V for Vendetta (2006)

[Pyan]

Re: V for Vendetta

Went last night.
I'm just glad the Wachowskis made this after the Matrix trilogy - if I'd seen this first, I would not have bothered with any more of their films. If I were Alan Moore, I wouldn't just ask for my name to be taken off the credits, I would ask for a statement on screen before the movie starts denying all connection with the film at all.
Why isn't Evey a prostitute in the film? What happened to V-as-anarchist? The idea that V may be Evey's father has gone entirely.
If you can't make a film that keeps close to a well-loved original, pass it to someone who can!

 

[Silent Speaker]

Re: V for Vendetta

They blame the germans again? How...boring
the orignal idea seems much more fitting. I'd like to see this film before it leaves the cinema anyway (it's not another 'Hellboy' is it?)
(not much else to watch: crappy unecessary remakes, crappy inevitable horror sequels and crappy incomprehensible local films... damn, that's alot of crap.)

 

[mikeo]

Re: V for Vendetta

Actually you know, I saw the movie last night, and I now feel really bad - I got the German thing from a review, and simply assumed that the reviewer wasn't flat-out lying. Having now seen the movie, I can declare there are no Germans mentioned, and the nazis don't play any part. Those wacky journalists and their "making things up" habits...

The movie itself was good. Not brilliant maybe, and a bit rushed in sections, but all in all a good film.

They blame the germans again? How...boring
the orignal idea seems much more fitting. I'd like to see this film before it leaves the cinema anyway (it's not another 'Hellboy' is it?)
(not much else to watch: crappy unecessary remakes, crappy inevitable horror sequels and crappy incomprehensible local films... damn, that's alot of crap.)

 

[kaneda]

Re: V for Vendetta

They don't?
I thought bollocks and ****** was all that brits said

haha, I don't think I've called anyone a ****** for ages, a t*sser maybe though...

Anyway, as I said earlier I haven't read the comic for ages - my brother owns it but I don't. So the other day I went to waterstones and books etc thinking I would buy the comic and neither of them had the book. Now to me thats a huge flaw, you have a major film based on a comic coming out, SURELY the bookshops (and these are the big ones on oxford street) have the comic there and waiting for people who liked the film and really want to read the original school boy error that.

 

[polymath]

Re: V for Vendetta

Very schoolboy....unless they'd sold out?
Either way, I got my copy from the majestic Forbidden Planet Manchester branch a short while ago. The comic/graphic novel is very good. So is Forbidden Planet.

 

[Marky Lazer]

Re: V for Vendetta

It's a great film. At first I wasn't sure what all the fuzz was about with the terrorism and privacy discussion, but after seeing the picture I can see why not everyone's too happy with it. I liked it very much, and even though under a mask, Hugo Weaving was brilliant once more.

 

[Tea is my copilot]

Re: V for Vendetta

My friend said it was ruining 1984 ( which was brilliant), and the trailer isn't that promising, but I've been pleasantly surprised by films before, so I expect it to be pretty decent.

 

[Syn]

Re: V for Vendetta

i have not seen it yet myself. it is out in australia so i WILL see it some time soon. i think that i will see it this upcoming weekend. HUGO WEAVING ROCKS!

 

[Rane Longfox]

Re: V for Vendetta

Well, it's an intruiging film, I think... in general I would object to the blowing up of parliament, but not in this case

The setting was interesting for me personally, as I'm from Salisbury, and drove past Larkhill army camp everyday on the way to school and back. Just imagine....... The evolution of the political atmosphere itself was very worrying, because you could just see it happening. Although I would think the BNP would have more to do with it than the conservatives, to be honest. It never actually told us how far into the future it was set though, did it?

And Steven Fry always makes a good film great

 

[Marky Lazer]

Re: V for Vendetta

It never actually told us how far into the future it was set though, did it?

2006...

 

[Silent Speaker]

Re: V for Vendetta

I saw it! It was alright (though I wish I had read the grp.nvl beforehand .
2006? If I remember correctly the date 2015 was mentioned in past tense, so it's past that date then right? (the comic's however set in 1998, right?)

 

[weaveworld]

Re: V for Vendetta

I still haven't seen it - will need to get around to it

 

[ravenus]

Re: V for Vendetta

It's set in 2020.

I just saw the movie today. I was definitely not expecting a very 'true' adaptation of the Alan Moore book because even with the best of intentions, the comic series has a welter of subplots and too many second rung characters to conveniently cram into a standard length movie. The first half was, I'd say reasonably alright, although V is shown in a more positive, at least far less savage light here. John Hurt as the leader is far too blustery and prone to throwing fits to be seen as a credible charismatic elected leader.

