V for Vendetta (film)

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V for Vendetta
Promotional poster for V for Vendetta, which is inspired by the Russian Bolshevik era[1]
Directed by	James McTeigue
Produced by	Joel Silver Silver Pictures Wachowski Brothers Grant Hill Lorne Orleans
Written by	Screenplay: Wachowski Brothers Graphic Novel: Alan Moore (uncredited) David Lloyd
Starring	Natalie Portman Hugo Weaving Stephen Rea Stephen Fry John Hurt
Music by	Original Dario Marianelli Non-Original Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky
Cinematography	Adrian Biddle
Editing by	Martin Walsh
Distributed by	Warner Bros.
Release date(s)	March 17, 2006 March 17, 2006 March 30, 2006 April 29, 2006
Running time	132 min.
Country	UK / USA / Germany[2]
Language	English
Budget	$54 million (US)[3]
Official website
All Movie Guide profile
IMDb profile

V for Vendetta is a 2006 action-thriller film set in London in a dystopian near future. The film follows the mysterious V, a freedom fighter seeking to effect sociopolitical change while simultaneously pursuing his own violent personal vendetta. The film is an adaptation of the graphic novel V for Vendetta by Alan Moore and David Lloyd. V for Vendetta was directed by James McTeigue and produced by Joel Silver and the Wachowski brothers, who also wrote the screenplay. The film stars Natalie Portman as Evey Hammond, Hugo Weaving as V, Stephen Rea as Inspector Finch, and John Hurt as Chancellor Sutler.

The film's release was originally scheduled for Friday, November 4, 2005 (a day before the 400th Guy Fawkes Night), but was delayed; it opened on March 17, 2006, and was generally well-received by critics. Alan Moore, however, disassociated himself from the film, as has been his policy for all cinematic adaptations of his work. The filmmakers removed some of the anarchist themes and drug references present in the original story and altered the negative Christian imagery slightly. They also updated the political message to be more relevant in a modern context. Due to the politically sensitive content of the film, V for Vendetta attracted much attention from groups on both sides of the political spectrum and has received both great praise and harsh criticism in turn.

Contents 1 Plot 2 Development 3 Production 4 Cast 5 Publicity and release 6 Music 7 Themes 7.1 Modern fears of totalitarianism 7.2 The letter V and the number 5 8 Critical reaction and box office 9 Comments from political sources 10 Differences between the film and graphic novel 11 DVD release 12 References 13 External links

[edit] Plot

The story is set in the near future (approximately 2038) with Britain ruled by a totalitarian regime called Norsefire. It follows Evey Hammond (Natalie Portman), a young woman who is rescued from the Fingermen (secret police) by a masked vigilante known as "V" (Hugo Weaving). After rescuing her, V takes Evey to a rooftop location to witness his spectacular destruction of the Old Bailey. The regime explains the incident to the public as a planned demolition, but this is shown to be a lie when V takes over the state-run TV station later that day. V broadcasts a message urging the people of Britain to rise up and stand with him at the Houses of Parliament on November 5, one year from that day. V implies that on that date he will destroy the Houses of Parliament.

Evey, who works at the British Television Network, helps V escape. V takes Evey to his lair, the Shadow Gallery, where she is told she must stay in hiding with him for her own safety. Upon learning that V is killing government officials, she is horrified and disgusted with V's actions, vowing to escape from V. In an effort to escape from the Shadow Gallery, she briefly explains her past to V and inquires as to whether there is anything she could do to help. Later, he devises a plan to infiltrate the bedroom of a lecherous bishop, requiring Evey's assistance. Evey attempts to betray V's plot to the bishop, but he doesn't believe her. After V appears, Evey escapes to the home of a superior from BTN, Gordon Deitrich (Stephen Fry), who reveals to her that he is a closet homosexual and collector of banned art and literature. When Gordon makes a last minute change to a TV program he is hosting, satirizing the High Chancellor, the Fingermen raid Gordon's home, attack and arrest Gordon, and Evey is captured. She is incarcerated and tortured for days, finding solace only in the notes left by a previous prisoner named Valerie, who was imprisoned and persecuted for being a lesbian. Evey is told that she will be executed unless she reveals V's whereabouts or identity; she declares that she would rather die, and finds herself released. Evey discovers that she has been in the Shadow Gallery all along, her imprisonment staged by V. By forcing Evey to endure something similar to what he had endured at Larkhill detention center, V hoped that Evey would understand that "integrity", "the very last inch of us", is more important than our lives. Evey initially hates V for what he has done, but comes to realize that the experience allows life without fear. She leaves V, promising to return before November 5.

