Took me over a year to finally see it...

Rating: 9/10 (24 July 2007)

...and then I loved it.
Like Evey initially, I can be reluctant to step out of my comfort zone when it comes to spending a couple of hours watching a film. I'm committed to certain genres and disdain the rest, unwilling to sacrifice a guarantee of pleasure to a moment of risk. But when you watch as many films as I do, eventually you'll have to take a chance on a film that looks suspicious. I found the DVD V among the library at my son's house and packed it in my purse.
The best gifts are the ones you don't expect. This was no fantasy along the lines of a Dragonslayer, but a modern depiction of revolution albeit with touches of Orwell. Grounding the movie were the two leads played by Natalie Portman and the incredible Hugo Weaving who play Evey Hammond, daughter of political parents who died for their actions, and V, the masked man, disfigured in a fire, victim of a Holocaustian event perpetrated by neo-Nazis. Their performances make this movie classic.
I recall reading that Clive Owen, the lead actor in Spike Lee's Inside Man, at first rejected the role because his character was masked for most of the film. In fact, he was to be masked for all of it until Lee gave in and permitted him face time in at least a few scenes. Clive should be ashamed after watching Weaving's entirely masked performance in V. The second time I viewed the film, I paid close attention to Weaving's performance and marveled at how he created a character through voice and movement: the bow of the head, lift of the arms, intonation and body language--all this working together created one of the most memorable characters in film. Like Evey, you eventually find him irresistible...and admirable for his subversive ways.
Natalie Portman's character goes through a complete transformation in this firm, from a passive, pretty little thing, fearful always of being caught, just like her parents, to a full-fledged revolutionary willing to commit to her ideals. She was born with the subversive gene, as V detects immediately, but she's spent her life so far suppressing it out of fear. He helps her bring it to life.
As a youngster, I loved the films Zorro, The Lone Ranger, Robin Hood and now we have V. For those who, like me, rarely step out of their comfort zone--try to do so for this film.