Remember, Remember, the 11th of September...

Rating: 10/10 (17 March 2006)

This film is flexible. No, perhaps the word is versatile. "V for Vendetta" just may be the one film from 2006 that has the most varied interpretations, the one film that will stir more thought and debate than any other. It is so much more than the typical comic-book / graphic-novel big screen adaptations that over-populate the cineplexes and rental chain shelves. This one has ideas... Pertinent and timely ideas written by and for a complex mind.
"V for Vendetta" was on a short-list of about two-dozen films that I was most excited to see in this calendar year. In any given year, I am delighted when half of those anticipated hopefuls turn out to be cinematic gems. This is one of those to treasure. It is thrilling... entertaining while it offers new avenues of thought. It keeps the engine in constant motion while still delivering dialogue that waxes poetic about the nature of government, art, revolution, rebellion, fear, terror, war, trust & courage.
I must admit that, going in, I wasn't sure that this film was going to live up to its lofty goals and incredible advanced buzz. I mean, how often does any film deliver on such... let alone one with a lead character sporting a mask? Somehow though, "V" compels us to compare, to judge and to answer the questions it poses. And it does it with a flare and grandeur that will make you edge closer to the screen, if only to immerse yourself further.
The film is hard to describe with a standard plot recap. The film and the characters evolve, constantly changing the starting line... So where to begin? V (Hugo Weaving) is the codename for a masked and cloaked man hell-bent on being noticed by the people and by the government. He practices vigilante justice, whether rescuing a damsel in distress on the future streets of London, blowing up a governmental building, or killing off those who wronged him in the past. Depending on your point of view, he is either a revolutionary or a terrorist.
Evey (Natalie Portman) is said damsel in distress, rescued by V when she breaks curfew and runs into an unseemly band of law enforcement agents. The two of them are bound together by circumstance and ideas. There is an undeniable connection of fate between the two.
The plot is counting down to "Remember, remember, the 5th of November", a reference to Guy Fawkes' attempt to blow up the houses of parliament some 400 years earlier. On the next anniversary of that date, V has vowed to exact his vengeance by finishing the act thwarted all that time ago.
The overpowering government rouses into motion its police state tactics to seek out this man before his plan can take root in the consciousness of the people.
The similarities and references to our time, our government and our current world climate will not go unnoticed by any but the thickest dullards. It is quite obvious why this film is being made now. There are clearly messages to be heard here. Some may say the graphic novel could not have been about that, as it was written solely with references to the Nazi party... and was merely forewarning of the dangers imposed by 'Thatcherism' and the like.
That may be true. But this film was made and released at this time with direct references to the war in Iraq, the hideous nature of the Patriot Act, the torture and murder of civilians, the hunger for power and control by the use of fear, the idea that government may not always be on our side... all of these themes and many others point an accusing finger directly at you know who.
There is only one performance in the film that I'd like to highlight... that of Natalie Portman. The rest of the cast is adequate. V's is hard to judge because of the mask, although Weaving is tremendous at delivering the lines with conviction. I mentioned earlier in the review that there was a short-list of films in 2006 that most intrigued me. That list includes 4 films starring Portman, who has overcome the rather embarrassing inclusion in the disappointing Star Wars debacles to emerge clean on the other side with a sublime résumé for any actress, let alone a 24 year-old one.
The four films she has coming out this year are "Goya's Ghosts", "Paris, je t'aime", "Free Zone" and, of course, "V for Vendetta". I urge you all to seek those films out because she has already proved to me that she can command the screen with emotion so raw and intense that it never fails to transpose itself to me in the audience.
In this film, despite bouncing back and forth with the English accent, from lower-class yob to upper-class royalty, she is able to become the sympathetic vehicle the audience needs in order to undergo the same transformation that Evey experiences. The best lines in the film are delivered by Hugo Weaving's V... the best reactions and emotions are delivered by this simply brilliant young actress. There are less than a dozen actors or directors whose films I refuse to miss on opening day. Portman has earned her way onto that list.
This film is about ideas. Granted, they aren't new ideas, but they are ideas that we need reminding of in times like these. Like the lead characters in the film, I have hope that enough people will eventually grasp on to those ideas and make the changes necessary in order for us to shed our fear, seek out the truth and reclaim the freedom to choose our own destiny.
"Remember, Remember, the 11th of September!"