V FOR VENDETTA

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You Don’t Know What Freedom Is

Political Satire Hits the Ceiling
By Cole Smithey

Scripted by Andy and Larry Wachowski ("The Matrix" trilogy) "V For Vendetta" is a razor-sharp cinematic reinterpretation of Alan Moore’s dissident 1988 political satire graphic novel set in a slightly futuristic Britain.

Natalie Portman’s intense portrayal of a civilian polarized into rebellion anchors the movie as a spirited female protagonist with bite.

At a point in history when George Orwell’s dystopian nightmare vision of "1984" has been surpassed by a deceptive brand of fascism that goes under the anesthetizing moniker of free trade capitalism, "V For Vendetta" comes across as a scathingly subversive political satire.

The film seamlessly folds together elements of "1984," "Fahrenheit 451," "Brave New World" and "The Diary Of Anne Frank" with superhero mythology and a dash of spaghetti western to form a highly original story about the dangers of corruption, media manipulation, and pervasive government repression exercised through fear.

The screenwriters have reshaped the novel’s problematic protagonist Evey (Portman) as an intelligent and sensitive young woman who becomes a victim of two different brands of Stockholm syndrome — one perpetrated by her violent government, and one by that fascistic regime’s most treacherous terrorist enemy.

Just as the title implies, violence begets payment in the same coin. Although author Alan Moore has had his name removed from the film, "V For Vendetta" is by far the best film version of Moore’s stories, which include "From Hell" and "The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen."

After being rescued from a late night street hassle with government goons by a mask-wearing Guy Fawkes-inspired revolutionary named V (Hugo Weaving), Evey’s mysterious savior takes her on a rooftop date to witness the destruction of the Old Bailey, London's criminal court building — complete with fireworks.

Evey helps V escape from the police after he stages an attack on the broadcast station where she works. The brilliant visual style on display invites the audience as welcome participants to the story's subversive action.

Debut director James McTeigue artfully mitigates the distraction of a character whose face you never see by focusing on the way other characters react to V. Hugo Weaving’s pitch-perfect enunciation of V’s incendiary dialogue is the capper. The story shifts through a troubling maze of events once V takes Evey into his confidence in his underground lair. There the highly educated revolutionary has collected cultural artifacts that were long ago confiscated from society and private homes by the government.

Effective flashbacks divulge V’s polarizing experiences as a prisoner of a government-operated concentration camp where he suffered an explosion that left him scarred from head to toe.

The anti-hero is an athletic esthete who uses only throwing knives against his assailants — an amendment to the graphic novel by the Wachowski brothers that references the working class weapon of the spaghetti western hero in Sergio Sollima’s seminal 1968 movie "Run, Man, Run."

"V For Vendetta" is a glorious piece of pop culture subversive cinema that operates on manifold levels. On the surface, it’s a love story set in the depths of social despair, but it’s also a visionary tale of social uprising.

Here is a cogent reflection of the split between freedom and repression across a social terrain that seems more native than alien; therein lies its central abstraction, a clarion call to action.

Rated R. 131 mins.