Remember, Remember the Fifth of November...

“Remember, remember! The fifth of November, The Gunpowder treason and plot; I know of no reason Why the Gunpowder treason Should ever be forgot!” This iconic old English poem was about a certain historical figure by the name of Guy Fawkes. He attempted (unsuccessfully) to blow up the houses of Parliament and kill the King with gunpowder in the basement of the building. This is indeed an excerpt from a famous English folk poem, but most people seem to know it from a movie called V for Vendetta.

Where do I begin with this movie? Well, it was directed by the Wachowskis who were the same people that directed the Matrix… This is going to be a little complicated. I’ll start with the plot. So, in the not so distant future, the United Kingdom is under a fascist regime called Norsefire. There are curfews, gangs of secret police, government controlled media, suppression of dissidence, and total state control of… well, everything. Individual freedom is not only considered subversive in this regime, but immoral.

In the midst of this fascist “utopia” there is a young woman by the name of Evey Hammond. She works in the state news agency and minds her own business. On her way home one night, she is out past curfew and is nearly raped by the Norsefire fingermen (secret police), but is saved by a masked alliteration-spouting man going by the name of V. He dons a Guy Fawkes mask and is quite skilled in martial arts and knife combat. He is bent on destroying the fascist government all in the name of individual freedom. At least, that’s what he says.

As the story goes on, it seems that the main motivation for V isn’t a righteous attempt to restore individual liberty as it is getting back at people as well as the system that wronged him. Evey is brought into his strange little war and attempts to discover what his plan and ideology are. She learns a great deal about the prices of individualism and that most people want to be free in a state of liberty.

There is a lot of interesting philosophy in this movie and it is not only told through extensive monologues—although there are plenty of those—but also through the way it is shot and the sequence of events in the plot. The movie is beautifully shot and cleverly paced. The morals can sometimes come off a bit ham-fisted, but with a character as eccentric as V, you kind of buy it. I won’t go too deeply into the morals and analysis of the plot because I don’t want to give away large portions of the plot. Much of the plot is centered on the mystery of why V is doing this. Perhaps I’ll write an article or do a video presentation of this at a later date.

Suffice it to say, you should see this movie. Everyone should see this movie. In our day and age where people divide into tribes and groups; where we give up our individual freedoms for security; and where we aren’t willing to take personal responsibility as a society, this movie has an important message. The fight for individual freedom and the stance for anti-authoritarianism is worth engaging in. That is what this movie tries to portray and I think that it does a stellar job. V for Vendetta gets a glowing recommendation from me not only for its great message, but also its beautiful cinematography, its clever writing, and poignant themes. This film is rated R, so if that isn’t your thing, I recommend finding an edited version. I’d rate this film a score of 91/100 with a recommendation to buy it rather than rent.

H. Logan Christensen