Dan's Media Digest

"V FOR VENDETTA" (2-DISC SPECIAL EDITION) – DVD REVIEW

Director: James McTiege WRITERS: The Wachowski Brothers (based on the novel by Alan Moore & David Lloyd)CAST: Natalie Portman (Evey Hammond), Hugo Weaving (V), John Hurt (Sutler), Stephen Fry (Dietrich),

In a British dystopia, citizens are controlled by a fascist regime, but an enigmatic freedom fighter known only as V has plans to bring down the tyrannical government through terrorist acts...

It's common courtesy to begin any review of V For Vendetta by extolling the virtues of the original graphic novel. Indeed, Alan Moore's source material is an intelligent, gritty and exciting read, touching on British Thatcher-era politics while simultaneously finding inspiration from The Phantom Of The Opera and The Count Of Monte Cristo, amongst others.

In many ways Moore is the comic-book equivalent to Quentin Tarantino; a talented writer able to take old concepts, styles and characters and write them in original and refreshing ways.

The sad fact permeating Moore's literary genius is that every movie adaptation has been a disappointment, despite his work's inherent cinematic quality. The League Of Extraordinary Gentlemen squandered the massive potential offered in Moore's books and became a bloated, incoherent, CGI mess... Jack The Ripper thriller From Hell was handsomely staged but took silly liberties with the story (opium-influenced visions?), while Constantine took Moore's character away from his British working class roots...

So how has V For Vendetta fared? The novel was an early work from Moore that, personally, always connected with me more than his celebrated masterpiece Watchmen. The man with the unenviable task of translating this hard-edge political terrorist thriller is Australian James McTiege -- protégé of Andy and Larry Wachowski (creators of The Matrix, where McTiege helmed the Second Unit). The Wachowski's script has been around for a few years now, and their producer influence certainly extends into the finished product. The film has the same glossy sheen and classy coldness of The Matrix, together with similar themes of imprisonment and repression.

Hugo Weaving (The Matrix's Agent Smith) plays the eponymous anti-hero, famously replacing actor James Purefoy (who had difficulty acting behind an expressionless mask), and he does a tremendous job. His body language and lilting vocals are perfect for the role (despite occasionally sounding like Rowan Atkinson!) and he manages to create an engaging character despite the difficult conditions.

Natalie Portman gives a solid performance as heroine Evey, only occasionally over-enunciating her English accent and becoming stilted. Generally, she's always beguiling and occasionally impressive –- particularly in the central torture sequence that required the shaving of her head. However, I think she's a little too impassive to events a lot of the time, often drifting through the movie relying on her saucer-eyed naivety. It would have been nice to have seen some passion, but even after her "transformation" into V's cohort... she remains a bit too aloof to be really effective in the latter third of the film.

Stephen Rea plays Chief Inspector Finch, the sombre lawman charged with finding "Codename V" at all costs. Rea does well with the thin material his character is given, but all of his scenes carry the distinct aroma of a below-par detective drama. John Hurt, in a canny piece of casting, plays High Chancellor Sutler, a "Big Brother" role given added potency because Hurt played Winston Smith in 1984. Now on the dark side of an Orwellian-style government, Hurt clearly relishes the chance to chew the scenery from behind a colossal TV screen... but again it's a shame his character is more two-dimensional than the graphic novel.

The supporting cast are fine, but only Stephen Fry impresses as a gay talk show host whose home hides material the government banned. You tend to forget just how great Fry can be on film, and his small but interesting role is a great delight. Tim Piggott-Smith is suitably slimy as Creedy (a Himmler to Sutler's Hitler, essentially), and the rest of the cast do well in the many small roles sprinkled throughout the film.

The interesting thing about V For Vendetta, from a fan's perspective, are the deviations from the original book. On the whole, I think the Wachowski Brothers did a good job in excising pointless subplots and expanding or focusing on others. In particular I liked how the script wove a deadly plague into the government's machinations, how Evey's back-story was made clearer, and how Evey seeking sanctuary with Fry's Dietrich was handled. It might sound like heresy to Moore's legion of fans, but I think the script does improve some of the looser elements of Moore's original story (the FATE computer, the flood, the L.S.D trip), but it doesn't always succeed...

The primary difference between the script and novel is the finale. In the film, the population of London are each sent V costumes to symbolically "become one" and march on the government. In the book, V masterminds a period of extreme anarchy that leaves the population in turmoil... with the belief that chaos will usher in renewed order. I can understand why the film's ending exists; it's more cinematic and palatable for audiences. I don't have a major issue with the change, although this costumed-unity is clearly symbolic of anti-individualism (surely something a fascist government agrees with?) Despite this late wobble in the film's message, the finale still packs an explosive punch (literally), although am I alone in thinking it ends too abruptly? The book left me with that thoughtful, emotionally raw feeling you get from a good story after the last page is read.. but the film seemed to cut the emotional high off too soon.

But there's really little value in nit-picking the film by comparing it to the book. Generally, the film translates the core messages well, and updates the story for a post-9/11 audience now well-versed in terrorism. V For Vendetta is a dialogue-heavy movie with a low emphasis on action spectacle, so people expecting a hardcore vigilante "superhero" movie could be disappointed, but others will be pleased to see a "popcorn movie" tackle weighty issues in its own distinct way.

In summation, this is currently the best adaptation of a Moore property yet (faint praise though it may be). There are moments in V For Vendetta that sit uneasily (indeed, the first half-hour is full of cringe-making "British-isms" and some awful TV news footage), lots of characters say "bollocks" just to confirm to foreigners the film is set in England, while Rea pronounces "lever" as the Americanized "levva". I fail to understand why these mispronunciations slip through! Anyway, I said not to nit-pick, didn't it...

As with most adaptations, I really enjoyed the moments that faithfully translated the source material: Evey's torture sequence is excellent, the Valerie letter flashback is sublime, and V's "birth" at Larkhill is fantastic. Elsewhere, even the CGI-assisted "bullet-time" daggers don't destroy the goodwill the film builds up, and there is always an interesting visual or intriguing piece of dialogue to keep you invested in the story.

1 October

24: Season 6 Box Set
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The IT Crowd: Series 1 & 2 Box Set
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The Prisoner: 40th Anniversary Special Edition Box Set
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15 October

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22 October

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29 October

Deadwood: Season 1-3 Box Set
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