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V for Vendetta
Year:
2006
Rating:
R
Overall
Evaluation: 5.0
Significance
Suppositions
Story
Style |
4.0 / 10
6.0 / 10
7.0 / 10
9.0 / 10 |
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criteria.
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Style
Rated R for strong violence and some language, the film is actually fairly tame except for a few scenes that would probably not be too offensive to any but the most squeamish.
Story
The story is set in Britain a few decades in the future. Terrorism has been brought to a standstill by a totalitarian government reminiscent of George Orwell's vision in 1984. Curfews and censorship abound as the government keeps control over the populace. A girl is rescued from a couple government thugs by a mysterious, masked, and almost superhuman character known only as "V". As it turns out, "V" is not only starting a grass roots revolution, he is also systematically killing a bunch of people involved in a government plot that used humans as test subjects in developing a new virus. His M. O. is to copy the antics of Guy Fawkes who tried to blow up the houses of Parliament on November 5, 1605. His rally cry consists of a plea to people who are tired of being lied to and told what to do.
Suppositions
The worldview here is one promoting freedom and decrying the use of fear for control by government or religion. This is, as far as it goes, not too bad. Unfortunately, all of the government officials and religious figures in the movie are portrayed as evil and this is certainly part of the package. Of course, it could be argued that these just all happen to be hypocrites, but this is certainly not clear in the movie. The basic worldview is further confused by contradictory elements in the film and with the overall message. I have balanced this out by averaging the overall message with a lower score.
Significance
The
overall message seems to be that we must fight evil governments.
Again, not so bad as it stands. However, the film sends contradictory
messages. For example, we have the contrast between a villainous
bishop who is on the government's dole and engages in underage prostitution
and several of the "heroic martyrs" of the film who are
homosexual. The pedophile is killed in righteous judgment (at least
partially) for engaging in his sexual preferences, but the homosexuals
are portrayed as being oppressed for being killed for their sexual
practices. This betrays a simple problem: the writers are trying
to push their sexual ethics on people which is exactly what
the film says should not be done! The same goes with the "use
of fear and violence to control" motif. On the one hand, according
to the film, the government is evil for using fear and violence
to force the public to obey, yet it is by fear and violence that
the problem is allegedly solved!
Further,
while we might agree that evil governments should be dismantled,
the "evil" portrayed in the film is ambiguous. The hero
("V") does not rally support by telling the public that
the members of the government are actually evil. Instead, he merely
calls the public to stand against the government for exercising
control over their actions. The subtle difference in the hero's
personal motivation (vendetta) and the public's (revolution) make
for two different sub-messages. While we can certainly argue about
what should be controlled
by government, that certain
things need to be controlled is certainly the case. This is what
governments are supposed to do. The public in the film simply wants
the government to "stay out of its bedroom" (or library,
or record collection, etc.). But individual rights and national
morality are secured by a government that enforces ethical laws.
Therefore, it is only if we agree with the writers' specific ethical
beliefs that we will agree with the actions taken in the film. In
all, the movie sends a mixed bag of messages that are difficult
to evaluate in a general way - but since the basic message seems
to be "Don't let anyone tell you what to do (except Hollywood
of course!)" it got a low score.
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