V for Vendetta

“Remember, remember The fifth of November The gunpowder treason and plot. I know of no reason Why the gunpowder treason Should ever be forgot.” But what of the man? I know his name was Guy Fawkes, and I know that, in 1605, he attempted to blow up the houses of Parliament.

But who was he really? What was he like? We are told to remember the idea, not the man, because a man can fail. He can be caught. He can be killed and forgotten. But four hundred years later an idea can still change the world. I’ve witnessed firsthand the power of ideas. I’ve seen people kill in the name of them; and die defending them.

But you cannot kiss an idea, cannot touch it or hold it. Ideas do not bleed. They do not feel pain. They do not love. And it is not an idea that I miss, it is a man. A man that made me remember the fifth of November. A man that I will never forget.

– Evey Hammond

V for Vendetta is a movie worth re-watching. I have re-watched it so many times that I have lost count. The film reimagines the book 1984 with Elrond of Rivendell¹ in an alternate universe as a rebellion.

A dystopian political action film, it is based on the 1988–89 DC Vertigo Comics limited series of the same title by Alan Moore, David Lloyd, and Tony Weare. The film, set in a future where a fascist totalitarian regime has subjugated the UK, centers on V, an anarchist and masked freedom fighter who attempts to ignite a revolution through elaborate terrorist acts, and on Evey Hammond, a young woman caught up in V’s mission.

The film is set in future Britain, ruled by the Norsefire political party, a fascist and totalitarian regime led by High Chancellor Adam Sutler, which controls the populace through propaganda and imprisons or executes those deemed undesirable, including immigrants, homosexuals and people of alternative religions.

One man stood up, V, who moves through London like a wraith despite the desperate efforts of the police. He wears a mask showing the face of Guy Fawkes², who in 1605, tried to blow up the houses of Parliament. On November 5th, the eve of Guy Fawkes Day, British schoolchildren have started bonfires to burn Fawkes in effigy for centuries. On this eve, V saves a young TV reporter named Evey from the hands of the police, forces her to join him, and makes a busy night of it by blowing up the Old Bailey courtrooms.

V follows his exploits for the year until the night when he has vowed to strike a crushing blow against the dictatorship. We see a police state that holds citizens in an iron grip. V commandeers the national television network to claim authorship of his deed.

A Kinetic Typography Soliloquy³ from the movie V for Vendetta.