V for Vendetta

[Fineous_Reese]

POSSIBLE SPOILERS AHEAD

i've yet to see the film directly so take the following as you will. i did find a possible script online however so if anyone would verify how close it is to the theatrical release that would be cool http://www.fortunecity.com/tattooine/clarke/38/scripts/V_for_Vendetta.txt

for those that said it's pro-terrorist but that's ok because nazi-resistors were labeled terrorists, did the nazi-resistors torture their own followers to "free" them?

this flick appears to be a rehash of the Matrix philosophy/theology, ie, the world sucks and we need to break free through violent change and make it anew in our own image. V is the Neo of the film (actually he plays the part of both Morpheus and Neo) and as in the Matrix Neo dies (notice V and the Leader die at the same time, same as Neo and Smith) but his influence lives on in those he leaves behind.

the beginning of this story isn't so far off the mark however. V, like Jesus, acted to affect change in the individual and through that individual to make change in the world around them. that ends the similarity though because all V has to offer is the nebulous idea of 'freedom' (in the original graphic novel it was honestly labeled 'anarchy') which has no way of preventing the next Leader from rising out of the ashes to begin the cycle all over again. Sadly, V was mostly right when he said ideas don't die like people. The idea that man can free himself has been around since the fall of man and will be here until the final judgment day.

 

[Alarum]

V is not the hero. The story has no heroes. Only villians, and those who have taken the villians' methods to oppose them. The video was lousy at getting this across, because it was in film (hence Moore abandoning it) but in the novel its painfully clear: V is a monster. He is simply a monster who opposes a different monster.

 

[maxmerc]

Well, I finally got to see V this past evening.

As far as the film attacking or dissing conservatives or Christians, well, I don't know as I agree with that. It DOES attack extremism, but then turns around and opposes such extremism with like extremism. It DOES very clearly, at least at the end, show that V is a monster created by the people he fights.

The movie, like all good movies, demonstrates that we must stand against oppression, or we will be overcome by it. It shows the value of resistance. I thought Portman's work was very good; she is a very likable and believable character here, and I generally don't like her. Hurt was mostly just a cardboard cutout, a caricature. I did not find myself caring about him, and what happened to him did not emotionally impact me. Interestingly, I have lately found him that way in several of his works.

Ah, but the great Hugo Weaving, on the other hand. Hugo did what is an extremely difficult thing. He took a completely immobile mask, and created a fully living character. He was able to make me care about what happened to him, made me both admire him and be repelled by him.

Hugo Weaving may have singlehandedly revived the ancient Greek mode of drama, of acting from behind the mask, and made it really viable again.

I am truly impressed by this film, and recommend it highly.

As to being bothered by its supposed anti-Christian content, I will say this. I have been seeing attacks on Christianity for literally decades. A, it's a bit late to start getting upset at such things. B, if I go looking for things to get upset about, I will truly spend ALL my time upset, and that will get in the way of being a better Christian, which is the best way to counter such attacks.

But like I said, I liked the movie. Go see it.

 

[GL2814]

I thought it was a great movie. Although, Alan Moore, who wrote it, wants nothing to do with it. He hates the way Hollywood has done his works--"From Hell", "The League of Extraordanary Gentlemen", and 'V".

 

[SteelDisciple]

POSSIBLE SPOILERS AHEAD

i've yet to see the film directly so take the following as you will. i did find a possible script online however so if anyone would verify how close it is to the theatrical release that would be cool http://www.fortunecity.com/tattooine/clarke/38/scripts/V_for_Vendetta.txt

for those that said it's pro-terrorist but that's ok because nazi-resistors were labeled terrorists, did the nazi-resistors torture their own followers to "free" them?

this flick appears to be a rehash of the Matrix philosophy/theology, ie, the world sucks and we need to break free through violent change and make it anew in our own image. V is the Neo of the film (actually he plays the part of both Morpheus and Neo) and as in the Matrix Neo dies (notice V and the Leader die at the same time, same as Neo and Smith) but his influence lives on in those he leaves behind.

