concentration camps, and he’s fueled by revenge as well as the need to set things right. What we never see is his face.
Hugo Weaving embodies the masked vigilante – using his voice to convey a vast range of emotions. You are also hyper aware of his gestures and in particular his physical expression through action sequences. Visually the movie is stunning with its bold usage of reds and black, and there are set pieces that are reminiscent of the roguish charm of films like “The Adventures of Robin Hood” and the subversion of Kubrick’s “A Clockwork Orange.”
It’s thought provoking as well as quite entertaining.
V: “Voilà! In view, a humble vaudevillian veteran, cast vicariously as both victim and villain by the vicissitudes of Fate. This visage, no mere 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 vanguarding vice and vouchsafing the violently vicious and voracious violation of volition. [Carves ‘V’ into poster on wall.] 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.”
Love,
Roger
Available to stream on HBO Max and to rent on Apple TV, Google Play, YouTube, iTunes, Microsoft, Vudu, FandangoNOW, Redbox and DIRECTV.
Screenplay by Lilly Wachowski and Lana Wachowski
Directed by James McTeigue
Starring Natalie Portman, Hugo Weaving, Stephen Rea, Stephen Fry and John Hurt
132 minutes
Natalie Portman on “V for Vendetta”
“It was very interesting for me to consider the mindset of someone who goes from being non-violent to being drawn towards using violence to express her political beliefs. I enjoyed the fact that it was a complicated journey that can be interpreted on many different levels – maybe she’s being manipulated, maybe she’s finding her true self, and just developing pragmatism over idealism. I appreciated the complicated view of what would make someone want to do this sort of thing…When I received the script I was just so shocked by the fact that a big Hollywood action movie could actually have substance and something that’s provocative. That it could actually make people feel very strong things and think strong things, whatever those various reactions would be. I thought: “This is crazy, I want to do this!” It’s exactly the kind of entertainment I’m interested in making…I worked for a month before with a dialect coach and we ran through the material over and over again. Every morning during the filming we’d also warm up an hour before we started. But doing a different accent was exciting because it immediately puts you into a different character. Everyone was very supportive and didn’t try to intervene too much.” (bbc.co.uk)
Director James McTeigue and Producer Joel Silver on “V for Vendetta”
Silver: “I’ve made a lot of stupid action films in my life but I like stupid action films and am kind of proud of them. But we found in ‘The Matrix’ that people were willing to accept something more. It was a smarter film. I will always continue to make stupid action films but I think ‘V For Vendetta’ is a very smart film and I think that people will feel differently about things when they see it. It makes you think about things that are going on, there’s a lot of dialogue in it – more than I’m used to – and while I do blow buildings up again, they get to talk about it a little more. But I think that it’s something that we should be doing. Our responsibility as filmmakers is to make things that are fresh, unique and original and I think this movie is that.”
McTeigue: “This film started as a 156-page script, so it was pretty long. I subscribe to the Coen brothers theory a little bit, which is if you’re going to do a director’s cut make it shorter if you possibly can! Having said that, there’s a great documentary on Guy Fawkes on the DVD and there’s another really good documentary on the notion of the graphic novels in society.” (indielondon.co.uk)
About Co-Writers Lilly Wachowski and Lana Wachowski
Lilly Wachowski (formerly Andrew Paul “Andy” Wachowski, born December 29, 1967) and Lana Wachowski (formerly Laurence “Larry” Wachowski, born June 21, 1965) are American film directors, screenwriters, and producers. They are siblings, and are both trans women. Collectively known as the Wachowskis and formerly as the Wachowski Brothers, the pair made their directing debut in 1996 with “Bound,” and achieved fame with their second film “The Matrix” (1999), a major box office success for which they won the Saturn Award for Best Director. They wrote and directed its two sequels: “The Matrix Reloaded” and “The Matrix Revolutions” (both in 2003), and were deeply involved in the writing and production of other works in that franchise. Following the commercial success of “The Matrix” series, they wrote and produced the 2006 film “V for Vendetta” (an adaptation of the comic of the same name by Alan Moore), and in 2008 released the film “Speed Racer,” which was a live-action adaptation of the Japanese anime series of the same name. Their next film, “Cloud Atlas,” based on the novel of the same name by David Mitchell and co-written and co-directed by Tom Tykwer, was released in 2012. Their film “Jupiter Ascending” and the Netflix series “Sense8,” which they co-created with J. Michael Straczynski, both debuted in 2015. “Sense8” was canceled after two seasons in June 2017, but later that month, it was announced that thanks to strong support from the fans, it would return with a two-hour series finale in 2018. The siblings have worked as a writing and directing team through most of their professional film careers, until the second season of “Sense8.” At this point Lilly took an active break from writing and directing, with Lana continuing the TV series solo, which has marked the first time that the siblings worked separately. (unitycoalition.org)
About Director James McTeigue
James McTeigue, the director of the critically acclaimed and commercially successful movie, V for Vendetta, first came to prominence in the late 1990s as assistant director on the three Matrix films and later as assistant director on “Star Wars Episode II – Attack of the Clones.” McTeigue first became involved in the film industry in the late 1980s, acting as second assistant director in a number of small Australian films. It was however, in 1994 that McTeigue broke into mainstream Hollywood, being the second assistant director on the big budget “Street Fighter.” In 1997 he was the second assistant director for WWII film, Paradise Road, as well as the television series, “Big Sky.” The following year he was assistant director for the American sci-fi film, “Dark City,” as well as Australian film, “The Sugar Factory.” It was the following year, that McTeigue really came to be recognized for his film making expertise. McTeigue was apparently going to act as second assistant director for “The Matrix” film, that is, until the first assistant director, a friend of McTeigue who told him about the project had to drop out, which saw the Wachowski Brothers make McTeigue first assistant. The film was released in 1999 and became a huge global success.
In 2002 McTeigue worked with George Lucas, as he became the first assistant director for “Star Wars II: Attack of the Clones.” The following year he was also the first assistant director for both “Matrix” sequels, “The Matrix Reloaded” and “The Matrix Revolutions.” In 2006 McTeigue made his directorial debut, directing the Wachowski brothers’ produced film, “V for Vendetta.” After spending so much time on The Matrix film series, the brothers gave the opportunity to McTeigue to direct, first showing him a copy of “Vendetta” graphic novel during post production of “The Matrix Revolutions.” McTeigue has been highly praised since the film’s release in spring of 2006. McTeigue’s directing outing…”Ninja Assassin,” starring Rain and Naomie Harris was a worldwide commercial hit. The film was produced by Joel Silver and the Wachowski Brothers, and filming took place in Berlin. McTeigue has also had a high degree of exposure to the commercial genre, previously directing action packed campaigns for Samsung, Heineken and Powerade and acting as assistant director on more than a hundred commercials.
(savilleproductions.com)