Meanwhile, Inspector Finch (Stephen Rea), investigating V, learns how Norsefire came to power, and about V’s origins. 14 years previously, Britain suffered from war and terrorism. The ultra-conservative Norsefire party led a reactionary purge to restore order; so-called enemies of the state disappeared overnight. The country, deeply divided over the loss of freedom, found itself united by a bioterrorist attack that killed about 100,000 people. The fear generated by the attack allowed Norsefire to silence all opposition and win the next election by a landslide. A cure for the virus was discovered soon thereafter. With the silent consent of the people, Norsefire turned Britain into a bigoted totalitarian order, with their leader Adam Sutler (John Hurt) as High Chancellor. However, the viral catastrophe was itself engineered by Norsefire as a ploy to gain power. The virus had been engineered through deadly experimentation on "social deviants" and political dissidents at Larkhill detention center. V had been one of the prisoners, but rather than being killed by the experiments he gained heightened mental and physical abilities. V was the only survivor among the 48 included in the experiment, eventually escaping the center by blowing it up from his cell, vowing to take revenge on Norsefire's regime.

As November 5 nears, V's various schemes cause chaos in Britain, as the population grows more and more rebellious and subversive toward government authority. On the eve of November 5, V is again visited by Evey, and shows her a train which he has filled with explosives in order to destroy Parliament via the abandoned London Underground. He delegates the destruction of Parliament to Evey, believing that the ultimate decision should not come from him. V departs to meet Party leader Creedy, who has agreed to deliver the Chancellor to V in exchange for V's surrender: V had manipulated Finch into putting heavy police surveillance on Creedy, and fooled Creedy into thinking that Sutler had ordered it, preparing for Creedy to take the blame should Sutler's regime ever fall. Creedy kills the Chancellor in front of V, but V does not surrender, instead killing Creedy and his men. V, mortally wounded by gunfire, returns to Evey. He thanks her, professes his love for her but (as in The Count of Monte Cristo) professes a greater love for revenge, before dying. His body is placed upon the train with the explosives, reminiscent of a Viking funeral.

Evey is about to send the train down the track when she is discovered by Inspector Finch. Finch, having learned much about the corruption of the Norsefire regime, allows Evey to proceed. Meanwhile, hundreds of thousands of Londoners, all wearing Guy Fawkes masks, march on Parliament to watch the event. Because Creedy and the Chancellor are dead, the military stands down in the face of a civil rebellion. The Houses of Parliament are destroyed by a series of explosions. On a nearby rooftop Evey and Finch watch the scene together and hope for a better tomorrow.

[edit] Development

The film was made by many of the same filmmakers involved in the Matrix trilogy. In 1988, producer Joel Silver acquired the rights to two of Alan Moore's texts: V for Vendetta and Watchmen.^[4] The Wachowski brothers were fans of V for Vendetta and in the mid-1990s, before working on The Matrix, wrote a draft screenplay that closely followed the graphic novel. During the post-production of the second and third Matrix films, the Wachowski brothers revisited the screenplay and offered the director's role to James McTeigue and Pedro Esteves. All three were intrigued by the themes of the original story and found them to be relevant to the current political landscape. Upon revisiting the screenplay, the Brothers set about making revisions to condense and modernize the story, while at the same time attempting to preserve its integrity and themes.^[5]

Moore explicitly disassociated himself from the film, continuing a series of disputes over film adaptations of his work. He ended cooperation with his publisher, DC Comics, after its corporate parent, Warner Bros., failed to retract statements about Moore's supposed endorsement of the film. Moore said that the script contained plot holes^[6] and that it ran contrary to the theme of his original work, which was to place two political extremes (fascism and anarchism) against one another. He argues his work had been recast as a story about "current American neo-conservatism vs. current American liberalism".^[7] As per his wishes, Moore's name does not appear in the film's closing credits. Meanwhile, co-creator and illustrator David Lloyd supports the film adaptation, commenting that the script is very good and that Moore would only ever be truly happy with a complete book-to-screen adaptation.^[4]

[edit] Production

V for Vendetta was filmed in London, UK and in Potsdam, Germany at Babelsberg Studios. Much of the film was shot on sound stages and indoor sets, with location work done in Berlin for three scenes: the Norsefire rally flashback, Larkhill, and Bishop Lilliman’s bedroom. The scenes that took place in the abandoned London Underground were filmed at the disused Aldwych tube station. Filming began in early March, 2005, and principal photography officially wrapped in early June of 2005.^[4] V for Vendetta is the final film shot by cinematographer Adrian Biddle, who died of a heart attack on December 7, 2005.

