|
Review of “V for Vendetta”
by Gaetana Caldwell-Smith / April 2006 issue of Socialist
Action newspaper
The
Wachowski Brothers’ futuristic political thriller, “V for Vendetta,” begins
and ends with a bang. Adapted from Allan Moore’s and David Lloyd’s 1988
novel, the film is vastly complex. It requires rapt attention to figure out
just why the man who calls himself “V,” wearing a Guy Fawkes mask, wants to
blow up important buildings in London.
The
film and novel are based on the folk-hero, Catholic dissident Guy Fawkes,
who, on Nov. 5, 1605, failed in his attempt to blow up the House of Lords and
kill King James I. He was captured and eventually hanged.
When
Moore and Lloyd published their novel, Margaret Thatcher had been elected
to a third term. The many references to the mistreatment of homosexuals are
based on the authors’ belief, stated in the introduction, that the British
government under Thatcher wanted to eradicate homosexuality and put people
with AIDS in concentration camps.
The
film, “V for Vendetta,” set in 2015, was to be released in November 2005
(presumably on Guy Fawkes Day). However, it was delayed, it is believed,
due to sensitivity to the terrorist bombings at the time in the London
underground and surface transit. Director James McTeigue, cinematographer
Adrian Biddle, and the Wachowskis richly illustrate the film
with
gripping action; clever, thought-provoking, and sometimes humorous dialogue
(some caged from Shakespeare); and gorgeous visuals, with a hauntingly beautiful
score by Dario Marianelli.
We
learn, not only from V (played by Hugo Weaving) but also from Detective Finch
(Stephen Rea), recruited by government to catch V, that a vast conspiracy
has abounded for decades. It appears that the government, run by dictator
Adam Sutler (John Hurt, more Hitler than Bush), and a Dick Cheney-like
right-hand man, Creedy (Tim Pigott-Smith), had supported
pharmaceutical
companies’ experiments on “worthless” people (read gays and lesbians).
In
a flashback narrated by V, we see long lines of pale, thin, baldheaded
people being injected in the arm by efficient, white-coated technicians.
Scenes of the results of these experiments are tantamount to those of Nazi
death camps.
One
of the experiments backfires, literally, and out of the conflagration, V
emerges. He is now blessed with Herculean strength and Samurai sword
skills, and skin so badly damaged, he hides behind the mask of his hero,
Guy Fawkes. He wants to take down those responsible for his condition, yet
knows he’ll be saving millions from a similar fate or possibly death.
Throughout
the film, as in Orwell’s “1984,” Hurt’s scowling visage is seen on huge
screens and TVs all over the city. Because of the support of the masses, V often
eludes the dictatorship by shipping thousands of masks to the populace, and
in a kind of flash-mob
scenario,
everyone shows up as V in front of the parliament building.
One
can see many parallels between the points made in the film and what people
talk about today— the FDA, under pressure from the Bush administration,
fudging medical trials and releasing harmful drugs; the government’s
infringement on civil liberties. But to think of the film as a serious
how-to guide in taking down the current U.S. and British governments is to
miss
the point. It’s a hoot.
Still,
who knows? By 2015—unless there is a mass protest movement and a new
mass-based party with strong socialist and humanistic goals….
|
