V for Vendetta

The Film

"People should not be afraid of their governments. Governments should be afraid of their people."

The setting is London, some 30 years in the future. Following a series of national and global disasters, the panic-stricken people of England have elected the authoritarian Adam Sutler (John Hurt) as Chancellor, who now rules the country with an iron fist. Those who do not toe the party line or meet its ideals swiftly disappear, and the nation's citizens are kept complacent through propaganda and fear-mongering. One man, however, the mysterious V (Hugo Weaving), wants to change things. Donning a Guy Fawkes mask and spouting a cryptic message of anarchy and retribution, he first blows up the Old Bailey, before embarking on a campaign of violence as he kills various high-ranking government officials, blurring the line between good and evil. Thrown into the chaos are a variety of different people, including Evey (Natalie Portman), the daughter of political activists who "disappeared" when she was a child, and Finch (Stephen Rea), a brow-beaten police inspector who, while following V's trail, begins to discover things about his administration that he would rather not have known...

There is little about the scandal of the film adaptation of Alan Moore and David Lloyd's celebrated graphic novel V for Vendetta that has not been given adequate coverage elsewhere, so, for the purposes of this review, I'll abstain from commenting on the rights and wrongs of it and instead focus on the final product. When released, the film met with decidedly mixed reviews, with American critics generally reacting to it more favourably than their British counterparts. One might argue that this is because it features British landmarks being blown up rather than American ones, but there's more to it than that. The primary reason, I suspect, is that, for all the intricacies of the production design and Natalie Portman's (unsuccessful) attempts to perfect her English accent, the setting of this film is just not convincing as Britain in a totalitarian near-future. Characters say "bloody" and "bollocks" a lot, but, far from looking like Britain itself, it's what you would expect a lot of Americans probably imagine Britain looks like, while the fact that the majority of the characters depicted seem to live in nice houses with big televisions undercuts the attempts to depict this as a land without hope and happiness rather disastrously.


There's more to it than that, though, and the crucial problem with V for Vendetta that it's nothing like as clever as it thinks it is. It certainly deals with complex, pertinent subject matter, but simply dealing with "important" subjects does not automatically result in a good film. You can choose any "serious" topic you like, such as suicide bombings, or nuclear war, or the Holocaust (and V for Vendetta contains less than subtle nods to all of these), but, if the manner in which you use it is poor, then the end result will be a bad film, no matter the importance of the events referred to. V for Vendetta is certainly not a bad film, per se, but it is an incredibly naive one, and one that bends over so far backwards to shoehorn Alan Moore's depiction of Thatcherian 80s Britain into a 21st century, post-9/11 context that it ultimately struggles to fulfil either its purpose or its potential.

Part of the problem is that, while the film is set in a Britain that looks not unlike that of the present day, with a few pieces of 80s iconography thrown in, it's actually really about America. Many will claim that writers Andy and Larry Wachowski and director James McTeigue purposefully kept their references vague enough that the film could serve as a critique on any administration, but I find it hard to see the images featured here - including Guantanamo Bay-style orange jumpsuits, Abu Ghraib-style sacks over prisoners' heads, colour-coded terror alerts, and a Bill O'Reilly-esque TV presenter who is anything but "fair and balanced" - as anything other than an attack on the current US administration. Regardless how how you feel about Bush and his War on Terrorism, though, I suspect that such images will resonate. It's not so much that the Wachowskis are saying that this is what the world is like today, but rather that this is what it could become if we are complacent. Beyond the political issues, mentions of Avian flu and water shortages are worryingly relevant to the current state of the world, although the filmmakers unfortunately shoot themselves in the foot by following David Lloyd's illustrations a little too closely, resulting in a London that looks more like a throwback to the early 1980s than anything that might be contemporary, let alone a vision of the future.


