By Joshua Green
Staff reporter
During recent years comic books have been adapted into film versions, and V for Vendetta is no exception. The movie adaption of V for Vendetta was similar to its comic book counterpart, but proved to be quite different. For whatever reason the movie was dissimilar, it still proved to have the same key underlying themes.
The film adaptation for V for Vendetta was written by the two Wachowski brothers in the mid 1990’s. Only after the Matrix trilogy was completed was the screen play given any serious consideration. The Wachowskis offered James McTeigue the director’s role in the production of the adaptation. The three working in conjunction came up with a final skit that closely mirrored V for Vendetta, but applied elements that linked better in our modern times.
V for Vendetta was filmed both in London, United Kingdomand Potsdam, Germany, but the majority of the filming was done on indoor sets. Only three scenes required specialized locations in Berlin in order to be shot. The last scene of V for Vendetta actually required getting the British government involved in order to use Westminster in London. Prime Minister Tony Blair’s son is said to have added in granting access to the location, but the calms were denied by the film makers themselves. The film makers stated that it took several months and negotiations to gain access. Filming began in early March 2005 and continued until June 2005. V for Vendetta was shot by cinematographer Adrian Biddle, who died shortly after production due to a fatal heart attack.
The film was choreographed in order to reflect David Lloyd’s noir styling he used in the comic. Dark scenes and gray tones give the feeling of a lifeless totalitarian government. The Shadow Gallery, V’s home in the comic book, was made completely by hand due to the lack of places with similar features. The Shadow Gallery is well built making it hard to tell if it truly exists. Anything of old culture that the government tried to erase like in the comic book are all contained inside V’s home with minor differences, but feels almost identical to the comic.
The story of the movie does not take place after a globalnuclear war like in the comic book, but is separated by war and terrorism. Great Britain is in shambles when the fascist reactionary force Norsefire comes to power. Norsefire purges Great Britain from most of its woes but creates greater ones due to the loss of freedom. The view of Norsefire quickly changes after a biological terrorist attack that kills a large number of people, allowing the group to seize total power.
The film is full of Matrix like fight scenes that show the extent of V’s abilities. Action isn’t the main focus of V for Vendetta like it was in the Matrix, but shows the Wachowskis unique idea of action sequences. Hugo Weaving did an excellent performance as V despite his limitations of wearing the Guy Fawkes mask. His voice acting and body language helps visualize what V is feeling beneath the mask. Natalie Portman plays the film adaptation of Evey Hammond. She did well for the role considering she doesn’t quite fit the idea behind the comic book version of Evey. Portman is much older the Evey in the comic, and also does not fit the character of Evey well. The supporting characters appearedto have made up for the lack of accuracy in the film adaptation. All the roles are well played and the special effects are good for 2006.
V for Vendetta is worth watching even though to truly understand the movie I had to watch it a second time to understand the symbolism involved in the story.
