#8 V for Vendetta

V for Vendetta (2005)

• Directed by James McTeigue.
• Written by (Screenplay) Larry Wachowski and Andy Wachowski. (Graphic Novel) Alan Moore and David Lloyd.
• Cinematography by Adrian Biddle.
• Produced by Joel Silver, Larry and ANdy Wachowski, Grant Hill.
• Distributed by Warner Bros.
• Actors, Natalie Portman, Hugo Weaving, Stephen Rea, Stephen Fry, John Hurt.
• In 2034, Britain has become totalitarian and is ruled by the Fascist Norsefire regime. The story follows Evey Hammond, a young woman who is rescued from state police by a Guy Fawkes-masked vigilante known as "V". After rescuing her, they witness V's destruction of the Old Bailey. The regime explains the incident to the public as an emergency demolition, but this is shown to be a lie when V takes over the state-run British Television Network (BTN) the same day. He broadcasts a message urging the people of Britain to rise up against the oppressive government on the fifth of November; one year from that day, when V will destroy the Houses of Parliament. Evey helps V escape, but is put in danger. V saves Evey from being captured and interrogated by officials and brings her to his lair, where she is told that she must stay in hiding with him. Evey is about to send the train down the track, when she is discovered by Inspector Finch. Finch, who has been investigating V and thereby learned much about the corruption of the Norsefire regime, allows Evey to proceed. Meanwhile, thousands of Londoners, all wearing Guy Fawkes masks, march on Parliament to watch the event. Among these Londoners, we see the faces of those who have died, including a little girl shot by the police for wearing the mask; a pair of gay men seen in Valerie's flashback; Evey's parents; Valerie, the lesbian prisoner in the cell next to V's whose words had given him his drive; Ruth, Valerie's partner; and Gordon Deitrich. Because Creedy and the Chancellor are dead, the British Army stands down in the face of a civil rebellion. Parliament is destroyed by the explosion, accompanied by the 1812 Overture. On a nearby rooftop, Evey and Finch watch the scene together, as she answers his question of who V was by stating he was "all of us". "Only when you have no fear are you free"