The film was designed to have a future-retro look, with a heavy use of grey tones to give a dreary, stagnant feel to totalitarian London. The largest set created for the film was the Shadow Gallery, which was made to feel like a cross between a crypt and an undercroft.^[8] The Gallery is V's home as well as the place where he stores various artifacts forbidden by the government. Some of the works of art displayed in the gallery include The Arnolfini Portrait by Jan van Eyck, Bacchus and Ariadne by Titian, a Mildred Pierce poster, St. Sebastian by Andrea Mantegna and The Lady of Shalott by John William Waterhouse.

One of the major challenges in the film was how to bring V to life from under an expressionless mask. Thus, considerable effort was made to bring together lighting, acting and Weaving's voice to create the proper mood for the situation. In order to prevent the mask from muffling Weaving's voice, a microphone was placed in his hairline to aid post-production, when his entire dialogue was re-recorded.^[9]

To film the final scene at Westminster, the area from Trafalgar Square and Whitehall up to Parliament and Big Ben had to be closed for three nights from 12–5 a.m., and the crew was only allowed to stop traffic for four minutes at a time. This was the first time the security-sensitive area (home to 10 Downing Street and the Ministry of Defence) had ever been closed to accommodate filming.^[9] Prime Minister Tony Blair's son Euan Blair worked on the film's production and is said (through an interview with Stephen Fry) to have helped the filmmakers obtain the unparalleled filming access. This drew criticism of Blair from MP David Davis due to the content of the film. However, the makers of the film deny Euan Blair's involvement in the deal,^[10] stating that access was acquired through nine months of negotiations with 14 different government departments and agencies.^[9]

[edit] Cast

• Hugo Weaving as V: James Purefoy was originally cast as V but left six weeks into filming due to difficulties wearing the mask for the entire film.^[11] He was replaced by Hugo Weaving, who previously worked with Joel Silver and the Wachowski brothers on The Matrix Trilogy as Agent Smith. However, parts of the film still contain scenes from Purefoy with only a voiceover from Weaving. When also taking into account the stunt men who also played V, there were actually several people who played V in the film.^[12]

• Natalie Portman as Evey Hammond: Director James McTeigue first met Portman on the set of Attack of the Clones, where he worked with her as assistant director. In preparing for the role, Portman worked with dialectologist Barbara Berkery in order to perform with an English accent. She also studied films like The Weather Underground and read the autobiography of Menachem Begin.^[5] Portman received top billing for the film.

• Stephen Rea as Chief Inspector Eric Finch: Finch's Irish background causes his loyalties to be questioned by Creedy. Actor Stephen Rea is also Irish and, interestingly, was once married to Dolours Price, a former member of the IRA, imprisoned for bombing the Old Bailey.^[13] Rea's role is also somewhat of a role-reversal as he played an IRA terrorist sympathized by audiences in 1992's The Crying Game.

• John Hurt as High Chancellor Adam Sutler: A former Conservative MP and Under-Secretary for Defence, Sutler founded Norsefire which won a landslide election victory after (staged) terrorist attacks weakened confidence in the government. Sutler was appointed to a new office of High Chancellor, becoming the de facto dictator of Britain. Playing Chancellor Sutler was a complete role reversal for John Hurt, as he played the part of Winston Smith, a victim of the state in the film adaptation of Nineteen Eighty-Four.

• Stephen Fry as Gordon Deitrich: Talk show host Gordon Deitrich is a closeted homosexual who, due to the restrictions of the regime, has "lost his appetite" over the years. This has some parallels with Stephen Fry, who is also homosexual and had famously practiced a celibate lifestyle for over 16 years. When asked in an interview what he liked about the role, Stephen replied, "Being beaten up! I hadn't been beaten up in a movie before and I was very excited by the idea of being clubbed to death."^[14]

• Sinead Cusack as Dr. Delia Surridge: Dr. Surridge was the head physician at the Larkhill detention centre. V states that the torture and death at Larkhill was only possible because of her research. She apologizes to V before she dies.

