While THE ACADEMY AWARD JUDGES were being
aroused by a selection of politically minded films in 2006 (Munich, Good Night and Good Luck, Syriana)
yet not so much with homosexual-sheepherders (Brokeback Mountain); it
seemed a fitting time to unleash Alan Moore’s politically contentious
V for Vendetta onto the big screen. Yet we can imagine otherwise, as
while the Academy enjoyed Munich et al’s mild-mannered subversion,
V for Vendetta walks in and roundhouse kicks its agenda upside the audience’s
head.
But this isn’t a mindless Chuck Norris kick-in-the-head, no sir,
this roundhouse kick has been rigorously planned and meticulously delivered…and
it serves a purpose. Graphic Novelist Alan Moore created V for Vendetta
in the 1980s, in the height of Thatcherite Britain; conservatism moved
further right; there were immigration arguments, a divisive war, anxiety
over homosexuality and a country’s increasing distrust of its leader.
The political climate in 2006 has changed little. Shame then, that despite
his work being at its most politically potent, Alan Moore famously annulled
his liaison with Hollywood after viewing the first film incarnation of
his novels; the ‘travesty’ (his word) that was From Hell
and the abhorrence (my word) that was League of Extraordinary Gentlemen.
Contrary to Moore’s qualms about Hollywood adaptations (Moore demanded
his name be stricken from future productions), V for Vendetta is leagues
ahead of previous attempts; driven home with an Orwellian elegance and
a topical urgency that few films dare attempt. Perhaps a reason for Vendetta’s
vitriol is the force behind the film, Matrix chieftains; the Wachowski
brothers. Never ones to shy away from controversy (their first film Bound
was a lesbian-noir thriller, and people forget The Matrix was about resistance
to totalitarian control) the Wachowskis (or rather Larry Wachowski) has
been subjected to a various rumours about his sexuality and beyond. Ignoring
the gossiping specifics, one of Vendetta’s main themes is ‘Governments
as terrorists’; and their authoritarian aversion to diversity and
homosexuality…
Hugo Weaving replaced James Purefoy mid-production as ‘V’; the Guy-Fawkes-masked anarchist with a sense of the theatrical; as Purefoy is more, shall we say ‘meatier’, Weaving uses his slender demeanour and pertinent vernacular to have our ‘action-hero’ quintessentially… camp. The character laps up screen time; when not repeatedly watching the swash-buckling Count of Monte Cristo, he’s elegantly slicing and dicing people like he’s painting a landscape, or gleefully reeling off arcane quotations to the befuddlement of his adversaries; as such, V is a far stretch from Rambo. At one point, we even see him in a pinny.
As for all people viewing V for Vendetta in the hope of some
Matrix-esque ‘gun-fu’ bedazzlement,
there could be disappointment. Vendetta was never meant to the be the balls-out
action epic, it plays more like a political thriller, albeit with a sai or two
thrown in (gettit?). The action is only used to support the story; for that we
can thankful, as when we’re indulged in a spot of the ‘visceral’,
it is wholly enjoyed. Early on, V spectacularly destroys London’s Old Bailey
(a symbol of corrupt justice) courtesy of a post-curfew exploding orchestra.
Besides the exciting combination of proactive laissez-faire-excused extremism
(‘blowing things up will make good’) and a theatrical anti-hero acting
as a self-imposed liberator / murderer, there are problems. Firstly, where is
it written that Stephen Fry must appear in every middle-to-large scale film productions
as the obligatory ‘eccentric’ Englishmen? Must we really suffer his
excruciating Cambridge-educated tepidity so often? And is the world really enthralled
by it? His contribution equates only to providing the smell of a fetid stereotype,
and then there’s his bizarre Benny Hill sequence which should have been
set-alight in the editing suite. Secondly, Natalie Portman (as Evey, the attractive
everygirl)’s transition from nobody to shaven-headed radical isn’t
entirely convincing, but it is powerful and necessary.
James McTeigue (many times the bridesmaid, this time the director) must be happy
with his first spell in charge; not only has he landed at the helm of one of
2006's most anticipated films, but also one of the most important to appear in
years. V for Vendetta may be too brash to be taken seriously by The Academy (you
can’t
kick ass and win an Oscar) but it succeeds where other films sheepishness had
failed, effectively burning off apathy through electrifying action
sequences and political bravado; the film even climaxes with a march on Parliament.
Despite McTeigue at the helm, this is most definitely a Wachowski film;
and their agenda is clear, it was no accident that The Matrix ended with Rage
Against The Machine’s ‘Wake
Up’.
