16/05/07 ; V for Vendetta

We watched this film having all heard a lot of negative reports about it, but in the spirit of film club decided to make up our own minds about it.

I know that some of my learned colleagues were disappointed, and Bombardier Burbot actually gave it a 0.3 out of 10 declaring it (quote' 'the biggest load of pap I have seen in years') personally I felt this was a little harsh. We all conceded that visually it could have been done better ( for example : a la sin city ) and as a graphic novel it was probably far more powerful, but having never read the book and coming into this with no preconceptions I enjoyed the story and general 'philosophy' behind it.

For anyone who has no idea what the film is about :

V for Vendetta is a comic book series written by Alan Moore and illustrated mostly by David Lloyd, set in a dystopian future United Kingdom imagined from the 1980s about the 1990s. A mysterious anarchist named "V" works to destroy the totalitarian government, profoundly affecting the people whom he encounters.
The series is set in a near-future Britain after a limited nuclear war, which has left much of the world destroyed. In this future, an extreme fascist party called Norsefire has arisen. "V", an anarchist revolutionary dressed in a Guy Fawkes mask, begins an elaborate, violent, and theatrical campaign to bring down the government. There is an emphasis on technology, especially closed-circuit television monitoring in the mode of George Orwell's Nineteen Eighty-Four and modern Britain.

Unlike most 'comic book' heroes it would be difficult to imagine that hordes of kids across the country will be asking for some V for Vendetta pyjamas or slippers this Christmas. He is basically a guy that dresses up as Guy Fawkes (the original Anarchist!) who tells riddles in a flowery 'ye olde English' type way. As this was not at all what I was expecting there were times that I struggled with his character but he has some great lines such as 'People should not be afraid of their governments. Governments should be afraid of their people.'

If nothing else this film has inspired me to hunt down the graphic novel - though it's interesting to note that Alan Moore completely disassociated himself from the film and refused to be even credited at the end. Its one of them. I think you should make up your own mind!