Written by: The Wachowskis
Starring: Natalie Portman, Hugo Weaving, Stephen Rea, Stephen Fry, John Hurt
Rating: [4.5/5]
Fighting a fascist regime that rules through fear cannot be taken down through attempts to reason and galvanize people to go out and vote. This would imply a sense of fairness that simply does not exist when dealing with fascism where purely democratic means would be allowed. V for Vendetta argues a more direct and explosive approach will get the job done and through its striking filmmaking, it makes for a film very forward with its politics but done so in an extravagantly entertaining manner.
The Norsefire political party controls Britain through an authoritarian approach feeding the populace propaganda and swiftly doing away with any dissneters. Saved from abuse by the secret police, the daughter of slain activists, Evey Hammond (Natalie Portman) by masked vigilante V (Hugo Weaving) where she learns about his modus operandi. He seeks to grant the people of Britain freedom by standing up against this fascist regime and will go through whatever methods possible to accomplish this goal.
V for Vendetta to this day feels like a miracle of a film. A story so incredibly radical it surprises me to no end a major studio decided to produce the adaptation of a graphic novel. While everyone can agree on the evils of a fascist government how V goes about bringing change comes straight from the playbook of terrorism. As the film aptly displays after V’s explosions throughout the city, they paint his actions as the works of a terrorist, which makes me think of exactly how this would also be portrayed in our world. V just so happens to represent terrorism in the name of something just, which ironically most terrorists would state the same. Therefore, our heroes in this story are a terrorist and his accomplice making this such a radical tale and the way it all comes together exudes excellence.
For the majority of the movie, we follow Evey and her development as someone who lives in this society ruled by fear after her parents saw death when they displayed opposition against it. V comes into her life in a moment where she breaks the law and will face a dire consequence because of it meaning she has directly felt the brunt of this regime. Where she starts this film and ends it displays a journey of radicalization from a passive to an active participant in the actions of V as a terrorist. She exists with fear in her heart and rightfully so because of the iron fist she has lived under for her entire life. V wants her to live without fear and only then can she fight and this ultimately marks the major character progression this feature has to offer and Natalie Portman portrays her so well as we go on this ride.
As for V, the main propellant of the feature, he represents an idea more than he exists as a character. He remains anonymous to the other characters as well as the audience and we take in this character mainly through the exceptional voicework of Hugo Weaving. Fully embodying this character he delivers wondrous work in making a character that in theory could feel too detached from audience members but provides the desired effect tremendously. V speaks about big ideas and different platitudes but his combination with Evey formulates something concrete to follow in the way V can deux ex machina out of different situations while we have the more grounded experience with Evey.
Representing this villainous regime we have the ever-great John Hurt portraying Adam Sutler, the founder of the Norsefire party, who appears for much of the film through the screens of how the populace listens to him yelling out the rhetoric of an oppressor trying to convince those with the boot on their neck to plead for the status quo. He brings such a menacing presence simply through the way he communicates in his public addresses. Sutler does this all through these speeches and listening to how interprets the events of what V and Evey do to bring them freedom rings incredibly stark even today further displaying the power this story continues to attain contemporarily.
On top of the stunning screenplay by The Wachowskis, the film has some awe-inspiring visual splurges that make scenes pop. We obviously get this with explosions that transpire but the way this feature presents its visuals allows red to appear stark. Whether red appears on the explosives over the large “V” logo for vengeance, it serves as a splendid contrast to all of the black and darkness displayed throughout the film. Much of the credit here goes to cinematographer Adrian Biddle who makes the movie look so striking, especially as we barrel towards the conclusion where the climax gets in full swing delivering both the thematic and visual message this narrative seeks to communicate.
Never once seeking to make its audience comfortable, V for Vendetta speaks for radicalization and fighting against oppression but does so through an entertaining ride for Evey on top of some awesome action sequences. Whoever watches it will never forget about “Remember, remember the 5th of November” quote speaking to the iconic legacy of this feature not just from the message of the story but also the visual aesthetic it utilizes to communicate it all. Truly a one-of-a-kind film that delivers anarchy as the only answer to achieve freedom that many will certainly disagree with but they cannot doubt the quality of this motion picture.
Films with Josh 