• John Standing as Bishop Anthony James Lilliman: Lilliman is a corrupt paedophile bishop at Westminster Abbey, installed into this position by Sutler. In regards to his role as Lilliman, Standing remarks, "I thoroughly enjoyed playing Lilliman... because he's slightly comic and utterly atrocious. Lovely to do."^[5]

• Tim Pigott-Smith as Peter Creedy: Creedy is both Norsefire's party leader and the head of Britain's Secret Police, the Finger. While Sutler is the Chancellor, the real power of the regime lies with Creedy.^[5]

• Rupert Graves as Dominic Stone: Dominic is Inspector Finch’s lieutenant in the V investigation.

• Natasha Wightman as Valerie Page: Born in 1985, Valerie starred in her first film, The Salt Flats, in 2015. Three years later, her partner, Ruth, was imprisoned by the government and Valerie was taken shortly afterwards. She was imprisoned at Larkhill (in the cell next to V) and her autobiography inspired V to take vengeance on the state. Valerie's symbolic role as a victim of the state was received positively by many LGBT critics. Film critic Michael Jensen praised the extraordinarily powerful moment of Valerie's scene "not just because it is beautifully acted and well-written, but because it is so utterly unexpected [in a Hollywood film]."^[15]

• Roger Allam as Lewis Prothero: Lewis Prothero, "The Voice of London" is the mouthpiece of Norsefire's propaganda division. Prior to becoming "The Voice of London", he became fabulously wealthy by being a major stockholder in the pharmaceutical company that "developed" the cure for the St. Mary's virus. He also served in the Middle East, in nations with high political tensions.

• Ben Miles as Roger Dascombe: Though never explicitly mentioned in the film, Dascombe is Sutler's head of the propaganda division.^[5]

• Eddie Marsan as Brian Etheridge: Etheridge is the department head of the Ear, which oversees phone surveillance, random audio sweeps, and large armored vehicles which constantly patrol London, picking up audio signals from civilians.

• Clive Ashborn as Guy Fawkes: The story of Guy Fawkes is described in the beginning of the film and serves as the historical inspiration for V.

[edit] Publicity and release

The cast and filmmakers attended several press conferences that allowed them to address issues surrounding the film, including its authenticity, Alan Moore's reaction to it and its intended political message. The responses given at the conferences made it clear that the film was intended to be a departure from some of Moore's original themes. In the words of Hugo Weaving: "Alan Moore was writing about something which happened some time ago. It was a response to living in Thatcherite England... This is a response to the world in which we live today. So I think that the film and the graphic novel are two separate entities."^{[citation needed]} Regarding the controversial political content in the film the filmmakers have said that the film is intended more to raise questions and add to a dialogue already present in society, rather than provide answers or tell viewers what to think.^[16]

The film takes extensive imagery from the infamous 1605 Gunpowder Plot, where a group of Catholic conspirators plotted to destroy the Houses of Parliament in order to spark a revolution in England.^[4] The film was originally scheduled for release on the weekend of November 5, 2005, the 400th anniversary of the Plot, with the tag line "Remember, remember the 5th of November", taken from a traditional British rhyme memorialising the event. However, the marketing angle lost much of its value when the release date was pushed back to March 17, 2006. Many have speculated that the delay was due to the London tube bombings on July 7 and 21. The film-makers have denied this, saying that the delays were from the need for more time in order to finish the visual effects production.^[17] V for Vendetta had its first major premiere on February 13 at the Berlin Film Festival.^[16] It opened for general release on March 17, 2006 in 3,365 theatres in the United States, the United Kingdom and six other countries.^[3] Major theatres decorated the exterior of their buildings with Norsefire flags.

[edit] Music

Main article: V for Vendetta (soundtrack)

The V for Vendetta soundtrack was released by Astralwerks Records on March 21, 2006. The original scores from the film's composer, Dario Marianelli, make up most of the tracks on the album. Many of the tracks from the original score evince notes with a discordant, metallic, or fleeting theme, contributing to the generally dystopic atmosphere of the story.

The soundtrack also features three vocals played during the film: "Cry Me a River" by Julie London, a cover of The Velvet Underground song "I Found a Reason" by Cat Power and "Bird Gerhl" by Antony and the Johnsons. These songs were a sample of the 872 blacklisted tracks on V's Wurlitzer jukebox that V "reclaimed" from the Ministry of Objectionable Materials.

The climax of Tchaikovsky's 1812 Overture appears at the end of the track "Knives and Bullets (and Cannons too)". The revolutionary sounding Overture is played at key parts at the beginning and end of the film.

