Saturday, April 01, 2006

V For Vendetta

Remember, remember the fifth of November,
gunpowder, treason and plot,
I see no reason why gunpowder treason
should ever be forgot.
This Guy Fawkes rhyme plays a part of central importance in this superb film.

Wachowski brothers are back and back with a bang. "V For Vendetta" is their first film after the Matrix trilogy & the movie justifies the wait totally. The idea is borrowed from the 80's Alan Moore comic book. This would make it my all time best comic book adaptations, long with the Spiderman series.

Not really unlike the Matrix trilogy, the film is set in another time-line, in a dystopian future United Kingdom, ruled by a facist government. The government maintains control of the country through food shortages, government-controlled media, secret police, a planned economy, and concentration camps for racial, political, and sexual minorities. The protagonist of the movie, "V", is the result of one such concentration camp. V is a self-proclaimed freedom-fighter, a terrorist for some. Incomparably charismatic and ferociously skilled in the art of combat and deception, V urges his fellow citizens to rise up against tyranny and oppression. Just like Guy Fawkes' failed plan, he blows up the parliament building in the end, a symbol of the facist government.

The storyline is fairly complex and subtle. Thankfully, they haven't tried to dilute it for the audience. The dialogues are more delightful! V is portrayed as a man of fine tastes & immaculate language. Some memorables quotes -
Evey Hammond: Who--who are you?
V: Who? Who is but the form following the function of what... and what I am is a man in a mask.
Evey Hammond: I can see that.
V: Of course you can. I'm not questioning your powers of observation, I'm merely remarking on the paradox of asking a masked man who he is.
V: Would you like to dance?
Evey Hammond: It's the eve of your revolution and you want to dance?
V: A revolution without dancing, is a revolution not worth having!
V: Voilà! In view, a humble vaudevillian veteran, cast vicariously as both victim and villain by the vicissitudes of Fate.This visage, no mere veneer of vanity, is it vestige of the vox populi, now vacant, vanished, as the once vital voice of the verisimilitude now venerates what they once vilified. However, this valorous visitation of a by-gone vexation, stands vivified, and has vowed to vanquish these venal and virulent vermin van-guarding vice and vouchsafing the violently vicious and voracious violation of volition. The only verdict is vengeance; a vendetta, held as a votive, not in vain, for the value and veracity of such shall one day vindicate the vigilant and the virtuous. Verily, this vichyssoise of verbiage veers most verbose vis-à-vis an introduction, and so it is my very good honor to meet you and you may call me V.

11 comments:

Anonymous said...

Interesting write ...there is something romantic about these dystopian themes that makes these movies and books a treat to watch/read over and over again....
doesn't this movie sound like ayn rand's Anthem ???

Varun Singh said...

Thanks Rahul. I find dystopian futuristic films a bit depressing though, and fascinating at the same time. Haven't read Ayn Rand. Orwell's 1984, perhaps.

Anonymous said...

hey varun, i read ur blog regularly ...
i couldnt help telling u ...
u look like that guy in "chaand ke paar chalo" !! with the beard n all .. :))
have u seen the promos of this film by any chance ? i think preeti jhangiani is in it ...

Varun Singh said...

Hi Abhi :-)
I've seen the promos and I've shaved thrice after reading your comment ;-)

Anonymous said...

I found this quote mormemorable

Y dint u die?

Becuase behind this bullet proof vest, behind this flehs and bones there is a vision

(couldnt reproduce verbatim so i think the beauty of this dialogue lost in my reproduction)

Varun Singh said...

Hi mithun,
It goes like this -
V: Beneath this mask there is more than flesh. There is an idea, Mr. Creedy, and ideas are bulletproof.
(from imdb)

Some others -
V: There is no such thing as coincidence, just the illusion of coincidence.
&
Evey Hammond: Artists use lies to tell the truth. Politicians use them to cover it up.

Anonymous said...

Sorry who is the Vieome person that is mentioned as V...

milieu said...

Hi varun,
me 2 enjoyed v very much.
Yeah they didnt really dilute much of the movie though there were some melodrama which could have been avoided.
My best dialogue
V: There's no certainty - only opportunity.

Touche

Pranav said...

Was looking for the long Voila! dialogue when I ended up on your blog. I remember reading your profile long back... anyway!

Anonymous said...

Artists tell lies to reveal the truth and what truth does one think that the artist is revealing in this film? If you look beyond the film you will see that the truths are apparent. Governments fabricate the news and control the media and the level of information that reaches the public. It is easy to understand that if this is true the only way truth could get to the people through the media is by fabricating lies to tell the truth which is exactly what V for Vendetta does. In this situation the government has its hands tied, they can only make sure its reviews are less than good - they cannot ban the film as this would be too obvious a move for them. Would film makers really blurr the lines of reality so much if they truly believed the content of the film was inescapably false? The Wachowski brothers freed our minds with the release of the Matrix and no matter what you believe the foundation of the Matrix has been proven by science. Now it is safe to assume the Wachowski brothers are not just trying to free our minds with Vendetta but to lead us closer to the truth. Their was great symbolism in the movie such as the doublecross symbol of the government, this would give those already in the know a big clue to the films real meaning.

Sreehari H said...

thanks for the dialogues