Indeed, as Alan Moore rightly pointed out, the Wachowskis wimped out by using an image of futuristic Britain filtered through an 80s sensibility to criticise the current US regime, rather than actually setting it in the present-day US. In a sense, it's easy to see why they did this. While most audiences seem to have been remarkably tolerant of the destruction of numerous British landmarks, such as the Old Bailey and the Houses of Parliament, I daresay that they wouldn't have had quite such an easy ride had the triumphant finale shown the blowing up of the White House, the Statue of Liberty, or, dare I say it, the Twin Towers. The flaw here is definitely one of adaptation, since the Wachowskis, unable or unwilling to devote the time to properly exploring the character of V, remove the shades of grey and cast him as a very traditional Crusader for Justice. Sure, he's a little eccentric, but he's ultimately a kind-hearted nutcase who makes Evey breakfast and puts her through hell for her own good. Such is the film's black and white way of thinking that that the government can only be bad and the man trying to bring it down can only be good. This strikes me as selling a decidedly pertinent topic, particularly in the current climate of "You're either with us or you're against us" rhetoric, incredibly short.

The problems with the adaptation extend to the portrayal of the main characters, with Natalie Portman standing out as particularly disappointing in the role of Evey. Having given one of the best performances I have ever seen of a child actor in Léon, she has worked hard to establish herself as a legitimate adult actress, and, by and large, has been successful. This film, however, showcases none of her qualities. It's not that she isn't up to the task, but the material she is given is simply too thin to make anything of it. By removing some of the source material's less savoury elements, such as her being a 16-year-old munitions factory worker who turns to prostitution to make ends meet, she becomes, in effect a non-entity - simply a generic pretty face who finds herself in the wrong place at the wrong time. The same goes for Stephen Fry, who finds himself playing the part of television host Gordon Deitrich, a character whose personality and role have been considerably altered from the graphic novel. Deitrich is meant to be an intelligent satirist, but he is sadly saddled with the most cringe-worthy scene in the entire film, a slapstick "satire" of Sutler complete with Benny Hill theme music. Stephen Rea, meanwhile, simply looks tired (which is appropriate to his character) and disinterested (which isn't), while Hugo Weaving is hamstrung by the fact that, with his face hidden behind a mask, he has to rely on his voice alone to convey V's emotions, which is frankly not his strongest attribute. Of the entire cast, the best turn comes from John Hurt, who, in what appears to be an extended ironic nod to his role in the similar 1984, has Sutler scream at the top of his lungs, sneer and deliver life-changing edicts from behind a large television monitor. Again, this is largely unfaithful to the character depicted in the source material, but it's an acceptable enough form of shorthand in order to convey its point. Sutler is ultimately a bureaucrat, a tyrant who gets others to do his dirty work for him, and this is exemplified by the fact that, until the climax, he never actually comes into contact with a single person.


For all the faults of the adaptation, it's clear that McTeigue and co get as many things right as they do wrong. By far the film's strongest part is the extended sequence of the imprisonment and torture of Evey, including her discovery of the final written account of Valerie (Natasha Wrightman), a lesbian imprisoned and eventually killed for committing the crime of being an "undesirable". This material, which remains largely unchanged from Moore's graphic novel, manages to be both brutal and poignant in equal measure. (These scenes provoked gales of laughter from a crowd of unruly teens at the cinema screening I attended - proof, in my estimation, that they were doing their best to pretend it wasn't affecting them.) The themes of doppelgangers and the erosion of identity, meanwhile, are weaved throughout the film with some skill, although the imagery does become rather blatant at times. Many readers of the source material, I'm sure, also heaved a sigh of relief at the fact that there is no crowd-pleasing unmasking of V, which many people must surely have been dreading. The Wachowskis at least have enough of an understanding of the source material to realise that V's identity is irrelevant.

Despite its confused rhetoric and political naivety, by merely daring to raise such issues, V for Vendetta is a brave venture. It is often said that history has a habit of turning those once considered to be terrorists into freedom fighters. This was true of George Washington in the 18th century, and the filmmakers' intention, clearly, is that we take a step back and consider the meaning behind such terms as "terrorism", "freedom" and "civil liberties", beyond merely accepting them as absolutes. As such, I strongly suspect that the masses who greeted this film with open arms (it is currently ranked #116 on IMDB's Top 250 Movies chart) would not have been so enthusiastic towards it had they truly understood the meaning behind the material. It's amazing to me that Hollywood has produced a film that effectively presents terrorism as a legitimate means to an end, and, as such, the Wachowskis should be commended, if nothing else, for sneaking such important and topical debates into the minds of the masses under the guise of an action blockbuster. Of course, whether people will ultimately take its message to heart - and indeed, whether they should - is anyone's guess.

