V for Vendetta: Remembering the 5th of November

Rating: 8/10 (13 December 2017)

V for Vendetta (2006) is a dystopian political thriller directed by James McTeigue and written by The Wachowskis. It stars Natalie Portman, Hugo Weaving and John Hurt and is an adaptation of the Alan Moore graphic novel of the same name.
The Year is 2027, the world has been rocked by war and plague, the US is a shell of its former self in the middle of civil war and England is ruled by a Fascist party known as Norsefire. England is a police state and the one part government controls all aspects of the common people's lives. Evey Hammond (Natalie Portman) is on her way for to a date, it is past Government curfew and as a result she runs into the secret state police (Fingermen) and is about to be raped by them she is rescued by a masked vigilante called V. There she slowly gets involved in helping V overthrow the Norsefire party and free England from oppression.
The world V for Vendetta is in has been brought to life extremely well; it is able to make the idea of England under dictatorship believable and a scary possible future. The film is dripping in visual story telling that is able to trust that the viewer is smart enough to not demand to get spoon fed but is not too obscure either. The main themes of Justice and freedom of expression are woven into the narrative with skill and subtly that helps make the film universal and timeless. I find the use of the Guy Fawkes mask e being used in protesting censorship an example of how well this film and the book have aged.
It is very strange seeing John Hurt as the dictator after he played Winston in the 1984 film but it is a testament to his ability as an actor that he is able to shake that off, he commands the film whenever he is on, he is horrifying as High Chancellor Adam Sutler. We do not even see him that much asides from a screen that looms over the other members of the Norsefire party. I cannot see anyone else playing Sutler. Hugo Weaving takes a task that most actors even most studios would not risk. He never shows his face to any one for the entire film, not many actors are willing to do that and it would have been force in a scene with V taking off the mask and it would damage one of the themes of the film being that V is a symbol rather than a person that can die. That being said Hugo Weaving is great in this, he is not only a tragic figure forced to become terrorist in the hope of making the world a better place but is also a killer and a terrorist who destroys property. V is an interesting character study of when people are forced to commit terrible acts for the greater good of a country. Natalie Portman's English accent is fine, it does the job and I believe that she is English despite some slips in her voice. Her performance is also well done and she is a well written character.
I cannot really think of anything wrong with this film. The sympathetic view of V might be problematic as it could be seen as sympathetic to terrorists but it is unlikely and is an analysis for another day.