Tuesday, April 26, 2011

A-Z Blogging Challenge - The Letter V - V For Vendetta


This has to be one of my favorite movies of all time. A rare case where the movie is even better than the graphic novel it is based on. Alan Moore has much to complain about when it comes to movie adaptations of his work but in this case he is totally wrong. The Wachowski brothers ('The Matrix') hit this story right out of the park.

The movie has the oppressive feel of '1984' but provides hope that one man can change the system. Regardless of his tactics, V is both freedom fighter and terrorist. He understands that in killing the system he despises, he too must die for there to be a rebirth. His crusade is unyielding and without a hint of remorse.


Both Stephen Rae as the 'one good man' who will not let the truth stay hidden and Natalie Portman as the symbol for innocence lost and regained are brilliant.

But the true heart of the movie is Hugo Weaving as V. With only his voice, his body and the fantastic dialogue, he creates a character who is both hero and villain, victim and victimizer. You may hate what he does but you can't deny the style with which he does it.


(spoiler alert) Below is my favorite scene from the movie. V's final 'dance of death' is epic and Shakespearean. In moments of incredible violence he still creates something beautiful and dishes out vengeance on his own terms. He was always willing to die, just to make his point to those who the point would be lost on.

8 comments:

Alex J. Cavanaugh said...

Cool flick! Good choice, Kal.

Pontifex said...

Those blood splashes are soooo fakey, Cal. Come on!

TS Hendrik said...

Great pick for V. I expected to see more people go with it from earlier chatter, but I think you're the first I've seen. It really is a great movie.

TS Hendrik said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
D.I. Felipe González said...

Remember, remember...
One of my favorite comic adaptations too.

csmith2884 said...

In my all time best of list...the oppressed in the crowds at the climax gets my no matter how many times I have seen it.

Cap'n Carrot said...

Have to disagree with you there. Although I like the movie (even if it does throw in a couple of groan worthy moments like the Very Voracious V speech at the beginning, the slow motion action sequence in the tunnels - UGH, the love story, and the Eminem music video ending), the graphic novel is definitely better. Very good movie but great graphic novel.

At the same time I'll give the movie tons of credit for pulling off the sequence I didn't think they could do - Portman's imprisonment and torture. Very well done.

More of my take if you're interested

Guy Fawkes said...

''Behind this mask there is more than flesh... Behind this mask there is an idea, Mr. Creedy... And ideas are bullet-proof...''

Beautiful, majestic, heroic ! The Guy is got balls ! ! ! ! !