Dispatches from the sunburned wastelands

A girl breaks the late night curfew to visit her employer, gets into trouble with the secret police, but is saved from a gang rape by a masked figure, who later blows up the stastue of lady liberty. A very topical, and symbolic opening sequence for V for Vendetta. I saw the movie this weekend, and contrary to my expectations, it turned out to be an excellent, thought-provoking film.

I read the graphic novel (by the great Alan Moore), on which the movie was partially based many years ago. Back then, I was struck by its profound message, re. the fictional decline of Britain into a one-party national socialist state, not unlike Germany in the 1930's. Except, in Alan Moore's graphic novel, the gritty setting was just a few years after the Thatcher era, and in a sense his graphic novel was a response to the perceived police state mentality that prevailed in England during the Iron Lady's rule.

In constrast, the movie is very slick and futuristic, and the what-if scenario is clearly based on today's politics...What if the Iraq war drags on for the next 15 years, and Islamic extremist terrorism becomes more prevalent in Britain - how will England's' political landscape change? There are very good indications today of the potential for a right-wing backlash, which may well end in a one party state, ruled by fear. The message conveyed by the movie is clear: It is easy for politicians to garner support, and even to create mass hysteria, by using fear as a tool for subduing critical or independent thought. Let's round up all the gays, artists and intellectuals, they're a danger to the state...and everybody not voting for us, must be supporting the terrorists, and thus are enemies of the state. (Remember the way the Republicans have been smearing the democrats as unpatriotic?) Using fear as a political tool works all too well in the real world. There is also the irony in the movie - the terrorist becomes the saviour and hero of the very people (western society) who used to make war on terrorists...

Getting back to the movie, it uses many of the same themes and imagery from the graphic novel, but the movie's director added his own touch to it. Some of the action sequences are reminiscent of The Matrix, probably because the Wachowski brothers were involved (this is not necessarily a bad thing). Natalie Portman's character, Evey, drives the movie's plot - we see everything from her perspective, and not from the terrorist V's eyes - after all, it's hard to feel compassion for a masked villain, especially if there are no traces of emotion, either on the immovable mask or in the character's tone of voice. At first Evey is scared and suspicious of V's actions and motives, but over time, as her own background story unfolds, she becomes more drawn towards the liberty that the masked figure is fighting for. We also get to see parts of the movie through the yes of the tired, brow-beaten Police Inspector, who has to track down the villain while being subjected to threats and investigations by the secret police...and in the process stumbles onto a secret that rocks his loyalty to his own masters, and which, if it becomes publicly known, may well bring down the government.

Throughout te movie, the audience remains uninvolved with the emotions of V - we feel the fear of Evey, we experience the baffled emotions of the inspector, but the face of V remains a closed mask to us...We never get to see his face, but, the audience are told, this could be anyone in the same situation, you, me, the girl at the post office...What will you do to drive the oppressor from your lands? Will you strap a bomb to your waist, walk into a bank and blow yourself up? When does terrorism become a fight for freedom? After all, one man's terrorist is another's freedom fighter....

Even though it asks profound questions, the movie still succumbs to the will of Hollywood, though - It's interesting to note that Evey is portrayed as a media assistant in the movie, while in the book she was a factory worker who got into trouble for becoming a prostitute...

Posted by HannesB at 4:12 AM Comments