The discontent of the people is shown in a patchy fashion. Evey makes vague mentions about not having had real butter in long, but everyone owns branded LCD screens to watch their propaganda news items on and seems pretty comfy in general. So it's less convincing to see them to do "Hi-ho, off to see Parliament fall we go". Towards the end, V is pretty much painted with heroic colors and his relationship with Evey brushed off as a simple romance.

The worst thing I can say about this film is that at no point did I feel particularly affected by the goings on, which is pretty lousy considering how much the graphic novel manages to shake and stir inside. I certainly don't blame Moore for disowning and denouncing this film.

 

[kyektulu]

Re: V for Vendetta

I watched this film last night.

I really wasnt very impressed.

It was watchable and entertaining in parts but not what I was expecting.

 

[Trollkien]

Re: V for Vendetta

I haven't read the comic (which I'm beginning to believe is the BEST way to see most of these films) but the film didn't really grip me on its own merits. The second half dragged on something fierce.

 

[Marky Lazer]

Re: V for Vendetta

I certainly don't blame Moore for disowning and denouncing this film.

I believe Moore has let his name removed from the credits because he thought it was all badly done.

But I haven't read the comic, and thought it was a quite entertaining picture.

 

[ravenus]

Re: V for Vendetta

Well if Moore is to be believed, he even wants DC to take his name off any future reprints of the graphic novel since he doesn't have any control over how it's used.

 

[kaneda]

Re: V for Vendetta

Well if Moore is to be believed, he even wants DC to take his name off any future reprints of the graphic novel since he doesn't have any control over how it's used.

Well I can believe that. From the interviews I've read, Moore comes across as being spoilt and bitter if things don't go his own way.

I read somewhere that Dave Gibbons was quite happy with the film, and he said that moore wouldn't have been happy with the film unless it was a filmed exactly (screen by screen) like the comic (e.g. sin city).

 

[mikeo]

Re: V for Vendetta

I believe Moore has let his name removed from the credits because he thought it was all badly done.

But I haven't read the comic, and thought it was a quite entertaining picture.

Alan Moore's stated stance is that for any material he owns the rights to fully, there will be no movies. Items he has partial rights to he can't stop from being made into films, but he refuses to have his name associated with them, and asks that the money that might otherwise be his be given to the artists he worked with on the original graphic novels / comics.

He had done all this before V for Vendetta, from my understanding - the only reason the question came up again was that the producer of V for Vendetta claimed that Moore had endorsed the film in some way.

 

[Carolyn Hill]

Re: V for Vendetta

I just finished watching V for Vendetta on DVD, and I found it extremely powerful. The question of one's responsibility in the face of an oppressive regime resonates strongly for me, given the current political climate. References to "America's war" and the fear-mongering that convinces citizens to give up their rights in return for supposed protection from chaos, terrorism, and biological attack have a chilling relevance today.

Portman's performance as Evey is intelligent, nuanced, believable. Rhea's performance as Inspector Finch offers the average person a sane center in the storm to relate to. And V . . . is insane, dangerous, warped, but thought-provoking.

The film is visually stunning. I don't know the language of filmography, but the blacks and reds of the high chancellor's chamber and are stark, cold, and scary. In contrast, the brown tones and classic art in V's lair seem all the more earthy, comfortable, valuable, and human. So many memorable images: the dominos that topple and leave one standing at the end, V's slow-motion final fight, the pastoral setting and sun-saturated colors in Valerie's movie, the overhead shot of Evey in the slowly falling rain paralleled by the shot of V emerging from the fiery wreckage of his prison, and the opening shots that show V donning his mask and weaponry intercut with Evey donning her makeup and work clothes. All these have strong emotional appeal.

The script contains nuggets worth mining. I particularly appreciate the line that says artists use lies to tell the truth, but politicians use lies to cover it up. If we citizens are denied the truth by our governments, we cannot make informed decisions; we become disposable pawns, collateral damage, or tools to ends that are not our own.

Personally, I don't think blowing up Parliament is the way to solve our problems. But I respect the film's message that we must not be passive as our governments make choices we may not agree with or as individuals consolidate their power over us by concealing truth and pretending to act in our names or our best interests.

Comparisons between the film and Moore's graphic novel are inevitable. But in this instance, I think the film stands on its own.