the beginning of this story isn't so far off the mark however. V, like Jesus, acted to affect change in the individual and through that individual to make change in the world around them. that ends the similarity though because all V has to offer is the nebulous idea of 'freedom' (in the original graphic novel it was honestly labeled 'anarchy') which has no way of preventing the next Leader from rising out of the ashes to begin the cycle all over again. Sadly, V was mostly right when he said ideas don't die like people. The idea that man can free himself has been around since the fall of man and will be here until the final judgment day.

Sounds awesome.
And as for the heroes of the story...I'd say V in a way is a Hero. Just not a self-proclaimed one. His actions ultimately lead to better things...but the man himself is just caught up in the plot. So, maybe it's the actions that make him a hero wether he wants to be or not.

This could actually be compared to many old testament stories of bloodshed in order to be free from oppressive rule.

 

[tulc]

How can anyone hate a movie where the "hero" (who is indeed a monster) has a quote like this?

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.

tulc(loved the movie, but the comics more!)

 

[Fineous_Reese]

tulc! i'd say long time no see but it's probably related to the fact i've been hiding in my cave

still haven't seen this flick, no cash available atm. other nagging thought is i'm a little scared i *would* like it... or at least my inner monster would like it :/

 

[Iron Lion]

im really looking forward to seeing this movie

 

[hls]

i really enjoyed this movie!! i thought they did a great job, but i have to agree with tulc that the comic was better.

 

[Lithium Hobo]

Just saw the movie again with some friends and once again the entire theater stood up in applause after the movie ended. Really a terrific film enjoyed many times.

 

[StarGoddess]

I loved it! I can't wait till Halloween, I'm going to glomp everyone in a Guy Fawks mask!

I loved V! My favorite scene was him in a floral apron cooking and asking Evey if she wanted eggs. ^_______________^

 

[tulc]

Hey anyone been here? http://www.shadowgalaxy.net/Vendetta/vmain.html
which is a site about the comics which is not nearly as...cheerful as the movie.
tulc(check out the "Valerie" section)

 

[StarGoddess]

I read a christian review which said this film attacks christian values and Blair/Bush so I really have no desire t see it myself.

As a Christian, if this were true I would not have seen the movie again. Though the movie stays away from religion, V does say he is a man of faith and that he does not believe in coincidence and that things happen for a reason.

Also, people can look too far into a movie to try and relate it to modern times. Chancellor Sutler does not represent Bush or Blair, he represents Adolf Hitler and this is made very clearly in the movie. I'm baffled anyone would think otherwise. It's about fighting for freedom and the rights of a human's choice, NOT about becoming a terrorist and harming innocent people.

 

[trunks2k]

ETA: Bah, there's no hide tags... I wrote as little spoilage as I could. I think I'm vague enough on stuff to not spoil the movie. But skip over this post if you don't want to risk it.

I would say it attacks Christian values:

You haven't even seen it.

Very strong humanist, anti-religious,

Not sure about humanist. I didn't see anything that was specifically humanist in it. Certainly not anti-religious. Anti-facist/totalitarian yes, but not anti-religious

politically correct

?? I wouldn't call the movie PC. Once again it seems that PC is a term used by the right to describe anything they don't like.

worldview that is pro-terrorist and

No, it's not pro-terrorist. V identifies himself as a monster. He doesn't like what he is. In the movie, he actually only kills to either protect himself or kill the people that were responsible for doing experiments on him.

includes many anti-Christian elements such as a creepy Anglican bishop desires to sleep with an underage female,

Because a point of the movie is that there are corrupt people everywhere, even in respected institutions and, thus, we should not blindly follow. What better institute to use to express this point than the church? It's not like it's a made up situation, one only needs to look at the Catholic church to see that.

and it is implied that a fascist dictator is a conservative Christian who persecutes homosexuals, Muslims and bans the Koran and other books,

The implication that the government is a conservative christian government is incidental. None of the positions of the government are solely those of a christians. It just makes the movie more believable. Because:

1. Totalitarian governments are known to use religion to influence/control the population. I.E. Iran, Germany during WWII.

