Words: 1992
I will be doing exactly that with one of my favorite films; V for Vendetta. In analyzing this film, I hope to give a better understanding of the story, characters, and overall film quality of this movie. No movie is Just thrown together and put on the big screen. Every film begins with a story. V for Vendetta was originally a comic series published in Europe during the sass’s. At the turn of the century, films based on popular comic series became a big money maker in the film industry. Movies like Spenserian, Transformers, Batman, and Airwoman really opened the “money making” doors.
It wasn’t until 2005 that the Tory of V for Vendetta was utilized to produce a movie. When the comics were originally written, they were set in the future for that era. When the movie came out in 2005, the story seemed to fall in the past. Either way, the story is the same. Basically, a masked hero who calls himself ‘V uses a very theatrical and systematic approach to overthrow the government and give power back to the people of the United Kingdom. Of course there is a lot more to this story. The depth of the story is quite magnificent as I hope to explain further into the analysis.
With every story, there are characters. So in order to turn this story into a film, you need actors. In my mind, the cast of V for Vendetta was flawless. The main character, named Y, is played by Hugo Weaving. You might be able to identify him as Agent Smith in The Matrix trilogy or as Elroy in the Lord of the Rings trilogy. In this movie, V was an unwilling text subject who vows to kill those people that experimented on him, overthrow the government, and restore power back to the people of the United Kingdom. Hugo has a certain way with his words that always seem to drag me into whatever character he plays.
When V first meets Eve, he tastes a monologue containing 48 words that start with the letter V. The film also includes Natalie Portion who plays Eve Hammond. Eve plays a pivotal role in the shaping of the story as she develops a relationship with V, eventually becoming his accomplice in ways. Natalie went on to win the Saturn Award and SF Award for Best Actress for her performance. There were a few other semi recognizable actors such as Stephen Area, John Hurt, and Stephen Fry, all of which really made V for Vendetta a fantastic movie. A good movie takes more than a good cast of actors and actresses.
For example, Samuel L. Jackson, in my opinion, is one of the most talented actors yet stars as some of the worst movies Eve ever seen. Does that make him a bad actor in these films? Of course not. But, a good balance between the cast and crew is essential to the development off movie. The cinematography off film really helps accentuate an actor’s talents by showing you the world around them. Due to the darker nature of this film, there are a lot of scenes that have low lighting. One scene in particular, Eve get captured, interrogated, and tortured.
During the interrogation, the only light is focused directly on Portion. Unknown at the time by Eve, V is the interrogator. This is the only scene in the movie where Hugo isn’t wearing a mask, so the cinematographer ensured there was no light on his face during the interrogation and torture. Adrian Fiddle was the lead cinematographer, or director of photography, for V for Vendetta and ended up winning the Special Award for his hard work. Putting together a movie is a lot like putting together a photo album or a scrapbook. You can take a lot of pictures but you aren’t going to use them all for the final product.
It’s the same for the film industry. The cinematographer gets all the footage together and it’s p to the editor to dissect the film into its final draft. There are a lot of scenes where V is moving faster than everyone around him. Due to the experimentation he was forced to endure, he was given superhuman properties. During one scene towards the end of the movie, there is a “final standoff’ type of fight where he is forced up against 13 heavily armed guys. They all unload their clips, unknowing he is wearing armor, and stare at him in awe as V still stands there.
Then V gets his chance while everyone is reloading. The editor for this movie was Martin Walsh who is best known for his work in the 2002 movie Chicago. For V for Vendetta, Walsh uses what’s called Continuity Editing to make V seem like he’s moving faster than everyone else around him. Computer Generated Imagery (CGI) was used to blur the knives to give you the feeling they are moving extremely fast. Of course, look isn’t everything. Without the sound effects, music, or dialogue in this clip, or the whole film for that matter, it Just wouldn’t make sense.
For the fight scene, metallic ringing sounds are added to the daggers to further make it sound like they are moving extremely fast. The scene really focuses on specific sound effects. The muffled screams people make, the magazines hitting the ground, the knife through flesh sound, all make the scene more dramatic. Music is another major part of V for Vendetta. Adair Marline was responsible for this aspect of the movie. The music for this film ranges from classical to Jazz. At the beginning of the movie, V blows up the Old Bailey as a symbol.
