V for Vendetta - Movie Review Example

V for Vendetta “V for Vendetta” is the screen version of the comic book written by Alan Moore and illustrated by David Lloyd. The comic book had tenissues and it was written during the 80s. Some people refer to “V for Vendetta” as a graphic novel instead of a comic book. “The term is used to distinguish serious works within the genre from the stereotypes of "super-hero" comic books” (Bourdeaux, Madelyn, 1994. “Introduction. An Annotation of Literary, Historic and Artistic References in Alan Moores Graphic Novel, "V for Vendetta"”. http://madelyn.utahunderground.net). The story is set in a future Britain devastated by the effects of a world nuclear war, after which the control of the country fell into the hands of Norsefire, a fascist party leaded by Adam Susan. This party controls the whole society; they have suffocated the civil riots triggered by the effects of the world nuclear war and they have sent to concentration camps all the “undesirable” people in the country (racial and religious minorities, homosexuals, people with left-wing ideas, etc). They control people with a strict regime, CCTV and computers that seem to see everything. In this context is where the figure of V appears, an anarchist who fights against the system and tries to destroy it. V wears the mask of Guy Fawkes, an English Catholic restorationist that planned, with his group, the failed Gunpowder Conspiracy of 1605. The Conspiracy, also known as Powder Treason, tried to kill King James I and all the Protestant aristocrats by destroying the Houses of Parliament while they were inside, as a response to the discrimination they suffered. This event, named as Bonfire Night, took place the 5th of November and it is very popular in British culture. Since the 18th century, children carry effigies of Guy Fawkes all around the city to commemorate the anniversary of the Conspiracy. The story starts referring to this character, reciting the famous verses that will be mentioned several times during the film: Remember, remember the fifth of November, The gun powder treason and plot. I know of no reason Why the gun powder treason Should ever be forgot. The film begins recalling the Powder Treason. When V rescues Evey Hammond when she is about to be raped by the Fingermen (the police), he takes her to the top of the Palace of Westminster and blows it up. From this moment, Evey will become his loyal allied and, then, his successor. This spectacular beginning set the main plot of the film: the fight of V against Norsefire and his purpose to liberate people from tyranny. But the big topic of the story is the constant fight between anarchism and fascism, freedom and oppression (although these terms are never mentioned in the film, which is much softened in comparison to the comic book). V inspires himself in Guy Fawkes; there is a clear parallelism between these two characters. Fawkes, in 1605, was fighting against the established religious system (Protestantism) by conspiring to overthrow government; in the same way, V is fighting against the established system (Norsfire, who came to power after an ordinary election, with the majority of the votes, as the Nazis came to power in 1933 in Germany) by planning its destruction from his underground refuge. Both characters are professionals in the use of explosives, Fawkes was a soldier and V learned to use them while he was a prisoner in Larkhill. V, who is a victim of one of the government’s experiments, fights, not only for his personal revenge (vendetta), but mainly for the freedom of society. He was the only survivor of the experiments with “Batch 5” that caused prisoners’ death, except from V; this fact gives him the characteristic of a hero and also, a reason for a personal revenge against Norsefire. Before leaving Larkhill, he killed all the persons who were able to identify him and tear out all the pages of Dr. Surridge’s diary that could reveal something about him. He erased himself as he has never existed before, so he was free to act without the threat of being identified. But he kept something about his past: the number of the room in which he was confined, number 5, “V” in Roman numbers. The day on which he escaped from Larkhill camp with a homemade explosive made with mustard gas and napalm, was the 5th of November, the same day as the Powder Treason took place. For the comic fans, V’s identity is a mystery and they have imagined plenty of different solutions. But the fact is that, neither Alan Moore nor V wanted to reveal his real identity. V plays with the popularity of the figure of Guy Fawkes, increased by the passage of time. Fawkes is a legend and V uses this popularity to familiarize people with his own figure. Although Fawkes’ popularity has make him loose part of the sense of his revolution, he is an icon and people identify their selves with icons. Moreover, V is a man with a vast culture and a great mental capacity, and he is very charismatic. Although, nowadays, the character of Guy Fawkes is part of a celebration in which his main purpose is blurred, people know him and it is a reference of their culture. He is a powerful symbol and when, at the end of the film, V attacks the “Voice of Fate” (government’s propaganda channel), dressed with the mask of Guy Fawkes, and tells people to accept their responsibility and fight against Norsefire people are watching Guy Fawkes telling them to rise up. Transmitting this message dressed as a major figure of the popular culture is extremely powerful, because it gives his words a sense of history, a precedent. It does not matter that Gunpowder Conspiracy failed, because now, the message to extract from this event is that it is possible to struggle against government, if they do it all together. He is also appealing to unity (“unity makes the strength”), which is a common feeling to appeal in uprisings. He encourages people to fight all together, because the enemy is big and strong, but not indestructible. Together, they are superior in number. He appeals, as well, to responsibility, as a way to make people think that they are, in part, responsible of its situation, because they are submitted to Norsfire, instead of rebelling against it. They must become aware of their situation (that is what V wanted to achieve with his intervention in the “Voice of Fate”). As they finally do, and the revolution starts, the death of V is not in vain, because his message has been useful and has lighten the spark of revolution. This speech could be seen as manipulative as the ones of the government, but the difference is that the aim of the government is to submit population by force, and their speeches are just a reinforce of this oppression, while V is talking them about freedom and telling them to do it by their selves, under their responsibility. V has been usually catalogued as an anarchist, but sometimes also as a terrorist. Usually, tendentious historians, like to use both terms as synonymous and to talk about anarchy as chaos and terrorism. The author, Alan Moore, has said regarding to this topic that anarchy is in fact the only political position that is actually possible. I believe that all other political states are in fact variations or outgrowths of a basic state of anarchy; after all, when you mention the idea of anarchy to most people they will tell you what a bad idea it is because the biggest gang would just take over. Which is pretty much how I see contemporary society. We live in a badly developed anarchist situation in which the biggest gang has taken over and have declared that it is not an anarchist situation—that it is a capitalist or a communist situation. But I tend to think that anarchy is the most natural form of politics for a human being to actually practice. All it means, the word, is no leaders. An-archon. No leaders. (Infoshop News, “Authors on Anarchism. An interview with Alan Moore”. August, 2007. http://news.infoshop.org). V fights for justice, both a personal and social justice, but as he is fighting against government, he is considered as an anarchist. When the character was created for the comic book it was firstly rejected, because he was the opposite of the comic heroes of the epoch: they always fought to save the world, not to destroy it. But in these comics, the villain was personified in some other character, while in V for Vendetta, the villain is the Norsefire, the government itself. References: Bourdeaux, Madelyn, 1994 (Last revised October, 2006). “Introduction. An Annotation of Literary, Historic and Artistic References in Alan Moores Graphic Novel, "V for Vendetta"”. http://madelyn.utahunderground.net/vendetta/vendetta1.html. Infoshop News, “Authors on Anarchism. An interview with Alan Moore”. August, 2007. http://news.infoshop.org /article.php?story=2007alan-moore-interview. Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. “Guy Fawkes”. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guy_Fawkes. Read More