2. Right wing christian groups are a (strong) political force in the western world, and have been for quite some time.

plus some pagan elements and false religious elements in a scene in which the Koran is called “beautiful,”

Not sure what pagan elements there were. But as for the scene with the Koran, it's called beautiful because of its poetic and artistic value. The Koran that the character has is indeed a very beautiful looking book. The character that makes that comment states that he doesn't believe in it.

strong homosexual content in a politically correct manner including a lesbian kissing scene

"Politically correct manner"? What does that mean? That the gay people weren't portrayed as drugged up, sexed crazied, HIV carrying monsters? God forbid a homosexual couple be shown as having a normal, loving relationship. And the kissing was VERY light.

strong anti-American bias

Not really. They don't exactly explain what happened to the US. They make some implications that the war in the middle east got out of hand and something about a virus, but nothing clear. Also, given that much of the messages about the US come from the totalitarian government, we would expect it to be anti-american. There are three times that I can remember where the US is specifically mentioned:

1. In the beginning of the movie during a tirade by the government's spokesman guy.

2. One was by Evee (?) when, in a flashback, she mentions that America's war in the middle east is getting out of hand. That's all she really says.

3.When the government is flooding the airways with "news" about how bad things are in America. This was done to remind the people why they need the totalitarian government. So we don't know if those stories are infact true. At least one character while watching the news says "Bull****!". So that implies that the gov't is indeed lying.

including a mocking rendition of “My Country ‘Tis of Thee” and

I don't remember that part....

radical feminist comments from Gloria Steinem are heard;

or that part. There was nothing that I would describe as radical feminism in the movie.

 

[Rorschach]

I saw this movie and I LOVED this movie! At first I was kind of taken aback because the movie didn't seem like the previews made it out to be, but once I got used to it I enjoyed it very much.

I'm very firm in my beliefs as a Christian and I can honestly say I wasn't too offended by this movie. I wanna see it again, I'm getting it for sure on DVD!

V was such a captivating character and the last few scenes gave me chills. I was just left with my jaw open at the sheer genious of those scenes, of the whole movie and the way everything came together. I HIGHLY reccemmend this movie to everyone.

 

[tulc]

Well you both were written by the same man!

Alan Moore wrote Watchmen and V for Vendetta not to mention the League of Extraordinary Gentlemen!
tulc(they truly butchered that comic when they made the movie)

 

[Rorschach]

Oh yeah, I keep forgetting I took my name after the famous Rorschach from the Watchmen

It seemed to me that Rorschach and V were very similar to one another...

Anyway, I vote that the Watchoski brothers write the scripts for the Watchmen since they did an awesome job with V for Vendetta

 

[tulc]

It seemed to me that Rorschach and V were very similar to one another...

You should check out this article:
http://www.shadowgalaxy.net/Vendetta/vrorschach.html
tulc(who loves both books but fears what the Watchmen movie might be like!)

 

[Sketcher]

I liked the action and the storytelling. The final shootout was particularly slick.

However, the propoganda literally turned my stomach. The persecuted groups could have been anyone, but for the sake of politics, homosexuals and Muslims were chosen. And for the sake of politics, Christianity was the targeted religion for character assassination. I'm not saying we are perfect, I am saying the movie profiled us.

And of course, (and I have to hand it to them for telling it like this) if one party tortures a girl, they are monsters. But if another does the same thing, that's OK. That was well done, in that they effectively portray unavoidable hypocrisy as justified.

 

[maxmerc]

I need to point this out.

It's not "MyCountry 'Tis of Thee"; it's "God Save the Queen" that they are mocking. Same tune, different words.