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Comic Book Kingdom
February 1, 2007
by SABRE
V for Vendetta is a 2006 action-thriller film set in London, England in
a dystopian near future. The film follows the mysterious V, a freedom
fighter seeking to effect sociopolitical change while simultaneously
pursuing his own violent personal vendetta. The film is an adaptation
of the graphic novel V for Vendetta by Alan Moore and David Lloyd. V
for Vendetta was directed by James McTeigue and produced by Joel Silver
and the Wachowski brothers, who also wrote the screenplay. The film
stars Natalie Portman as Evey Hammond, Hugo Weaving as V, Stephen Rea
as Inspector Finch, and John Hurt as Chancellor Sutler.
The
film's release was originally scheduled for Friday, November 4, 2005 (a
day before the 400th Guy Fawkes Night), but was delayed; it opened on
March 17, 2006, and was generally well-received by critics and
audiences alike. Alan Moore, facing his disappointment in both From
Hell and The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, refused to view the
film and subsequently distanced himself from it. The filmmakers removed
some of the anarchist themes and drug references present in the
original story and also updated the political message to be more
relevant to a 2006 audience. Due to the politically sensitive content
of the film, V for Vendetta attracted much attention from groups on
both sides of the political spectrum and has received both great praise
and harsh criticism in turn.
The cast and film-makers attended
several press conferences that allowed them to address issues
surrounding the film, including its authenticity, Alan Moore's reaction
to it and its intended political message. The responses given at the
conferences made it clear that the film was intended to be a departure
from some of Moore's original themes. In the words of Hugo Weaving:
"Alan Moore was writing about something which happened some time ago.
It was a response to living in Thatcherite England... This is a
response to the world in which we live today. So I think that the film
and the graphic novel are two separate entities." Regarding the
controversial political content in the film the filmmakers have said
that the film is intended more to raise questions and add to a dialogue
already present in society, rather than provide answers or tell viewers
what to think".
The film takes extensive imagery from the
infamous 1605 Gunpowder Plot, where a group of Catholic conspirators
plotted to destroy the Houses of Parliament in order to spark a
revolution in England. The film was originally scheduled for release on
the weekend of November 5, 2005, the 400th anniversary of the Plot,
with the tag line "Remember, remember the 5th of November", taken from
a traditional British rhyme memorialising the event. However, the
marketing angle lost much of its value when the release date was pushed
back to March 17, 2006. Many have speculated that the delay was due to
the London tube bombings on July 7 and 21. The film-makers have denied
this, saying that the delays were from the need for more time in order
to finish the visual effects production. V for Vendetta had its first
major premiere on February 13 at the Berlin Film Festival. It opened
for general release on March 17, 2006 in 3,365 theatres in the United
States, the United Kingdom and six other countries.
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