March 20, 2006
V for Vendetta
I know exactly what you're thinking. After seeing Matrices II-IV (Reloaded, Revolutions, Constantine), you don't even want to touch Matrix V (for Vendetta) with the proverbial ten-foot pole. Well, I'm here to set the record straight: this movie makes me want to forgive the Wachowski brothers for what they did to The Matrix.
The film opens with a brief history of Guy Fawkes, a British bloke who sought to blow up Parliament in 1604. Since 1604, Britain has become a totalitarian police state ruled by a man in the newly-created position of High Chancellor and his party. As in the Orwellian epic, 1984, the government controls the population through media manipulation, surveillance, and fear. However, instead of a Winston Smith, V for Vendetta employs a real hero who is strikingly well-read.
V, played by Hugo Weaving (Agent Smith), wears the smiling visage of Guy Fawkes to disguise his identity. Despite the loss of facial expression, the performance from Weaving is strengthened. The effect of the speech without corresponding facial movement is startling. Although the mask never changes, it can be read differently in each seen: a bittersweet smirk, a devious smile, or an eerie grin. To further V’s iconic status, his character speaks in long, flowing prose. Rereading Hamlet and Macbeth before the movie will boost your street cred as you point the sources of several references to the people around you.
Natalie Portman’s character, Evey, is well done in both writing and acting. While her British accent is slightly off, the acting is well above Portman’s usual. What could be confused for bad acting by some is actually the reflection of an important shyness about her character. She is an assistant at the British Television Network, a government-controlled media outlet which relays the freshly-spun news to the people. On a night when she is out past London’s ‘yellow-coded curfew,’ she is stopped by authorities. V rescues her, and through surveillance footage, she is linked to him. She is far more practical than V, opting to speak in much shorter, pointed sentences.
While the trailers may lead you to believe that this film is typical of the action genre with a high explosions per minute ratio, make no mistake: this movie is a political illustration of exactly how a government could control its people. The news is spun so that the people will see that the government is firmly in control. Religion is exploited in all facets of government, from the motto of the party to blaming the fall of America on godlessness. The rhetoric the movie uses is equally scary. Everything is considered a matter of “national security,” branding anyone who does not comply with the government a terrorist. The words from the mouth of the High Chancellor express his sentiment that the people need the government’s control. There is even a partisan pundit character, the so-called Voice of London, who broadcasts frightening statements of radical intolerance linked with a common line of the government: “We did what we had to do.”
The movie is rich with subtle symbolism, but some of it is overdone. The film hits some imagery, such as fire and water, a little too hard. There is also a shot in which the camera tracks falling raindrops down onto Evey which definitely could be done without. It is gratuitous CG that looks and feels completely out of place.
The film also blurs the lines on the morality of terrorism. V is a terrorist. In his quest for vengeance, he employs knives, poisons, and explosives. He broadcasts his message on the country’s emergency channel by taking hostages. However, as with Ocean’s 11, we find ourselves rooting for the criminal simply because he’s not as evil as the alternative. It’s difficult not to talk about terrorism, government, and national security when you’re walking out of this movie. Liberals will draw similarities with the rhetoric of the Bush administration. Conservatives will dismiss the notion that our government is heading in that direction. Others will talk about the significance of the chalk markings seen in the movie. Whatever camp you’re in, this move is a must-see.