Radio_Lady's Movie Review -- "V for Vendetta"

[Radio_Lady]

“V is Vendetta” is a fascinating and fast-moving film that will transfix you from beginning to end. It is a marvelous production featuring Natalie Portman, who was excellent recently in the movie "Closer". Ms. Portman delivers an exceptional performance as Evey, a young citizen living in the dark days of a fascist-ruled Britain. Even though actor Hugo Weaving wears an immobile facial mask for the entire performance, he is somehow still able to translate the perceptions, feelings, and emotions of "V."

This is a powerful film that stands on its own as an excellent work of fiction. It is also disturbing as an allegory for our time and our country as well. Analysis of its troubling nature had to wait until the final play-out of this high action thriller. As I left the theatre, I pondered what I had experienced. “V” presents a repressive government -- ruling with fear and suppression of freedoms -- that resonated too much with what our own government has become.

The landscape is that of a futuristic Britain caught in the iron grip of a police state. The rulers are able to take control in an election following terrorist calamities. The leaders take advantage of the resulting widespread alarm and panic. At the start of “V”, Evey is a mild-mannered young woman going about the business of survival in this insane climate. She accidentally crosses paths with "V", the masked avenger who is determined on his own to take down the powers that rule the country through cruel domination. To save Evey from being taken into custody and tortured, he takes her to his secret lair.

By his convincing public arrival, the masked and black-cloaked “V” captures the imagination of all who yearn for a better day and freedom from the current yoke of fear that permeates daily life. He announces that, in one year, on November 5th, Guy Fawkes Day, he will carry out Guy Fawkes 1605 plan to blow up the massive parliament building…an action symbolizing the rebellion and destruction of the current regime.

Evey’s rescue by “V” places her in jeopardy of the same government officials that ruthlessly pursue “V”. She becomes inextricably involved in the crusader’s plan even as she seeks to escape his protection. It is all very mesmerizing and kept me “on the edge of my seat”. "V for Vendetta" is a film you will not soon forget…a film that will have you asking about the freedoms in our own day that have been sacrificed and the extent to which fear rules.

I rate “V for Vendetta” an "A" on my Entertainment Report Card -- an "A" for "V" all the way.

Based on the Groundbreaking Graphic Novel by Alan Moore and David Lloyd
Genre: Action/Comics/Sci-Fi
Director: James McTeigue
Starring: Natalie Portman, Hugo Weaving, Stephen Rea, John Hurt
RunTime: 2 hrs 12 mins
Released By: Warner Bros
Official Website: http://www.vforvendetta.com/
Rating: NC-16
Released Date: March 16, 2006

[Shine]

1. Nice review, Radio Lady. Spoiler alert response:

We just saw it on Saturday nite for my birthday, in fact. :) I'm still thinking about it.

I have mixed feelings about how he basically tortured Evey (for months?) to get her mind to be "free", though. For me, the movie raised questions about whether the ends justify the means....hmmmmm...

Also, I must say, didn't you find that one scene where she kisses the lips of his mask a bit bizarre? :shrug: The romantic interest part seemed a bit forced to me.

Other than those points, however, I found this movie to be very thought-provoking. :thumbsup:

[Radio_Lady]

4. I agree with your comments to some extent. I felt the kiss was

symbolic of the fact that she loved him -- she would never know what he really looked like -- he was disfigured, but can you fall in love without seeing his face? I think so. It's kind of a parallel theme with "The Phantom of the Opera."

[SeattleGirl]

2. "V" is next on my list of movies to see

I've read several DU reviews of this movie, and it definitely seems to be a "must see". Thanks for the review R_L.

[Radio_Lady]

5. We thought it was excellent, and the preview audience seemed to agree.

Here are some other reviews of "Vendetta" -- because reactions to movies vary all over the lot! It's always just the reviewer's opinion, after all. :)

http://www.metacritic.com/film/titles/vforvendetta

[wildhorses]

3. thanks for the review

I will probably see it this weekend
:hi:

[Radio_Lady]

7. It's a good choice, wildhorses. Let me know what you think.

In peace,

Radio_Lady in Oregon

[Radio_Lady]

6. Here's a link to Scott Holleran's review on "Box Office Mojo,com"

'Matrix' Makers' Latest Blows Up Fascism in Grand Fashion
by Scott Holleran

Set 20 years in the future, the flamboyant V for Vendetta is less science fiction than social commentary done in comic book style, though this exhaustive movie is not easily described. With several odd-sized pieces, it is one strange puzzle—and an allegorical warning against tyranny.

With government control of people's lives on the march, it's easy to see what V for Vendetta is aiming for: a knock on the Weimar-era fascism spreading around us. A dictatorship based on faith—run by 1984's John Hurt in a goatee and an Adolf Hitler hair flip and powered by priests and thugs—is realistic, down to the consent of the passive masses, vacantly staring at their TV screens. It takes place in Britain.

One night, Natalie Portman's ordinary citizen, Evey, dares to defy a government curfew when she steps into the London darkness and suddenly finds herself surrounded by gang rapists. That they turn out to be policemen is the fitting intro to totalitarian Britain of the not too distant future. How statism happened is one of the movie's mysteries—a warning more than a conspiracy theory—and this brings us to the V for vendetta.

A nom de guerre for the tragic hero who wears a mask of a 17th century Catholic who sought to blow up Parliament, V is an entirely mad, romantic figure prone to alliterative speeches, citations of Shakespeare's Twelfth Night and repeat viewings of The Count of Monte Cristo.

(More at link --->) http://www.boxofficemojo.com/reviews/?id=2030&p=.htm