Film: V For Vendetta

Let me get to the point. I loved this film. Brutally honest and critical, V is what I can only call a brilliant political thriller. Not that that makes it inaccessible - the film manages to express itself without the seriousness and dryness that others of the same genre seem to suffer from. A virtue of the comic on which it is based, no doubt.

Basically it tells of a vigilante political activist who stands up against a British Government that has already, amongst other things, succeeded in removing the distasteful members of society from its streets (that'll be homosexuals, Muslims and foreigners then) and implemented a curfew. Intentionally emotive images aside, the film deals with relativity (or how one person's terrorist is someone else's freedom fighter), political spin and propaganda and asks exactly how much control a government should have on the people who may have voted them in.

The film does a good job of telling both sides of the story, and there is a bit of anti in V's hero. Still, it's difficult to miss the blatant passing shots taken at those currently in power in the real world; a film like this wouldn't exist in the world it depicts - I'm surprised it gets away with so much today as it is. In fact it's these references to reality that make the story so believable and thus powerful. And that's pretty ironic considering how fantastic it is at times. Given that it was first published in 1982 shows how visionary Alan Moore was when writing it.

It's quite clear why some people won't like this though. Those looking for a Wachowski Matrixesque flick will be disappointed. Sure there are action scenes but that is not what this film is about - there is talk and a lot of it. It also requires quite a bit of concentration, something you might not be prepared for after having watched the trailers.

There are also some fundamental things wrong with the film - at times you have to wonder why the director was in such a rush and the script does go on a bit which caused me to zone out at times. But the fact that I can still write this much about V in spite of these things says a lot. Also of note were the individual performances with Hugo Weaving proving you don't need a face to act well and Natalie Portman proving how she's getting better with each film (and that's despite the dodgy accent).

So once again, I loved it. Go watch.