Three songs were played during the ending credits which were not included on the V for Vendetta soundtrack. The first was "Street Fighting Man" by The Rolling Stones. The second was a special version of Ethan Stoller's "BKAB". In keeping with revolutionary tone of the film, excerpts from "On Black Power" by black nationalist leader Malcolm X, and from "Address to the Women of America" by feminist-writer Gloria Steinem were added to the song. Gloria Steinem can be heard saying: "This is no simple reform... It really is a revolution. Sex and race, because they are easy and visible differences, have been the primary ways of organizing human beings into superior and inferior groups and into the cheap labour on which this system still depends." The final song was "Out of Sight" by Spiritualized.

Also in the film were segments from two of Antonio Carlos Jobim's classic bossa nova songs, "The Girl From Ipanema" and "Quiet Nights of Quiet Stars". These songs were played during the "breakfast scenes" with V and Deitrich and were one of the ways used to tie the two characters together. Beethoven's Symphony No.5 also plays an important role in the film, with the first four notes of the song signifying the letter "V" in Morse code. Gordon Deitrich's Benny Hill-styled comedy sketch of Chancellor Sutler includes the "Yakety Sax" theme. Amusingly, Inspector Finch's alarm clock begins the evening of 4 November with the song "Long Black Train" by Richard Hawley, which contains the foreshadowing lyrics "Ride the long black train... take me home black train."

[edit] Themes

The film V for Vendetta can be viewed in the tradition of other cautionary dystopian stories such as It Can't Happen Here and Nineteen Eighty-Four with the addition of some Matrix-style action elements.^[18] The story retains some anarchist themes from the original story, using them as a means of examining terrorism and state control in a modern context. V for Vendetta sets the Gunpowder Plot as V’s historical inspiration, contributing to his choice of timing, language and appearance. (For example, V adopts the identity of a dead man called Rookwood, named for Ambrose Rokewood; colleagues of this "Rookwood" mentioned in the film are called Percy and Keyes, also the names of Gunpowder Plotters). Revenge is a central motivation for V, the film stressing explicit thematic connections to The Count of Monte Cristo. The film also incorporates the idea of V as the embodiment of an idea rather than an individual, minimizing V's past, and giving the viewer no glimpse of a humanizing face.

As a film about the struggle between freedom and the state, V for Vendetta takes imagery from many classic totalitarian icons both real and fictional, including Nazi Germany, Communist Russia, George Orwell's Nineteen Eighty-Four, the Book of Revelation and popular conspiracy theories relating to the Illuminati and the New World Order.^[16] The leader Adam Sutler (whose name was changed from "Susan" to resemble more closely Adolf Hitler)^[16] primarily appears on large video screens and on portraits in people's homes, reminiscent of Big Brother; the state's mass surveillance of its citizens further recalls Orwell's vision. Valerie was sent to a detention facility for being a lesbian and then had medical experiments performed on her, similar to Nazi Germany's treatment of gay people during the Holocaust.^[19] The Aryan-sounding Norsefire regime uses red and black as their party colours, similar to the Nazi party, replacing St George's Cross with the Cross of Lorraine as national symbol. This symbol was used by Free French Forces during World War II, as it was a traditional symbol of French patriotism that could be used to answer the Nazi Swastika. The media is portrayed as highly subservient to government propaganda; a montage of news stories ordered by Sutler references the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse, including war (a "second civil war" in America), famine (domestic water shortages), pestilence (avian flu) and death (a pathogen outbreak). ^{[citation needed]}

[edit] Modern fears of totalitarianism

We felt the novel was very prescient to how the political climate is at the moment. It really showed what can happen when society is ruled by government, rather than the government being run as a voice of the people. I don't think it’s such a big leap to say that things like that can happen when leaders stop listening to the people.

— Director James McTeigue^[5]

With the intention of making the story relevant to today’s audience, the filmmakers referenced many modern themes. The film contains numerous references to events surrounding the current trend in western governments and mostly that of American administration: the culture of fear montage of news stories references avian flu, the colour-coded curfew alert^[20][21] is reminiscent of the Homeland Security system, and the "black bags" worn by prisoners at Larkhill recall the black bags worn by prisoners at Abu Ghraib in Iraq.^[22][23][24] There is also use of the term "rendition" in the film, in reference to the regime's removal of undesirables from society.^[24] A brief scene (during the Valerie flashback) contains real-life footage of an anti-Iraq war demonstration, with mention of President George W. Bush. The film also references "America's war" and "the war America started" as well as real footage from the Iraq War.

