V for Vendetta
Directed by: John McTeigue
Starring: Natalie Portman, Hugo Weaving, Stephen Rea, Stephen Fry, John Hurt
Review by : Nicole Timmons
V
for Vendetta
is a film of such depth; but despite the intricate weavings
of the characters, plots and motivations, all of its elements
can be clustered into one idea. Power. At its core, it is
a movie about the true nature of power.
In the first few minutes of the film, there is a sharp distinction between them and us. Our beautiful heroine, Evey, is on her way to a date with a fellow coworker. She is an average citizen, and although she is violating curfew, she does not do so with malicious intent. But she is halted by two rough men, who we learn are “fingermen,” a kind of Red Army for the British government. These men give a lovely first impression of the current ruling party by intimidating the young woman, who is armed with nothing more than mace, and trying to sexually assault her.
But she is saved! She is saved by a mysterious man clad in a Guy Fawkes costume (an individual who protested oppression in his day), complete with a perpetually jovial mask, who wields his daggers and his tongue with fluid and graceful motion.
This first scene says everything.
The viewer is slowly introduced into a world that is 3 parts Orwellian future and one part Bush-Blair administration. In the name of safety from terrorism, the people of Britain have given up their democracy to a dictatorship under Adam Sutler. They are now subject to cultural oppression, such as was seen in George Orwell's 1984. All forms of social deviance, such as homosexuality, are criminally punishable. Sutler is obviously a tribute to Big Brother, for he is never seen in person, until his death at the end of the film. His face is projected from a larger-than-life television screen. This Big Brother has subdued an entire country as it willingly gave up its liberty for safety from terrorists.
This is an opportune setting for this film to explore power in its different forms.
The power that the British government wields in this film is based in violence and fear. It is revealed in Vendetta that Sutler and his higher-ranking party members conducted biological experiments worthy of Josef Mengele and used their discoveries to create “terrorist attacks” in order to harness the upcoming elections. The Prime Minister became a dictator, and events spiraled from there. The government uses brute force with the mass media to plant ideas into the population, to protect its own character, and to destroy the reputation of its enemies. It uses physical violence to quell protests. It arrests individuals whose ideals differ from its own. Those found with a Qur'an, those who are homosexual and those who mock and satirize the government are criminals.
This power is terror. This power is force. This power comes from the tip of the pyramid.
But there is positive power.
V shows the people of Great Britain the strength of ideas, of the human mind. He defeats Sutler with his ingenuity, with schemes that are pure genius. He defeats the tip of the pyramid by igniting the base of it. Through Evey's transformation in his prison, he demonstrates that ideals and beliefs should be more dear to us than fleeting, superficial comfort and safety. That our convictions are worth more than our physical body. The human body is temporary. But ideas surpass death. Ideas, be they spoken or written word, are immortal. In his own take on a well known adage, V says, “Ideas are bullet proof.” V used his own brilliance to show Britain , to show the viewers of Vendetta , that ideas will outlive violence.
This kind of power is the only way that the human race can keep from destroying itself.
Remember, remember the fifth of November. Remember the consequences of intolerance. Remember the penalty for docility. Remember that safety and progress do not come without a price. Remember the authority of the masses. Remember the power of ideas. I see no reason why any of this should ever be forgot.
Nicole Timmons is one of Troy's students, and she makes him very proud.
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