V for Vendetta is a 2005 dystopian thriller film directed by James McTeigue from a screenplay by the Wachowskis. It was McTeigue's directorial debut. It is based on the 1988–89 DC Vertigo Comics limited series graphic novel V for Vendetta by Alan Moore, David Lloyd, and Tony Weare. The cast includes Natalie Portman, Hugo Weaving, Stephen Rea and John Hurt. The film, which is set in a future where a fascist totalitarian regime has subjugated the United Kingdom, centres on V (Weaving), a masked vigilante who attempts to ignite a revolution, and Evey Hammond (Portman), a young woman caught up in V's plot.
Produced by Silver Pictures, Virtual Studios and Anarchos Productions, Inc., V for Vendetta was originally scheduled for release by Warner Bros. Pictures on 4 November 2005—a day before the 400th Guy Fawkes Night—but was delayed; it instead opened in the United States on 17 March 2006. The film received mostly positive reviews from critics and was a box office success, grossing $134.7 million against a budget of $50–54 million. Alan Moore, who was dissatisfied with the film adaptations of his other works From Hell (2001) and The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen (2003), declined to watch the film and asked not to be credited or paid royalties.
Some political groups have seen V for Vendetta as an allegory of oppression by government; anarchists have used it to promote their beliefs. The film is credited for popularizing the use of the Guy Fawkes mask by anti-establishment political groups and activists.
Plot
In the near future, Britain is ruled by the Norsefire political party, a fascist and totalitarian regime led by High Chancellor Adam Sutler. The government controls the populace through propaganda and fear, imprisoning or executing those deemed undesirable, including immigrants, homosexuals, and people of alternative religions.
Evey Hammond works for BTN, the state-run television network. Fourteen years earlier, her brother was killed in a biological terrorist attack, prompting her parents to become anti-Norsefire activists; they were later arrested and died in prison. One evening, a Guy Fawkes-masked vigilante known as "V" rescues Evey from assault by the secret police and takes her to witness his bombing of the Old Bailey.
The following morning, on 5 November, V hijacks the BTN headquarters to announce his role in the bombing and urges the populace to rise against Norsefire by joining him outside the Houses of Parliament on Guy Fawkes Night in one year's time. Evey is knocked unconscious while helping V escape, and he takes her with him to prevent her arrest. V subsequently kills three key figures involved in Norsefire's rise to power, beginning with chief propagandist Lewis Prothero and the corrupt Bishop of London Anthony Lilliman; Evey flees after witnessing Lilliman's murder. V next painlessly kills remorseful researcher Dr. Delia Surridge.
Assigned to capture V, Chief Inspector Eric Finch uses Surridge's journal and information from former covert operative William Rookwood (V in disguise) to learn that two decades earlier, Surridge led Norsefire's biological research on political prisoners at the Larkhill Detention Facility, to create a weaponized virus. Most subjects died, but the prisoner in cell "V" developed enhanced physical attributes and amnesia. He later escaped and destroyed the facility. Head of secret police Peter Creedy then released the virus in staged terrorist attacks against Britain, using the ensuing panic to install Norsefire in power and enrich party officials—including Sutler, Prothero, and Lilliman—by selling the cure.
Meanwhile, Evey takes refuge with her boss, talk show host Gordon Dietrich, who shows her his collection of illegal materials such as art, an antique Quran, and homoerotic photographs. Inspired by V and Evey's courage, Dietrich satirizes Sutler on his program, leading to his arrest and execution. Evey is also imprisoned and tortured, finding solace in a hidden note from Valerie Page, a prisoner who refused to betray her beliefs before dying. When Evey refuses to offer any information to her captors, she is released. She discovers she was held by V, who subjected her to the ordeal to free her from fear. Though initially furious, Evey realizes that he has been avenging Valerie and the other Larkhill victims, and promises to see him again on 5 November. V later meets with Creedy, offering to surrender himself if Creedy delivers Sutler.
As Guy Fawkes Night approaches, V distributes thousands of Guy Fawkes masks across the nation. After the secret police kill a young masked girl, widespread masked dissent and riots break out. V meets Evey, and they share a dance before he shows her a train loaded with explosives in an abandoned tunnel beneath Parliament. Not intending to survive the night, V bequeaths the decision to start the train to Evey. She pleads with him to abandon his crusade and leave with her, but he refuses. Creedy meets with V and executes Sutler before demanding V unmask. Although mortally wounded in the ensuing fight with Creedy and his men, V kills them all, stating that his identity is unimportant compared to the idea he represents. He returns to Evey and dies in her arms after confessing his love for her. Finch arrives and, disillusioned with Norsefire, allows Evey to send V's body aboard the train.
With Sutler and Creedy dead, the military forces in London stand down as countless citizens dressed as V gather to witness Parliament's destruction. Finch asks who V was, and Evey replies, "He was all of us."