There is pervasive use of biometric identification and signal-intelligence gathering and analysis by the regime. One of the forbidden items in Gordon's secret basement is a protest poster with a mixed US–UK flag with swastika, entitled "Coalition of the Willing, To Power." This clearly references the real-life Iraq War's "Coalition of the Willing" (within which the US and UK were the two major partners), while at the same time drawing in Friedrich Nietzsche's concept, infamously much-cited within Nazism, of The Will to Power^[25]).

The film's fictional fascist government deliberately used a biological agent against its own people to attain power, paralleling the burning of the Reichstag. This theme also seems to allude to contemporary 9/11 conspiracy theories.

Lewis Prothero's combat record seems to be an allusion to the war in Iraq.^[26] As host of “The Voice of London”, Prothero evokes the image of conservative American pundits like Bill O'Reilly and Rush Limbaugh, his drug use reminiscent of Limbaugh's. His rhetoric about God, gays, and Muslims seems to caricature right-wing religious commentators like Pat Robertson,^[20] his belief that the U.S. has collapsed due to "Godlessness" recalling neo-conservative R.J. Rushdoony's comment on "the heresy of democracy".

Despite the specific references, the filmmakers have always referred to the film as contributing to a dialogue much broader than merely criticism of the U.S. administration.^[16] When James McTeigue was asked whether or not BTN was based on Fox News, McTeigue replied, "Yes. But not just Fox. Everyone is complicit in this kind of stuff. It could just as well been the British Sky News Channel."^[21]

[edit] The letter V and the number 5

Voilà! In view, a humble vaudevillian veteran, cast vicariously as both victim and villain by the vicissitudes of fate. This visage, no mere veneer of vanity, is a vestige of the vox populi, now vacant, vanished. However, this valorous visitation of a bygone vexation stands vivified, and has vowed to vanquish these venal and virulent vermin vanguarding vice and vouchsafing the violently vicious and voracious violation of volition. The only verdict is vengeance; a vendetta held as a votive, not in vain, for the value and veracity of such shall one day vindicate the vigilant and the virtuous. Verily, this vichyssoise of verbiage veers most verbose, so let me simply add that it's my very good honour to meet you and you may call me V.

— V's introduction to Evey

Similar to the graphic novel, there is repeated reference to the letter “V” and the number five throughout the film.^[27] For example, V's introduction to Evey is a monologue containing 49 words beginning with the letter "V". During his imprisonment at Larkhill, V was held in cell number "V". V's Zorro-like signature is also the letter "V". It is revealed that V's favorite phrase is "By the power of truth, I, a living man, have conquered the universe", which according to the film translates into the 5 "V"ed Latin phrase: "Vi Veri Veniversum Vivus Vici" . In a dance with Evey, the song V chooses is number five on his jukebox. When V confronts Creedy in his home, he plays Beethoven's "Fifth" Symphony, whose opening notes have a rhythmic pattern that resembles the letter “V” in Morse code(···–).^[28][29] The Symphony’s opening was used as a call-sign in the European broadcasts of the BBC during World War II in reference to Winston Churchill’s "V for Victory".^[29] As pointed out by some journalists,^[30] the film’s title is a reference to "V for Victory". In the battle with Creedy and his men at Victoria station, V forms a “V” with his daggers just before he throws them. After the battle, when V is mortally wounded, he leaves a “V” signature in his own blood.

The destruction of Parliament results in a display of fireworks which form the letter “V”, which is also an inverted red-on-black “A” symbol for anarchy.^[31] Like the Old Bailey and Larkhill, Parliament was destroyed in both the comic book and the movie on the fifth of November. Also, Big Ben shows the start of the group of Vs at 11:05 pm, creating a giant V on the clock face.

[edit] Critical reaction and box office

As of August 2006, V for Vendetta has grossed (USD) $70,511,035 in the United States and $60,900,000 elsewhere, for a worldwide gross of $131,411,035. The film led the United States box office on its opening day, taking in an estimated $8,742,504 and remained the number one film for the remainder of the weekend, taking in an estimated total of $25,642,340. Its closest rival, Failure to Launch, took in $15,604,892.^[3] The film debuted at number one in the Philippines, Singapore, South Korea, Sweden and Taiwan.^[32] Despite the film taking place in the UK, the film did not reach number one at the UK box office on opening weekend; instead, The Pink Panther took the number one spot. V for Vendetta also opened in 56 IMAX theaters in North America, grossing $1.36 million during the opening three days.^[33]

