V for Vendetta

Starring Natalie Portman, Hugo Weaving, Stephen Rea, John Hurt

Rated R

Screening at SXSW only days before the film hit theaters, “V for Vendetta” is not simply another run-of-the-mill spring action movie. In fact, this political film has more ideas circulating in its plot than all three “Matrix” movies combined (“The Matrix” directors Larry and Andy Wachowski are producers of “V.”) And with a terrific Natalie Portman in the lead, audiences sympathize with a character that is helping, depending on your point of view, either a terrorist or a revolutionary.

The film opens in London in the year 2020, where the British government is strictly run by the dictatorial Chancellor Adam Sutler (a reviling John Hurt.) There are strict curfews in order and deliberate limits on freedom of speech, press or almost anything else we value. In fact, anyone found mocking their government is usually killed. V (Hugo Weaving) is a masked crusader determined to overthrow the government and put an end to Chancellor Sutler’s rule. His mission is to blow up Parliament on November 5^th, the same day in 1605 that Guy Fawkes attempted to do the exact same thing.

Evey (Portman), a young British woman nearly killed by policemen after staying out after curfew, is rescued by V one night. V allows Evey to stay at his underground mansion, filled with paintings and art deemed unacceptable by the government. Eventually, she realizes that V uses extreme violence to make progression for his country, and has to decide whether helping him in his plan would be considered treason or heroism.

“V for Vendetta” examines a bleak future, where governments have too much control over their people, and people are subjected to government bullying and censorship. There is no doubt that the filmmakers are connecting the ideas in “V for Vendetta” to the current state of politics in the U.S. However, calling the movie pro-terrorism is unfair, since I seriously doubt the Wachowski’s are encouraging Americans to blow up their homeland. Instead, “V for Vendetta” offers caution for countries across the world, stressing the importance of governmental power limitations, and the individual rights of the people.

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