V For Vendetta

We went to see V For Vendetta today. It's been the source of some controversy in the comic book world, largely due to Alan Moore having his name taken off the film and of course the whole "eggy in a basket" flap. Then there's always the whole how-faithful-is-it-to-the-graphic-novel thing.

It's actually a pretty good film, although not terribly faithful to the graphic novel. Interesting in its own right, though.

In the movie, V (Hugo Weaving) is a terrorist/freedom fighter who wears a Guy Fawkes mask and is launching a one-man campaign against the fascist regime in near-future England led by Adam Sutler (John Hurt). On his first excursion, V saves Evey Hammond (Natalie Portman) from being molested and arrested by the Fingermen - the secret police. She witnesses his destruction of the Old Bailey. A few days later, V takes over the TV studio where Evey works and broadcasts his gauntlet to the nation, that by a year from then he will destroy Parliament and change the country.

V is cornered while trying to escape. Evey saves him but is knocked unconscious. Knowing that she would be arrested and probably killed for helping him, V takes her to his home, a secret lair of recovered treasures which he calls the Shadow Gallery. Evey is imprisoned there while V begins to kill some of the leaders of the regime. He then enlists her aid to kill a corrupt and degenerate priest, and she escapes and seeks refuge with her friend Gordon (Stephen Fry). But during a nighttime raid Evey is captured, tortured and interrogated.

And I can't easily proceed with the synopsis from there without giving away the key turn of events of the film! Although I will note that Detective Finch (Stephen Rea) is leading the hunt to find V, and along the way he uncovers some unpleasant truths about the origins of both his masters and V himself.

With a screenplay by the Wachowski Brothers (who wrote and directed The Matrix), the film version of V For Vendetta is more of an action piece than the graphic novel, and also considerably more heavy-handed with its messages. It ties in neatly with the current fun-and-games in the Middle East ("America's War") leading up to the fascist revolution in Britain. V sets himself up as an unkillable idea, transcending mere flesh, but he's also considerably more exposed as human here than in the comics (for instance, the scene where he cooks Evey breakfast, where he doesn't wear his gloves and wears a frilly apron). Much of the book's complexity is gutted, as the machinations and depravities of the individuals in the ruling regime are barely depicted, reducing the characterization to just a few figures. The juxtaposition of anarchy and fascism in the book is largely absent, as V is presented as simply a radical freedom fighter whose means are justified given his opponent.

On the other hand, the look of the film is superb. V's mask is surprisingly effective on a real man. Portman does a fine job as Evey, and Rea is spot-on as Finch. There are several fine lines newly-crafted for the film, and the moments of action are well-done. Although V is presented as more of a man than a force of nature, it does serve to make him more sympathetic, and the story is his and Evey's, whereas in the book it's mainly Evey's.

I was disappointed that V's "origin" at the Larkhill resettlement camp was only glossed over, as it's one of the most powerful moments of the novel to me. The subtleties of the novel's climax are also lost in the wave of populist sentiment that form the film's climax, which is too bad since it denies Evey one of her triumphant moments from the book. On its own merits, the climax mostly suffers from the "haven't you people been paying attention to your own script?" syndrome, as V's humanity and his representation of an idea are set in conflict (inadvertently, I think), neither one wins out, and the man ends up being something of a muddled figure. Thematically, the film ends up rich in ideas, but messy in execution.

Overall, it's a film worth seeing, although it could have been much more with just a little tweaking. I think it suffers mainly from the creators being unwilling (or perhaps unable, in the context of an American film) to preserve more of the aggressive ambiguity of Alan Moore's original story. V For Vendetta wants its viewers to think, but it could have provided a lot more to chew over.