Movie Review: V For Vendetta

V For Vendetta is a movie made for the post-9/11 world. It is a vision of a future that looks eerily similar to our own--if we as citizens do not wrestle power from the forces that currently hold it in their grasp.

As the character V (Hugo Weaving) says at one point in the film, "People should not fear their governments.Governments should fear their people." V becomes the impetus to bring that about with a plan to bring down the corrupt government which has destroyed his life and country, creating the skilled assassin that he becomes.

V, disguised in a Guy Fowlkes mask, uses cunning and violence as his means to an end. But the latter seems to be the only language the government he opposes understands, as it uses torture and murder to intimidate and destroy freedom and any opponent of its policies. There's a true eeriness in a scene of torture, as you're reminded that the Bush Administration has been reported to have used similar tactics in its detainment of suspects. In the case of the film, those suspects happen to be its own citizens.

V For Vendetta is both a frightening and hopeful vision. Despite V's approach to conflict resolution, the film reminds us that in the end it is the people who allow their freedoms to be taken away and it is they who must ultimately take it back. Sound familiar?

Gather your friends, colleagues, DFA group, etc. and go to see this film.

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