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15/04/06
V for Vendetta by Jenni  “Remember remember the 5th of November, the gunpowder treason and plot. For I see no reason why the gunpowder treason should ever be forgot.” Overall rating: 82% This weekend I did something unprecedented, I went to the cinema on a Saturday! The only problem with this was that the night before was the Pharmacy ball and I was feeling the wrath of the free wine! So I really hoped that V for Vendetta would engage me, as it would have been all too easy to try and sleep off my hangover in the comfort of a dimly lit cinema! I am very glad to report that V for Vendetta not only kept me awake, but also temporarily lifted me from my self-loathing! Whilst it is not the action packed thriller the trailer makes it out to be, it is a complex tale of revenge, politics, emotion and conflict, which made the time fly by. V is set in a not too distant future where the British public is subjected to a totalitarian regime: decadent art, homosexual behavior, symbols of Islam and freedom of speech are all banned. On November 5th a mysterious man, known only as V (Hugo Weaving), saves a young Evey Hammond (Natalie Portman) from the state’s secret police. He then proceeds to blow up the Old Bailey. Like it or not, Evey is now part of V’s plan for revenge against the government. What follows is an intriguing story of V’s well laid plans juxtaposed with the government’s attempts at covering them up to pacify the masses. We also see Evey struggle with her conscience to uncover V’s past and the meticulous efforts of detective Finch (a brilliant Stephen Rea) as he uncovers more about his own state than about the man he is meant to be capturing. As I said before, V is not an action film like that we have previously seen from the Wachowski brothers - it is at times slow burning and thought provoking, but by no means in a bad way. It gets a little too weighty in the middle, but all is redeemed by the explosive (literally) finale. The performances in this film range greatly from John Hurt’s brilliantly terrifying Chancellor Sutler and Stephen Rea’s torn Detective to Natalie Portman’s patchy accent and slightly phoned in performance. It is hard for any actor to portray emotion from behind a mask, but Hugo Weaving holds together the eccentric but likable anti-hero V. The only major problem I had with V was the lack of identity with its lead players; however the supporting performers (especially Stephen Fry) provide some human aspect to their nature. At the end of the day V’s message is an angrier stab at the current US administration than Good Night and Good Luck or Brokeback Mountain could ever be. ‘V for Vendetta’ is the person that gets too drunk at parties and offers to have everyone out! It pulls no punches with dialogue: “blowing up one building can change the world”, nor does it shy away from the uneasy truth that one man’s terrorist is another man’s freedom fighter. It touches upon everything relevant today: the anti-Muslin sentiments and the ability of the media to manipulate the public. In Summary: Although a little clichéd and a bit too ‘this is what Britain looks like, America’ at times, it is a great look at our world today and well worth your time and money. Like 1984 on speed!! |