Natalie Portman’s bald head was just another signpost that pointed towards her doing a new movie. ‘V for Vendetta‘ they said. Bleh, I went.
And then they released the poster.
When I first saw the poster, I was transfixed. Mesmerized. Raptured.
People should not be afraid of their governments. Governments should be afraid of their people.
With such a boldly subversive tagline, which libertarian can resist? (Oh be still my pounding heart! :D)
I did some research, and found out that the movie was actually based on a graphic novel.
The credit card came out and Amazon’s revenue for this year just increased by another US$13.59.
Get the book. Read it. Wait for the movie. Watch it.
People should not be afraid of their governments. Governments should be afraid of their people.
15 Comments
A more ideal situation is to have neither side being afraid of the other.
Would you want to live in a place where the government is afraid of making certain decisions because of certain groups of people? We tend to think that “people” means the common man on the street, but if a gov can be held to ransom that easily, then “people” could mean triads and multicorporations.
MNCs, I mean
When was the last time you heard of a government being ‘held to ransom’ by MNCs?
In the absence of criminal activities, anything which involve the use of force, fraud or coercion, I don’t see how MNCs can be more threatening than governments.
Remember that governments have a monopoly on the use of force. As such, their powers should be carefully watched and constrained.
lend me the book when you’re done! :p
cheapo me.
Me:
v for vendetta is not about an ideal world. it’s about anarchy contrasted with totalitarianism. the graphic novel is sympathetic to the former, yes, but provides fair treatment such that one can question either side. V is not a simple terrorist, but are his actions justified? At what point is vigilantism supportable?
Difficult questions, and that is why the book was such a cult classic; with a legacy that the movie can surely not dream of surpassing.
The tagline certainly is bold and attention-grabbing, but after watching the trailer, I am a little disappointed. The theme of the movie is still generic, and doesn’t attempt to portray a realistic picture of political reality. Still relying on hollywood cliches (e.g. the need for a messiah-type hero), I don’t actually think it may subvert notions of totalitarianism, authoritanism, liberalism and democracy but actually promote stereotypical beliefs.
Of course, I haven’t seen the movie, I am willingly to take back my words if I found the portrayal to be contrary to my initial preview. But if the Matrix trilogy were to be taken as an example, then I don’t have much faith.
coupdegras:
yes, I think the beauty of the graphic novel genre is that characters are never clear-cut ‘good’ or ‘evil’. Human beings are complex creatures, and our motivations can come from myriad and possibly even conflicting sources. The fact that questions arise in our mind indicates that the book truly was a work of art. I can’t wait to get mine.
Trowa:
True, the trailer does seem quite mainstream Hollywoodish, which is why I decided to get the book first. In case the movie fails to live up to expectations, at least I have the graphic novel to fall back on.
Enjoy the comic. If League of The Extraordinary Gentlemen was a sign of how they handle Moore’s work, I cringe at the thought but then again, it is going to be exciting to watch it on screen. Next time, instead of shelling out US$xx.xx for something new, why not check out a used copy at the local comic or 2nd hand book store, there should be a tonne of these in Mel. Have fun and enjoy!
Alan Moore’s had a terrible track record with movie adaptations of his works — look at League of Extraordinary Gentlemen (terrific, intelligent, literarily-aware graphic novel => X-Men wannabe action movie), From Hell (truly suspenseful mystery psychodrama => silly slasher flick) and Constantine (never read Moore’s work on Hellblazer, but he *did* create the character).
With the Architect’s nonsensical monologue from Matrix Reloaded still haunting my mind, I cringe at the thought of what the Wachowskis could do to a work as complex as V for Vendetta.
Hiya Wannabe Lawyer,
If I’m not wrong, it reminds me of the French Revolution.
I live a ‘managed’ society that fits in somewhere between the Utopia and Dystopia. But then who’s not living in one?
Having said that, who cares where it fits if it hitherto lives up to our material expectations? Blah.
Oh God please forgive my undesirably hedonistic and materialistic thoughts and approach in life, where did I banish worthy thoughts/ issues like being Singaporean, being patriotic, rootedness, etc.
Gimme a break, will you (my Big Brother)?
Just lemme experience people’s power in a movie at the very least ok.
I like that you called it a graphic novel and not a ‘comic’.
=)
To be fair to Mr Moore, once he has sold the rights to the title, he do not look bad, do no look bad and do not care … I think. I mean, just look at the man (bit of like ZZ Top), he is out of this world, I mean, he is concerned about coming across as being somewhat unusual, if you wore a monocle. LOL! From another perspective, the guy know that his legacy is in his writing and no amount of damage done on screen can do damage to the brillance that are his stories.
Ah! I see you’ve discovered the trailer as well!
I agree with the general commentary - Alan Moore’s work does not translate well to screen. He really needs to keep a little creative control over his works, or at least sell them to much better producers.
another good Alan Moore novel is The Watchmen. If you liked V for Vendetta, you should check that out too.
skates: movie adaptations do shroud the brillance of graphic novels, Batman and Robin Forever, for example, nearly destroyed the franchise.
if any movie studio touches the watchmen, CdG will start blowing things up ala V.
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[...] Saw this off Han’s blog. Couldn’t help laughing when I saw it. The irony is that it is not a Singaporean film. In fact, if it was ever proposed in Singapore, it would have probably been categorized a political film and banned or something. kekekeke. [...]