V for Vendetta
i know this is almost pointless, since everybody and his mama’s uncle has written about it (while i tried to avoid every word, since i’m a clean-slater kind of film guy). i like talking about it though. haven’t read the book, and i knew very little about the film, except for some key spoilers a few thwarpers slung on me. have heard that some book fans think natalie portman was terrible for this. i strongly disagree, from my perspective as only a movie dude.
haven’t seen the film? those who cherish liberty should. and see it in a good theater rather than waiting for DVD. if you haven’t seen it, please don’t read any further. better to know less about it.
MINOR SPOILERS
this isn’t a “review”. just my sloppy notes:
loved it. saw it tonight, and will probably see it tomorrow — an unrealistic, unbelievable film, and very enjoyable. had been hanging out at IMDb, avoiding spoilers, but also noticing some of the general “controversial” subjects of the film, such as homosexuality, “glorification of terrorism”, “anarchism”, wah wah wah. bilge water! the homosexuality was almost throwaway material, except for its contemporary political significance; the only terrorists were the usual goons doing it the “right” way; and i didn’t see jack about anarchism except from an obvious peripheral idiot. i thought from the buzz that V was killing people indiscriminately. no solid evidence of that in the film. V did violate the non-aggression principle, and that was useful for keeping him out of utopian mud. it also makes for some nice thought material, questioning the rightness of his actions toward evey (the very tasty, surprisingly broad natalie tasty portman).
V had some choice soundbites for liberty. good writing, mostly. some of the visuals almost seemed boring to me (and others, of course, very much not). got pretty tired of the tight monitor shots of the head goon. but it’s also one of those exceptional movies where i really don’t care that there are some things i could think of to improve it (in my opinion). i would like to have had the movie slow down and be up to twice as long. in the minority there, probably. the sounds and cutting tend toward a modern style i find obnoxious (um, dialog mixed prominently please?). easily overridden by everything else though.
there was almost no apology for V’s more than justified violence, and basically no overt socialist baloney. the whole time i was shocked that it was a hollywood, mainstream film. the unrealism didn’t bother me at all. though there are people picking it apart non-stop, i’m not interested. it’s a cartoon, done very well. will probably see it again soon. lotta fun, and i really dig that it exposed government bullshit in some subtle ways along with the very-to-medium obvious. there were some damned hard slams against bush and blair types. those are timeless themes, but obviously tailored here to make bush and blair look like the assholes they are — maybe tailored too much once or twice, but gotta allow for the idiots.
despite the probably minimal influence of the film, i do think it will let some close-minders open up a little bit over how much the state benefits from fear, and how the “protection” racket has tangible reasons to damage society.
i went in expecting a pretty good movie, and saw better. dug the casting. portman goes way up in my book after this one. her delivery of the “out behind the sheds” line turned it into a worthy motto that will stick. the traditionally assigned originator of that phrase, of course? i believe it was one mr. patrick henry. (yeah!) or was it king leonidas I? hmmm.
by the second time she gave the speech, it was whittled to one word: “no.”
i wanted to reach out and hug her right then. thinking again about her steady, understated resolve, i want to even more.
V4V is a flawed movie that i’m very happy was made. without sounding over the top, i can’t convey how much this movie meant to me. if you’re down in the dumps about liberty, this will pick you up temporarily, and maybe even inspire you permanently. obvious theme of the movie, IMO?
“you are not alone.”
goes a long way for individualists.
March 25th, 2006 at 22:56
Few are the films that an individualist can enjoy and be made to feel not alone. It is the same feeling I got the first time I read “The Fountainhead”.
March 30th, 2006 at 14:37
yeah, me too. atlas shrugged was the real surprise for me, since it was my first rand book; my only impression of her before was that she was creepy. she may have been creepy, but i’ll take her over most of the goons called society today.
your comment’s a good reminder that i’ve only read three rand books so far (those two and anthem).