Review of: V for Vendetta

4/5 (minimum 1)

by tom on 25 Apr 2007

It's sometime in the near future, and Britain (or is it just England?) has become a fascist state. In the spirit of Guy Fawkes, the mysterious "V" plans to blow up the Houses of Parliament and shake things up enough to remind the oppressed masses what they've lost.

Office worker Natalie Portman gets involved with V (in a sequence of events that's wonderfully executed - in just a few minutes her life changes and there's no way back) and the story unfolds from there.

The basic premise of the film is excellent, and very scary, especially because in the most surveilled country on Earth, with a government intent on attacking civil liberties, it seems worringly plausible. By invoking the legend of Guy Fawkes the terrorist aspects of the film are given a rosy, nostalgic air. Sadly the reality of a situation where anyone contemplates this sort of thing must be anything but warm and cosy.

Whatever the rights and wrongs of terrorism, this is a story about oppression, people's coping strategies, and the lengths to which they'll go to overcome it. It's also a film about vengeance, very cleverly executed.

Intellectually this film is a must-see. As a story it didn't engage me 100%, but I would happily watch it again. Knowing that it's based on a graphic novel helps you understand where it's coming from, narratively and cinematically.

Review Permalink: http://revyu.com/reviews/0681d21e916f5e36051caadec4e0324f4e8f936f

V for Vendetta

Tags: fascism film graphic-novel guy-fawkes houses-of-parliament hugo-weaving james-mcteigue john-hurt london movie natalie-portman stephen-fry terrorism wachowski-brothers
Homepage: http://vforvendetta.warnerbros.com/
See Also: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/V_for_Vendetta_%28film%29