"...I, like God, do not play with dice..." -V
V for Vendetta, a movie with an unnamed genre, was released in 2005, starring Hugo Weaving and Natalie Portman. I say the genre is unnamed because it isn't quite sci-fi, (all events are physically possible) mystery, (there is a past uncovering-esque theme, but it is hardly the main focus) or thriller (whose genre is somewhat indescribable, but is more horror like than this). I suppose Drama would sort of fit, but that is more romance based. This movie feels like being taken on a ride, and little snippets of other stories with their own genre are flying by, slowly becoming one plot, the outcome of which is as obvious as it is breathtakingly symbolic. Let me tell you it is my very good pleasure to describe this film, which I most certainly would rate as a 4/5 stars.
"Violence can be used for
good" -V
And so it was. Set in the dystopian cyberpunk future the sci-fi channel would have us believe, there is a british totalitarian state, well known for a lack of rights, and no one protesting a lack of them. And on a fateful night, a young Evey Hammond (who was later found to have been wronged by the government in nearly every way possible) meets a most curious fellow, who only goes by the letter "V". She soon finds just how far the oddities of this kind fellow go, and just what his intentions are for the injust regime currently ruling.
Where to begin? How about Evey? After being forced to watch her brother die, parents be abducted, and raised in a federal child detention facility, she truly only knows one thing; survival. Such a thing as an idea is as foreign sounding as it is pointless to her. Who better for the director to use as a symbol for the populace, totally unknowledgeable about what life should be like? Then along comes a spider, who weaves his web right in front of her, but this Charlet's message is unheaded by the cold mind of our heroine. She understands the injustice, but only sees the most likely consequence of misbehavior; death. Thus, she confides in V her inability to get past fear and survival, and the everwise character knows only one way to transcend the flesh and fear, by the very methods he did it. Once enlightened, she truly sees the struggle V faces, but now knows the ideal outcome, however unlikely, and is now given the choice; status quo, or Novus Dies. For all the dominoes V set up, it cannot all fall without the consent of another, the most painstakingly made domino he set up.
And now for V. What a drive that man(?) had! From an undisclosed background, he is a man seemingly without a body. Literally, he is supposed to actually be a figurative way to tell the story. V is not supposed to just be a man, but a movement, an
idea. He represents the people at large, and more importantly, the sum of their discontent. V the terrorist is the spark that ignites the gunpowder of revolution, but V the idea is the gunpowder. The point is to show, not V's revolution, but the People's revolution. Even V understood this in the end. He left it up to Evey, because he knew that for all the work he put in for his revenge and justice, it was not to be his, and it never was. If V is the People's sense of revenge, Evey is their hope for a future after revenge is had.
And now, I bring this review to a close. I would also like to mention that an exception was not made in the rating of this film. Typically, I am against the film we watch if it contains a message that isn't just a slight slip you hardly notice. What I mean to say is, if a film is preachy, I dislike it. Now obviously, V for Vendetta was incredibly preachy about what is freedom and how government should behave. Since I agreed with the message, I rated it with 5 stars initially. But then I remembered why I had the rule in the first place. I don't like it when I watch a movie that paints me a bad guy because of my ethnicity, or social standing. So how is it fair to others who see movies I like the message of but they don't? The goal of the rule is to show whether or not it's bias free, not biased to me. And so, it remains at 4 stars, though I personally believe this is the second best movie I've seen in a long while.
Stay Savvy my Friends,
Erudito
Resources:
chelsea.theoffside.com
Shawshank Redemption (1994, In the year of our Lord) was an independant film, starring Tim Robbins & Morgan Freeman. I will admit it, my apprehension about films of the independant genre was lessened when I was told this classic was among them. One of the most well-known films made, Shawshank Redemption is possibly one of the most satired films I've seen in a good, long while, not to mention media content with similar premises. Let's go to Prison is a comedy with a similar setup, not to mention satires made by adult shows like Family Guy and Robot Chicken. By my scale, the film gets a 4.5/5. To be fair, it's kind of hard to dislike a movie narrated by Morgan Freeman.
I'm not a firm believer in most spiritual things, besides the good Lord, but if there is something I can get behind, it's the power of hope. An idea is the hardest thing for someone to transfer to another, since we use mediums like words to convey emotion and feeling. So when someone catches hold of something, it is personalized to them, a truth they alone recognize make part of themselves. And once it takes hold, there is little that can ever exercise it from the mind. And of ideas, nothing is as universally strong as hope. To look at the sky, and believe something better might come, if you make yourself available to chance, just a chance. That is what Andy felt, and why he never let the situation get the best of him.
"We do what we must, so that we can do what we want." James Farmer Sr.
But I am not so conceited as to call myself the judge. Simply an agent of film review. And in review, I would like to cover few things before ending. Firstly, if Tolson couldn't leave the state, how'd he leave the state at the end? "Oh, it's okay, it's an emotional scene."? I don't think so, gentlemen. Secondly, what is the purpose of Henry making James give the speech? It's kind of poetic, i guess, but it makestoo little sense to be believable. Perhaps it was a symbol of the doggedness and repeated attempts at equality. Lastly, I very much enjoyed how my original hypothesis for Lowe running away ended up being correct. I did not, however, see it in his character to come back. It was as emotionally touching as it was ill fitting. That's it, I'm afraid. I hope this has helped "find your righteous mind".
"Violence can be used for good" -V
Where to begin? How about Evey? After being forced to watch her brother die, parents be abducted, and raised in a federal child detention facility, she truly only knows one thing; survival. Such a thing as an idea is as foreign sounding as it is pointless to her. Who better for the director to use as a symbol for the populace, totally unknowledgeable about what life should be like? Then along comes a spider, who weaves his web right in front of her, but this Charlet's message is unheaded by the cold mind of our heroine. She understands the injustice, but only sees the most likely consequence of misbehavior; death. Thus, she confides in V her inability to get past fear and survival, and the everwise character knows only one way to transcend the flesh and fear, by the very methods he did it. Once enlightened, she truly sees the struggle V faces, but now knows the ideal outcome, however unlikely, and is now given the choice; status quo, or Novus Dies. For all the dominoes V set up, it cannot all fall without the consent of another, the most painstakingly made domino he set up.
