3-23-06, 8:44 am
A pill-popping media demagogue, a religiously-driven head of state, a telephone tapping domestic spy agency, mass roundups of suspected 'terrorists,' government control of media content, massive pharmaceutical giants with secret agendas, torture, wars, terrorism, and disease scares, and a seemingly cowed populace. Sound familiar? No, it isn’t Bush’s America; it’s the backdrop for the new smash hit V for Vendetta.
I wouldn’t want to exaggerate the similarity between Bush, Cheney and Co. and Vendetta’s fictional thugs who run totalitarian England in the near future. But, hey, when a right-wing ex-Supreme Court justice warns of the dangers posed by the far-right’s subversion of the rule of law, you’d better begin to wonder and worry.
Set in London in about 20 years after endless war and economic collapse saw the downfall of the US empire, V for Vendetta is a captivating political sci-fi thriller. Written by Andy and Larry Wachowski (Matrix trilogy) and directed by James McTeigue (Matrix and Star Wars Episode II), Vendetta is a powerful parable that tackles contemporary issues. For example, can you believe what you see on TV? What is the media’s relationship to the government (a la White House payoffs to right-wing spin-doctors)? How is fear used to immobilize those who might otherwise stand up for civil liberties and rights? What is the role of violence in society? What is the relationship between the rise of the extreme right and corporate interests?
The basic story is that a totalitarian party whose ideology is mired in Christian fundamentalism has risen to power in England opportunistically out of the chaos created by war, terrorism, and
One extraordinary man has risen out of a mysterious past to strike a blow against the system. V, masked as the historical British dissident Guy Fawkes, is threatening to blow up the London’s Parliament building and urges the people who despise the regime to join him in exactly a year to watch it.
One ordinary woman, Evey (Natalie Portman), is caught up in V’s plot seemingly by chance. Caught out after curfew by menacing secret police, she is rescued by V. She returns the favor by preventing V’s capture during his run-in with a small army of police. Immediately, she becomes a fugitive suspected of terrorism and plotting to overthrow the regime.
V brings her to the relative safety of his hideout. There she must deal with her own internalization of fear cultivated by the government’s propaganda mill. Fear forces her into silence and inaction, despite instinctively understanding the great injustices perpetrated by the regime.
Portman’s performance is brilliant and deserving of the wide acclaim she has so far received. Hugo Weaving (The Matrix), as V, is spectacular. Playing skillfully with camera angles and body movements, Weaving gives life and an unexpected depth of emotion to the grinning mask he wears almost entirely throughout the film. It is simply a brilliant performance. John Hurt’s presentation of Chancellor Sutler is powerfully vicious and charismatic. Stephen Fry (Wilde), as the closeted Dietrich, delivers a moving portrayal of a man struggling to avoid losing his soul to a regime that, wielding the weapon of hysterical and violent homophobia, has forced him to hide the most intimate aspects of himself.
Is it too early to start talking about Oscars?
Will Evey escape the clutches of the secret police, or will she save herself by turning V over to the authorities? Will V accomplish his stated goal of sparking a popular uprising by blowing up Parliament? Can the people be shaken out of their complacency and fear in time to act to save their own country from thugs and tyrants?
Who will be our V? Who will spark our uprising? Who will stand up to the Republican thugs? Al Gore? Sen. Russ Feingold? Or, will it be someone or something new?
--Contact Joel Wendland at
