2008 Woodie Awards
Political undertones carry "V"
Shannon Day
Issue date: 3/23/06 Section: Features
- Page 1 of 1
In not so distant London, a vehicle for a more efficient Nazi state is running in full swing with "Big Brother" looking over everyone's shoulder.
The brothers, Andy and Larry Wachowski, who wrote the "Matrix" trilogy, give audiences a look at an Orwellian world with government running people's lives through a state of constant fear in the newly released, "V for Vendetta."
Everything we hold sacred including our basic rights as human beings, is revoked in this new London. The state does not tolerate anything that inspires or gives hope to people, because with hope, the state will lose control.
The conduit for change is a masked man who uses terrorist tactics and ideas for revolution. V is played by Hugo Weaving, though we never get a glimpse of him outside the mask he dawns.
He makes a faceless character seem alive and full of depth. With gentle gestures and voice variations, Weaving makes V a character to remember, rather than a two-dimensional comic strip character to be scoffed at.
Equally enjoyable to watch is the transformation of Natalie Portman's character, Evey - an innocent ensnared in V's scheme by mere accident, but who slowly comes around to V's ideas for change.
Chancellor Adam Sutler, (John Hurt), London's dictator, is the embodiment for the new wave Hitler, providing a vivid and bleak peek into a future London where one man spins the news and rubs out undesirables on a daily basis.
Sutler constantly meets with a board of individuals he enlists to do his dirty deeds, but one board member, Finch (Stephen Rea), begins to see through Sutler's gimmicks after being enlisted to catch V.
V's idea for change comes from a basic principal that you can motivate people for good by doing something really bad. V plans to blow Parliament to smithereens. It is the equivalent of destroying the White House or a congressional building in Washington.
The film poses the question, can doing something so deplorable ultimately achieve something good by igniting a public in need of change?
"V for Vendetta" has a political statement to make, which in some ways gets convoluted by over-the-top action and imagery. However, the message comes secondary to the eye-popping action scenes that let V use his daggers to the best of his capabilities.
The brothers, Andy and Larry Wachowski, who wrote the "Matrix" trilogy, give audiences a look at an Orwellian world with government running people's lives through a state of constant fear in the newly released, "V for Vendetta."
Everything we hold sacred including our basic rights as human beings, is revoked in this new London. The state does not tolerate anything that inspires or gives hope to people, because with hope, the state will lose control.
The conduit for change is a masked man who uses terrorist tactics and ideas for revolution. V is played by Hugo Weaving, though we never get a glimpse of him outside the mask he dawns.
He makes a faceless character seem alive and full of depth. With gentle gestures and voice variations, Weaving makes V a character to remember, rather than a two-dimensional comic strip character to be scoffed at.
Equally enjoyable to watch is the transformation of Natalie Portman's character, Evey - an innocent ensnared in V's scheme by mere accident, but who slowly comes around to V's ideas for change.
Chancellor Adam Sutler, (John Hurt), London's dictator, is the embodiment for the new wave Hitler, providing a vivid and bleak peek into a future London where one man spins the news and rubs out undesirables on a daily basis.
Sutler constantly meets with a board of individuals he enlists to do his dirty deeds, but one board member, Finch (Stephen Rea), begins to see through Sutler's gimmicks after being enlisted to catch V.
V's idea for change comes from a basic principal that you can motivate people for good by doing something really bad. V plans to blow Parliament to smithereens. It is the equivalent of destroying the White House or a congressional building in Washington.
The film poses the question, can doing something so deplorable ultimately achieve something good by igniting a public in need of change?
"V for Vendetta" has a political statement to make, which in some ways gets convoluted by over-the-top action and imagery. However, the message comes secondary to the eye-popping action scenes that let V use his daggers to the best of his capabilities.