Cast
Hugo Weaving as V, a masked, charismatic and skilled anarchist terrorist who had been the unwilling subject of experimentation by Norsefire. James Purefoy originally portrayed the character, but left six weeks into filming. He remained uncredited, with Weaving replacing him on set and redubbing Purefoy's scenes. Natalie Portman as Evey Hammond, an employee of the state-run British Television Network who is rescued by V from a gang of London's secret police and subsequently becomes involved in his life. Stephen Rea as Chief Inspector Eric Finch of New Scotland Yard and Minister of Investigations (the "Nose"), the lead investigator in the V investigation, who uncovers an unspeakable government crime. When asked whether the politics attracted him to the film, Rea replied "Well, I don't think it would be very interesting if it was just comic book stuff. The politics of it are what gives it its dimension and momentum, and of course I was interested in the politics. Why wouldn't I be?" Stephen Fry as Gordon Deitrich, a closeted gay talk show host. When asked in an interview what he liked about the role, Fry replied "Being beaten up! I hadn't been beaten up in a movie before and I was very excited by the idea of being clubbed to death." John Hurt as Adam Sutler, the former Conservative Member of Parliament and Under-Secretary for Defence. High Chancellor Sutler is the founder of Norsefire and is Britain's authoritarian elected leader. Hurt also portrays two "Fake Sutler" actors lampooning him in an episode of Gordon Deitrich's talk show. Tim Pigott-Smith as Peter Creedy, Norsefire's Party leader and the head of Britain's secret police (the "Finger"). Rupert Graves as Detective Sergeant Dominic Stone, Chief Inspector Finch's assistant. Roger Allam as Lewis Prothero, the "Voice of London", a television propagandist for Norsefire and formerly the commander of Larkhill Detention Centre. Ben Miles as Roger Dascombe, the head of the government's propaganda division (the "Mouth") and chief executive of the British Television Network. Sinéad Cusack as Dr. Delia Surridge, the former chief medical officer at Larkhill Detention Centre (real name Dana Stanton), now a Medical examiner. Natasha Wightman as Valerie Page, a lesbian actress who was imprisoned and died in the cell next to V's at Larkhill. Her life story inspires Evey the way it did V. Imogen Poots as Young Valerie Page John Standing as Anthony Lilliman, a corrupt paedophile bishop at Westminster Abbey and the former priest at Larkhill Detention Centre. Eddie Marsan as Brian Etheridge, the head of the government's audio surveillance division (the "Ear"). Clive Ashborn as Guy Fawkes, the historical figure involved in the failed Gunpowder Plot of 1605. Guy Henry as Conrad Heyer, the head of the government's visual surveillance division (the "Eye").
Themes and interpretations
V for Vendetta sets the Gunpowder Plot as V's historical inspiration, contributing to his choice of timing, language, and appearance. For example, the names Rookwood, Percy and Keyes are used in the film, which are also the names of three of the Gunpowder conspirators. The film creates parallels to Alexandre Dumas's The Count of Monte Cristo, by drawing direct comparisons between V and Edmond Dantès. (In both stories, the hero escapes an unjust and traumatic imprisonment and spends decades preparing to take vengeance on his oppressors under a new persona.) The film is also explicit in portraying V as the embodiment of an idea rather than an individual through V's dialogue and by depicting him without a past, identity or face. According to the official website, "V's use of the Guy Fawkes mask and persona functions as both practical and symbolic elements of the story. He wears the mask to hide his physical scars, and in obscuring his identity – he becomes the idea itself."
As noted by several critics and commentators, the film's story and style mirror elements from Gaston Leroux's The Phantom of the Opera. V and the Phantom both wear masks to hide their disfigurements, control others through the leverage of their imaginations, have tragic pasts, and are motivated by revenge. V and Evey's relationship also parallels many of the romantic elements of The Phantom of the Opera, where the masked Phantom takes Christine Daaé to his subterranean lair to re-educate her.
As a film about the struggle between freedom and the state, V for Vendetta takes imagery from many classic totalitarian icons both real and fictional, including the Third Reich and George Orwell's Nineteen Eighty-Four. For example, Adam Sutler primarily appears on large video screens and on portraits in people's homes, both common features among modern totalitarian regimes and reminiscent of the image of Big Brother. There is also the state's use of mass surveillance, such as closed-circuit television, on its citizens – reminiscent of the comprehensive mass surveillance systems currently deployed in many nations, such as China or the United States. The name Adam Sutler is intentionally similar to Adolf Hitler. Both are given to hysterical speech; Sutler is also a racial purist, although Jews have been replaced by Asians and Muslims as the focus of Norsefire ethnoreligious propaganda and persecution. Valerie was sent to a detention facility for her lesbianism and then had medical experiments performed on her, reminiscent of the persecution of homosexuals in Nazi Germany and the Holocaust.
The filmmakers added topical references relevant to a 2006 audience. According to the Los Angeles Times, "With a wealth of new, real life parallels to draw from in the areas of government surveillance, torture, fear mongering and media manipulation, not to mention corporate corruption and religious hypocrisy, you can't really blame the filmmakers for having a field day referencing current events." There are also references to an avian flu pandemic, as well as pervasive use of biometric identification and signal intelligence gathering and analysis by the regime.