Flick of The Day: V for Vendetta

English writer Alan Moore, famed for his work in graphic novels, has seen many of his best works adapted for the screen with disastrous results. It reads like a who's who of awful cinema with From Hell, The League of Extraodinary Gentlemen and Constantine being the worst examples. He has since requested that his name be removed from any such projects and it is a shame that one of the disavowed films include this excellent adaptation and today's flick of the day, V for Vendetta.

V for Vendetta

Set in a dystopian vision of Britain, in which a fascist like government controls all aspects of society in a manner none to dissimilar to Orwell's 1984. This all seeing totalitarian state abuses its power and crushes all opposition through violence and propaganda led by the evil Chancellor Sutler played by John Hurt. The always reliable Natalie Portman is Evey, a quiet young woman who while trying to evade the secret police stumbles into V, a masked crusader played by Hugo Weaving who in remembrance of the gunpowder plot of Guy Fawkes is determined to bring an end to the reign of terror. Taking Evey under his wing, they plot revenge.

It is always important to remember the context in which a particular work is produced. Alan Moore wrote this tale of authoritarianism in the 1980's when Margaret Thatcher was at the height of her power and the idea of some kind of neo-conservative society was very much a possibility with the average working class British citizen being forced to the margins. Then again, the film itself was produced at a time after 9/11 when the world had become a very dangerous place indeed with the evil cradling of Guantanamo Bay just being spawned in the minds of the public. This context is important because the fear of totalitarianism expressed in the book and the film is so very relevant to today. Director and screenwriter James McTeigue makes numerous references to the real world today. The black bags which undesirables are subjected to is surely a reference to the kind seen in Abu Ghraib and there are also references to a war which brought America to its knees. Whether these references are valid is something for yourself to decide but it was undoubtedly an influence.

These themes aside, it is a very entertaining film just taken at face value. Stephen Rea is excellent as the conflicted detective on the trail of Evey and V while Portman manages the role of Evey with aplomb. The cast are excellent all round and there are some enjoyable action set pieces which build the tension as V seeks to push the nation toward revolution and a grand finale on Guy Fawkes Night.

"So I read that the former United States is so desperate for medical supplies that they have allegedly sent several containers filled with wheat and tobacco. A gesture, they said, of good will. You wanna know what I think? Well, you're listening to my show, so I will assume you do... I think it's high time we let the colonies know what we really think of them. I think its payback time for a little tea party they threw for us a few hundred years ago. I say we go down to those docks tonight and dump that crap where everything from the Ulcered Sphincter of Arse-erica belongs! Who's with me? Who's bloody with me?"

This could so easily have become some po-faced preachy piece about morality and fear in the post 9/11 world but it manages to be both entertaining and thought provoking. The story of how Britain gradually slipped into the grips of the fascistic Norsefire party which is told in flashback  is chillingly possible and will make you think about this possibility if nothing else. A fine story, which is subtly directed and acted by a fine cast. Well worth a look.