HD DVD Presentation

V for Vendetta arrives on HD DVD with a 2.39:1 transfer encoded at 1080p using the VC1 codec. As with a number of Warner's transfers, the results are largely very good, but with the usual caveats of some noise reduction and light ringing around high contrast areas. The image is generally pleasing, although it doesn't have the "wow" moments of incredible detail that you'll find on titles like Serenity or Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire - which seems to be down to the cinematography itself rather than the transfer, judging by how it looked when I saw it at the cinema. That's not to say that there aren't moments of impressive detail - facial close-ups are generally excellent, and a shot of raindrops falling on Evey in slow motion, during the second half of the film, is definitely demo material. By and large, though, if I was looking to thrill someone from start to finish with what HD can achieve, I wouldn't select this title. This is largely a drab-looking film, so the colours don't "pop" as they do in some of the more vibrant releases, although the warmer scenes in V's lair, and the golden glow of the Valerie sequence, are certainly appropriately saturated. There are no visible problems with the compression.

Audio comes in Dolby Digital-Plus 5.1 (640 Kbps) and Dolby True-HD 5.1 flavours, with both tracks constituting a noticeable improvement on the clarity of the audio of the standard definition DVD release. The difference between the DD-Plus and True-HD variants is not as pronounced as on, say, Constantine (which remains my "reference disc" for high definition audio), but the True-HD track is, all the same, the better of the two, with a slight improvement in some of the more subtle audio effects being noticeable on a decent set of speakers. Neither track is as aggressive in its use of the rear channels as I would have expected for such an action-oriented piece, however.

A French Dolby Digital-Plus 5.1 dub is also provided, in addition to English, English SDH, French and Spanish subtitles for the film itself but, annoyingly, none of the extras.

Extras

For the HD DVD release, Warner have ported over all of the extras from the 2-disc special edition DVD release of the film - and yes, that includes the Saturday Night Live Natalie Portman rap so sadly missing from the UK release.

The extras themselves are watchable enough without being particularly revelatory, composed primarily of a series of four featurettes focusing on specific aspects of the film and its mythology. Of the four, the best is probably England Prevails: V for Vendetta and the New Wave in Comics, which provides something of a potted history of the British comics scene at the time of the graphic novel's original release, although, predictably, the issue of Alan Moore's battles with DC Comics and Warner are conveniently skirted around (he does get several mentions, though, which surprised me given that he demanded his name be removed from the credits of the film itself).

The remaining extras are comprised of a montage of footage set to the Cat Power song heard in the film (a music video by any other name), the theatrical trailer (in plain old standard definition), and a single page of information on the soundtrack album, which does not in my opinion really count as a bonus feature.

It's not exactly the most thrilling line-up of features ever assembled, but luckily the HD-exclusive content provided with this release (see below) helps elevate the score.

HD DVD Exclusive Extras

Here the HD DVD version hits the jackpot, gaining an In-Movie Experience feature that, naturally, was not included on the standard definition release. Many people expressed surprise that an audio commentary was not featured on the DVD, and it seems fairly clear that the reason for this was that Warner were instead prepping this commentary/documentary hybrid for the HD DVD. As In-Movie Experiences go, this, titled Director's Notebook: Reimagining a Cult Classic for the 21st Century, is probably actually the best I've seen so far, and the reason for that seems to be that, unlike those provided for some other films, this one is comprised of new material created from the ground up instead of splicing in pre-existing interview footage.

The most frequent comments come from director James McTeigue and Natalie Portman, who both over-egg the film's treatment of politics and social issues as being more intelligent and important than they actually are, but by and large their comments are quite revealing, and at least McTeigue has the sense to admit that the film is first and foremost entertainment rather than some sort of ideological document. Other interviewees who appear more briefly include the bulk of the core cast, production designer Owen Patterson, producer Joel Silver, and a roster of other crew members. True to their nature, the Wachowski brothers are conspicuously absent, but that is not particularly surprising.

Overall

For all its flaws, I admire V for Vendetta for being ballsy enough to tell a mainstream audience that blowing up buildings can be a legitimate means to an end. Warner's HD DVD release is far from the top echelon of high definition releases, but it constitutes a solid package overall, and the improvements to image, audio and extras should be enough to convince those who already own the DVD to upgrade.