Hey folks, Harry here with the first full length review written on V FOR VENDETTA - this one by Nordling. The Nord is a mighty man of passion - and this review is no different. However, he discusses many very extreme spoilers - so if YOU don't know the comic or graphic novel that this is based upon - I don't recommend reading this review. Suffice to say - he absolutely loves it and feels that on top of being a morally ambiguous work - that it is highly entertaining and important. Here ya go...
Hey all.
This review will assume that you have read the graphic novel. I really don't know how else to write it. If you have not read Alan Moore's graphic novel, I urge you to read it before reading this review. If you want to be unspoiled about the film and the story, I'll say this: I think this is an extraordinarily important film, but the ad campaign that the WB is presenting at this time will make the film really hated by a lot of people. It's not THE MATRIX. Strictly speaking, V FOR VENDETTA isn't even an action film in the strictest sence. The action scenes it does have are few and only last a couple of minutes. For those having not read the book, V FOR VENDETTA is a brave film that tries to find the truth in our confusing times - what is our role in our government? And how much can we stand up to oppression before it becomes terrorism? It's a film that definitely needs to be seen and discussed, especially in America and Britain, and I hope everyone that has a chance to see it does so and joins the great conversation about what freedom really means. From here out, stop reading, if you haven't read the graphic novel.
I realize I've written some about V FOR VENDETTA already in my BNAT 7 review, but it's been more than 24 hours now, and the film simply will not leave my mind. I'm an optimist. I generally think that good things always happen and that if you wait around long enough the world will eventually right itself if things are bad. I'm not sure how this has anything to do with V FOR VENDETTA, but when that film was over I had such a feeling of satisfaction and of karma wheeling around again. I think that if people let it, V FOR VENDETTA could change lives. And at the same time, I am afraid of how wildly misinterpreted it will be.
For Alan Moore fans, let me say this: you're going to be happy. The film is extraordinarily close, in spirit and in text, to his graphic novel. The Wachowski Brothers do not spare any punches when necessary, and many of the sequences that fans hold to heart are there. I'm going to flat out say it - V never takes the mask off. You never see his face. I am so impressed with Hugo Weaving for taking a pretty much thankless role without any great actory moments to show off and making a full-fledged character. Weaving has a moment in the beginning of the film as he lets the world know his point of view, with V words strewn throughout his monologue, that under any lesser actor would have been embarrassingly bad. He pulls it off so well that towards the end of it people were applauding in the theater. I'm not sure if Weaving is actually the actor in many of the scenes (I believe he replaced another actor during production, although I may be wrong about that) but I have to give him marks for bravery for even attempting it. Which brings me to Natalie Portman.
It is easily Natalie Portman's best performance. I'm not a fan of hers. Say whatever you want about Lucas, but the actor also shares responsibility if they can't sell their part to the audience and I thought she was terrible in most of the Prequel trilogy. Frankly the only part before this that I thought she was terrific in was THE PROFESSIONAL, and to a lesser degree, BEAUTIFUL GIRLS. But in this Portman completely comes to her own as an actress. She breaks your heart, and at one point in the film, as she is being imprisoned, she really makes you feel her terror and sadness. There isn't a bad performance in the film, frankly, although John Hurt as the High Chancellor could get on the hammy side. But Stephen Rea and Stephen Fry are great as well. Fry, especially, gives his character a great moral weight.
This is James McTeigue's first film. Rumors have it that the Wachowskis actually directed the film, and I don't know how true that is. But I will say that I thought V was very well directed. The actors are given much room to make their roles their own, and I fully believed in the world that the filmmakers were trying to present.
Alright. We're going to get into it. V FOR VENDETTA's subject matter will be very uncomfortable for a lot of people. I get the idea that Fox News will have a thing or two to say about it. Let's start with the word "terrorist." How does one define a terrorist? Does their motive have anything to do with it, and are their motives for violence an excuse for their actions? It really depends on how the viewer feels what is justified in the name of what is right. For me, violence is never justified, and that makes the ending for V FOR VENDETTA that much more unconfortable. And at the same time, I completely understand how they got there. As a person, I can never see myself in a situation where violence is worth the preservation of your ideals. If I or my family are personally threatened I would fight for their liives and mine. But I have no idea what would bring me to the point of violence against a society. V and Evey can be seen as freedom fighters to some, and terrorists to others, and personally my jury is still out on what they are. But they have been driven to the point that justifies their violent acts. Which brings me to a section of the film that will be heavily debated. Heavy spoilers follow.
At one point, Evey is captured by the government and forced to endure torture and solitude to give up the location of V. She is there for months, as her captor tries to break her spirit. At one point, Evey discovers in her cell a note written by a woman named Valerie, who was killed because she was a lesbian. Her story provoked much of the tears in this screening. Through Valerie's tale, Evey summons the courage to face her captor and she discovers her own political awakening. And at the end, she discovers that V was her captor all along. She is rightfully stunned and angry, but V insists that this was the only way for her to find out the truth about herself. Filmgoers will come away from this sequence troubled. Did V program her? Or did she really discover her own truth? The answer lies within the filmgoer, and I would like to think the Wachowskis wanted this discussion to happen, because they never answer that question. Evey becomes politically aware and helps V in his quest for revenge and justice, but it really is left up to the viewer to decide what really happened to her. I personally don't know what to think. Before this point in the film I was completely on V's side, and afterwards there was some moral ambiguity in his actions that painted a new color over the rest of the film. I loved that about V FOR VENDETTA. There are no easy answers to the political and the moral position that you find yourself in, and it's extremely important that you find them out.
I heard that Alan Moore was upset at this adaptation of his work, and really, he has no right to be. I think of all the films based on his comics, this one is the absolute closest possible. Harry wants to see the Wachowskis do WATCHMEN and I couldn't agree more. If they approach that great work with the reverence shown here that one will be a genuine classic. As for V FOR VENDETTA it deserves respect and discussion, and in the coming months we will read all sorts of pundits opining its value and the controversy it makes. I just hope that people will judge the film honestly and try to open their minds to alternate viewpoints, instead of yelling at each other from their trenches. See V FOR VENDETTA, and join in the conversation.
Nordling, out.
