To V or not to V a Terrorist Revolutionary

Rating: 8/10 (26 March 2006)

V is a knife-throwing anti-government crusader in a future fascist Britain. Fear and violence are the tools of government. V in turn uses terrorism as a means of liberation. And he drags a bald Natalie Portman along with him.
The story, like Orwells '1984' is not exactly subtle in its critique of authoritarian government and its call to fight for liberty by any means necessary. If you watch it, you will get it. But its still an important tale to tell, and I can imagine its quite subversive in todays US or Britain. Some of the images projected, in particular the... big thing at the end... are subversive in themselves. Extra points for the Bill O'Reilly character, spouting hateful patriotic nonsense in support of the powers that be. And for the orange Guantanamo wardrobe of the prisoners, the Emma Goldman reference: "If I cant dance its not my revolution." and Anthony and the Johnstons on the soundtrack.
Minus points for the male control fantasy, the "conversion" of a woman by subjecting her to imprisonment and torture. "Its for her own good", as wife-beaters usually tend to put it. The benevolent interpretation of this I guess would be a "beauty and the beast" mythology. Alan Moore has always been pretty pubertal though, in the original story, the Natalie Portman character is also a prostitute.
The problem otherwise, from a political perspective, is, like in 'The Matrix' films, the Messianic part. Political change is brought about by one person, an avant-garde, resorting to extreme measures. Rather than being initiated and created by the people through mass action. But hey, its Hollywood.
Hugo Weaving has got a great voice, Natalie Portman is fetching and compelling and Stephen Fry and Stephen Rea do what we expect from them. John Hurt is almost as megalomaniac as he was as Caligula in 'I Claudius'. The story-telling has a nice drive to it, the direction and visual aesthetics are consistent and well thought through. The plot builds well and the film gets consistently more exciting throughout its course.
Its great that a subversive film like this can become part of mainstream entertainment. And hey it even looks like this is going to be a Blockbuster!