The critical reception of the film was mostly positive with the film review collection website Rotten Tomatoes giving it a 75% Fresh approval.^[34] Ebert & Roeper gave the film two thumbs up with Roger Ebert stating that V for Vendetta "almost always has something going on that is actually interesting, inviting us to decode the character and plot and apply the message where we will."^[35] Margaret Pomeranz and David Stratton from At the Movies state that despite the problem of never seeing Hugo Weaving's face, there was good acting and an interesting plot, adding that the film is also disturbing, with scenes reminiscent of Nazi Germany.^[36] Harry Guerin from RTÉ stated that the film "works as a political thriller, adventure and social commentary and it deserves to be seen by audiences who would otherwise avoid any/all of the three", adding that the film will become "a cult favourite whose reputation will only be enhanced with age".^[37] However, the BBC's Jonathan Ross, a keen fan of the graphic novel, blasted the film, calling it a "woeful, depressing failure" and stating that the "cast of notable and familiar talents such as John Hurt and Stephen Rea stand little chance amid the wreckage of the Wachowski siblings' dismal script and its particularly poor dialogue",^[38] and David Denby of the New Yorker described it as "a dunderheaded pop fantasia".^[39] Moreover, one of the most negative reviews came from Michael Medved, who called the film "V for vile, vicious, vacuous, venal, verminous and vomitaceous." Medved also said that the audience will lose interest about halfway through the film and that it has a confusing ending.^[40]

As of November 25, 2006, V for Vendetta was listed in the top 250 films as voted on by IMDb users, occupying the 116th position.^[41]

[edit] Comments from political sources

V for Vendetta deals with issues of race, sexuality, religion, totalitarianism, and terrorism. Its controversial story line and themes have, inevitably, made it the target of both criticism and praise from different sociopolitical groups.

An anarchist group in New York City has used the film's release to gain publicity for anarchism as a political philosophy. However, the group felt that the film waters down the anarchist message from the original story in order to satisfy mass Hollywood audiences, and instead focuses on destruction without proposing any alternatives.^[42] Despite the lack of acceptance by some anarchists, the film has brought renewed interest to Alan Moore's original story, as sales of the original graphic novel rose dramatically in the United States, placing the book firmly in the top sales at Barnes & Noble and Amazon.com.^[43]

Many libertarians, especially at the Mises Institute's LewRockwell.com see the film as a positive depiction in favour of a free society with limited government and free enterprise, citing the state's terrorism as being of greater evil and rationalized by its political machinery, while V's acts are seen as 'terroristic' because they are done by a single individual.^[44] Justin Raimondo, the libertarian editor of Antiwar.com, praised the film for its sociopolitical self-awareness and saw the film’s success as "helping to fight the cultural rot that the War Party feeds on".

In the United States, several conservative Christian groups were critical of the film's negative portrayal of government-sponsored Christianity and sympathetic portrayal of homosexuality and Islam. Ted Baehr, chairman of the Christian Film and Television Commission, called V for Vendetta "a vile, pro-terrorist piece of neo-Marxist, left-wing propaganda filled with radical sexual politics and nasty attacks on religion and Christianity".^[45] Don Feder, a conservative columnist from Frontpage Magazine has called V for Vendetta "the most explicitly anti-Christian movie to date"^[46] that "combines all of the celluloid left’s paranoid fantasies".^[47] Meanwhile, LGBT commentators have praised the film for its positive depiction of gays, with writer Michael Jensen calling the film "one of the most pro-gay ever".^[15]

Dave Saldana from the left-wing media group ZNet says that the regime's treachery could have “come from today's newspaper: secret tribunals, secret prisons, political scapegoats 'disappeared' and tortured, a too-cozy relationship between Big Business and government, TV blowhards and corrupt religious leaders helping the government do its dirty work, and a ruthless political henchman pulling the strings.”^[18] However, David Walsh from the World Socialist Web Site criticizes V's actions as "antidemocratic" and cites the film as an example of "the bankruptcy of anarcho-terrorist ideology" stating that because the people have not played any part in the revolution, they will be unable to produce a "new, liberated society."^[48]

[edit] Differences between the film and graphic novel

For more information: V for Vendetta.

The film's story was adapted from an Alan Moore comic originally published between 1982 and 1985 in the British comic anthology Warrior. These comics were later compiled into a graphic novel and published again in the United States under DC's Vertigo imprint and in the United Kingdom under Titan Books.