Along with that, Photo Tchaikovsky 1812 Overture is playing over the city public announcement system and is choreographed with the explosions. The music was meant to lure everyone out of their homes after curfew, and then at a retain point in the song, they could watch the building explode. There is an old Jut box in Vs. secret home that has the oldies on it. He ends up dancing with Eve towards the end of the movie to “Cry me a River” by Julie London. From beginning to end, this movie is a musical masterpiece. The dialogue in this film is truly amazing and my favorite part.
Everyone was great together but one person stood out the most. Hugo Weaving has a very unique way of delivering his lines. As quoted by Rebecca Murray (2006); “Weaving turns in a simply magnificent, ministering performance. Although his face remains hidden behind Vs. signature Guy Fakes mask, Weavings voice and physical presence remain the focal point of the movie and prove it’s possible to do with simple intonations what some actors can’t achieve through the full use of facial expressions. It’s amazing how much the motionless mask comes alive due to Weavings brilliant performance.
Physically, Weavings movements are gracefully minimalist and there’s not one iota of street mime in the way he brings V to life. ” (About. Com Guide, http://movies. About. Com/odd/overconfident/ a/wendetta031606. Tm) With all of these different people creating different parts of the film, there needs to be a leader to bring it all together. The director was James McGuire whom also made his directing debut with this film. Because McGuire was assistant director for the Matrix trilogy, V for Vendetta was filmed by a lot if the same crew.
So in a way, it would have been a little easier working with people who already know the director wanted things to be and vice versa. He was nominated for 2 awards for the accomplishment of his overall vision of this film. Once a film is produced and released to the public, there are always going to be people that take certain things differently. Whether it is the director’s vision, the overall message of the film or even simple things like costumes, society will interpret them the way they want. V for Vendetta could be viewed as extremely political.
The film centers on V, a terrorist out to destroy the fascist government of a future England. The film itself makes many important points about freedom, liberty, individual choice, and the damage totalitarian control does to them. This movie is remarkably relatable to the current cultural and political world of America and its ability to unite all of these themes under one symbol: the Guy Fakes mask. Since the movie was released, various sources show that the Guy Fakes mask has been used as a symbol of protest, since it hides the faces of those protesting, for many years.
An internet based group called Anonymous actually adopted the mask as its symbol and have used it in protests on several occasions. Even the founder of Weeklies, Julian Ganges, has been known to protest wearing the mask. The film also brings up the question if terrorism can be Justified. The movie kind of brings into light the validity of such an act. Margarita Character-Gonzalez explains in her article ‘Sympathy for the Devil: The Hero is a Terrorist in V for Vendetta,’ “The terrorist is, in fact, reacting to an act of state terrorism. Why should one be more legitimate than the other? (Gonzalez, page 206). V for Vendetta doesn’t necessarily call people to violence either. Yet, every time I watch the movie, I can’t help but get a slight feeling of “power to the people”. Once again, as Gonzalez states, “This should not, however, convince us that the film condones terrorism… It rather invites us to understand the reasons why, on some occasions, some people may resort to abhorrent violence before easily labeling them” (Gonzalez, page 209). Aside from the obvious political feel V for Vendetta has, the movie is a wonderful masterpiece of science fiction.
I will have to agree with one movie review that I read by Joshua Taylor on Condemnable. Com, “This isn’t an action film or a superhero movie or even really science fiction. V for Vendetta is an idea. A subversive, uncompromising (somewhat naive) idea. ” Sure the movie is classified as a science fiction, but if you think about it, it’s so much more. Either way, the fact is, this takes lace in a future England and one man wearing a mask and wielding knives overthrew an entire government while also rallying the people to take control of their state.
Eve read many different reviews ranging from professional to simple Youth posting and from top notch to bottom of the barrel. Either way, even after analysis, movie reviews are simply a matter of opinion. If I had to give this movie the good old’ Sessile and Bert thumbs up or down, both would be up. If I had to rate the movie on a scale of one to five stars, I’d give it a solid four. If I had to rate it from 1-10, I’d give it n 8. There are so many ways to rate and review films nowadays; it makes it hard to really get a good opinion to base whether you should see a film besides your own.
V for Vendetta is a movie I would recommend anyone, over the age of 18 of course, to see. It has original and riveting dialogue, award winning actors and actresses, an intricate and absorbing story, and a very powerful idea. After breaking this movie down, I understand it more and can appreciate the movie in its entirety rather than it just being “a good flick”. I hope this analysis helps to clarify some things, instill a efferent view, or if anything, inspires you to watch the movie for the first time.