The Man Is Trying To Keep Vendetta DownI generally prefer to be ahead of the curve in this space, but I am happily making an exception today. I want to join the small army of independent voices out there telling you -- every one of you -- that you must go directly to the theater after reading this and see V for Vendetta.
I saw the movie on Friday, and I was completely blown away -- both for its merit as a movie and for its powerful and extremely relevant message. That doesn't mean you'll necessarily agree with its politics. I'm a liberal-anarchist-libertarian, and even I found myself cringing from time to time. But it wasn't because the movie went too far -- it was because it struck too close to home.
Whether or not you agree with the film's conclusions, V directly confronts the most important issues of our time, and it does so with an abundance of style, layered onto a seriously skillful work of storytelling.
For those unfamiliar, V for Vendetta is an adaptation of Alan Moore's groundbreaking 1980s comic book of the same name. But don't go expecting your typical men-in-tights escapades. V is all about politics and society, and although the basic story was written 20 years ago, the message has never been more relevant and necessary. You see, V -- the hero of the film -- is a terrorist. And not a watered-down romanticized terrorist. He's the real deal.
You may hear angry rhetoric to the effect that this movie glorifies terrorism. Well, frankly, it does just that. But it does so in a thoughtful and provocative way. Sometimes we need to hear and think about difficult concepts that fly in the face of the messages propagated by our Authority Figures. If we don't understand the emotions that fuel terrorism, how can we hope to understand the people employing it against us? It is not a crime to think. Not yet, anyway. Our society is doomed if we can never raise the national dialogue above the level of "us versus them."
I know what you're probably thinking right about now, and don't worry -- the message doesn't weight the movie down. Rather, it fuels its emotional impact to an almost unbearable level. I was literally in tears more than once while watching the film, and you wouldn't understand why if I just told you about what was happening on the screen. You have to be there. So be there.
I don't usually do movie reviews in this space. But when I got back from the theater, I googled the reviews and discovered they were generally pretty tepid. I don't really understand why. I can only guess that some reviewers were made so uncomfortable by the movie's content that they simply refused to immerse. V is masterful as a movie. But it's more than that. It's important. There are conversations that need to be started in this country, and you won't get a better impetus. At any rate, when I saw those reviews, I felt the need to speak out and counteract them. A populist tactic to support the ultimate populist movie. It seemed appropriate.
Don't listen to what the hacks are saying. Go see for yourself. And drop a line here when you do. I'd like to know what you think. I am intensely curious about how people will receive this movie. Love it, hate it, disturbed by it, or invigorated... I would really like to hear your reactions. Be seeing you...
Technorati Tags: V for Vendetta, V, Vendetta, Alan Moore, Wachowski, Wachowskis, brothers
Posted by J.M. Berger || Permalink
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4 Comments:
I completely agree. I am fairly unconventional politics-wise, but I found "V" to be extremely relevant and to have an important message, although it sometimes was grazed over or seemed a little bit penciled in due to the constraints of the genre. Not only is "V" entertaining, but it doesn't get caught up in the violence of the typical comic book movie, and instead highlights something that people haven't understood for a long time--comics have important messages sometimes, often imperceptably.
Nice review.
The amazing thing to me is how much all of these reviewers purport to have watched the same movie I watched but yet come up with all of these critiques that I didn't see (check out my review for a couple examples of what I mean). As in, when you boil VforV down, it's about one man (And then many people) destroying an overbearing government. This is about as anti-government as you can get, and yet conservatives AND liberals both seem to dislike/like this movie as a critique on the Bush administration. They fail to look past this parallel (and I'm not sure it's an intentional parallel by VforV to the modern political stage) to see the big picture - the movie is anti-government. Ah well ... I enjoyed it.
If you want a laugh, check out Debbie Schlussel's review (I put a link to it on my review).
Neal
Well, I'm a green socialist of sorts from Sweden, and I loved this film too. I've heard a few complaints from liberals (who are considered right-wingers in this country btw) about its supposed glorification of terrorism, but most people over here have received it quite well, and all the critics seem to love it. I don't really have anything more to add, I simply agree with everything you said above.
**Spoiler**
When V was exlaining to the detective that the bioterrorist attack had been engineered by their own government and unleashed upon their own people in order to seize the power and curtail the civic rights of the population, chills actually went up my spine. I felt profound fear as I realized thats
exactly what has happened over the last 5 years. The beneficiaries of the 9/11 attack are all still in power and gaining more everyday. Consolidating their hold and accellerating the decay of civic rights. Who would have beleived on 9/12/01 that the US government would rule in favor of torture, that the AG of the US would write a memo stating that the president has the right to authorize the torture of detainees, or place wiretaps and other surveillance on individuals without restraint or oversight. Or that Osama bin Ladan would still be alice and well?
V was a terrific movie. The only piece that I thought was totally unreal (and I know it was based on a comic so it is all totally unreal) but the guards around Parliament would never have been ordered to "stand down" they would have been ordered to open fire on the people.
I was certain that would happen and when it did not, I knew that I was watching fantasy.
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