Even though the film is based on the graphic novel, there are several key differences between the two that make them fundamentally different from one another. For example, Alan Moore's original story was created as a response to British Thatcherism in the early 80's and was set as a conflict between a fascist state and anarchism, whereas the film's story has been changed by the Wachowskis to fit a modern political context. Alan Moore charges that in doing so, the story has turned into an American-centric conflict between liberalism and neo-conservatism, and abandons the original anarchist-fascist themes. Furthermore, in the original story, Moore attempted to maintain moral ambiguity, and not to portray the fascists as caricatures, but as realistic, rounded characters.^[7] The time limitations of a film meant that the story had to omit or streamline some of the characters, details and plotlines from the original story.^[5]

Many of the characters from the graphic novel underwent significant changes for the film. For example, V is characterized in the film as a romantic freedom fighter who shows concern over the loss of innocent life and even cooks breakfast for Evey. However, in the graphic novel, he is portrayed as a bizarre and almost inhuman anarchist with questionable tendencies. Evey Hammond's transformation as V's protégé is also much more drastic in the novel than in the film. At the beginning of the film, she is already a confident woman with a hint of rebellion in her, whereas in the graphic novel she starts off as an insecure, desperate young woman forced into prostitution, who, in the end not only carries out V’s plans as she does in the film, but also clearly takes on V’s identity. While the film portrays the Chancellor as a power hungry totalitarian figure, the graphic novel paints him as a sympathetic and troubled character. Characters who were completely omitted from the film or had a significantly reduced role, include Rose Almond, Alistair Harper, and Mr. and Mrs. Heyer.

The setting in Moore’s original story is much darker than the relatively secure setting of the film. In the graphic novel, a global nuclear war has destroyed Continental Europe and Africa, but has spared Britain. However, Britain stands isolated, and with a nuclear winter causing famine and massive flooding, there is a real fear that a collapse of the government would lead to disaster. (This makes V’s efforts to destroy the regime even more questionable.) The graphic novel also contains references to drug use. Finally, whereas the film ends in a relatively peaceful overthrow, in the graphic novel there is a violent collapse of authority.

Norsefire in the film is largely based on present day fears of an ultra-conservative police state, whereas Norsefire in the original story is based on a fascist regime closer to that of the Nazis. In both stories Norsefire actively participates in the systematic elimination of racial minorities, homosexuals, and political dissidents from society. But whereas the ultra-conservative regime of tomorrow also targets Muslims, the fascist regime of yesterday is explicitly focused on the protection of racial purity. Despite playing down racial elements of the regime, the film retains the Aryan superhero Storm Saxon.

Other differences include the computer system "Fate", which is completely missing from the film. (In the original story, Fate was a Big-Brother-like computer which served as Norsefire's eyes and ears and also helped explain how V could see and hear the things he did.) V's terrorist targets are also different in the graphic novel, as he destroys Parliament and the Old Bailey in the beginning, and destroys 10 Downing Street for the finale.

Also, while in the original graphic novel there are official signs with the "Strength Through Purity, Purity Through Faith" text in them, in the film they were changed to read "Strength Through Unity, Unity Through Faith".

[edit] DVD release

V For Vendetta was released in the USA on DVD on August 1, 2006 in three formats: a single-disc wide-screen version, a single-disc full-screen version, and a two-disc wide-screen special edition. The single disc versions contain only a short behind-the-scenes featurette, where-as the two-disc special edition contains three additional featurettes and a few extra features for collectors. On the second disc of the special edition, a short Easter egg clip of Natalie Portman on Saturday Night Live can be viewed by selecting the picture of wings on the second page of the menu.

Best Buy, Circuit City and Target each offered exclusive collectibles with their two-disc special edition copies of V For Vendetta. Best Buy offered an all-out collector's set, which contained four limited-edition art prints, a half scale (1:2) replica of V's mask, and a display box. Circuit City and Target both offered a limited-edition slip sleeve with a lenticular cover and a 64-page excerpt of the graphic novel. In the United Kingdom, the two disc edition is only available at high street retailer HMV,^[49] with also a slipcase edition available complete with a mini-graphic novel featuring the first nine chapters of the original graphic novel. Australian retailer EzyDVD offers the two-disc wide-screen special edition in its own tin collectors case.

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• Official V for Vendetta site at Warner Brothers
• V for Vendetta at the Open Directory Project
• V for Vendetta at the Internet Movie Database
• V for Vendetta at All Movie Guide
• V for Vendetta at Rotten Tomatoes
• Early undated V for Vendetta screenplay by the Wachowski brothers at imsdb.com