V for Vendetta (2006)
Rated R
Directed by James McTeigue
Who assisted directed The Matrix Trilogy
Written by Andy Wachowski & Larry Wachowski
Who also wrote The Matrix Trilogy
Graphic Novel by Alan Moore
Who also wrote The Watchmen and 2000 BC
Original Graphic Art by David Lloyd
Who also did Night Raven
Cast
Evey Hammond
V
Inspector Finch
Gordon Dietrich
Chancellor Adam Sutler
Creedy
Lewis Prothero
Valerie
Natalie Portman
Hugo Weaving
Stephen Rea
Stephen Fry
John Hurt
Tim Pigott-Smith
Roger Allam
Natasha Wightman
Introduction
Tagline: Remember, remember the 5th of November, the gun powder treason and plot. I
know of no reason why the gun powder treason should ever be forgot
Set in London in a near-future dystopian (opposite of utopian, which means paradise, so
miserable, oppressed etc.) society, the film follows the mysterious V, a freedom fighter
seeking to effect sociopolitical change while simultaneously pursuing his own violent
personal vendetta.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/V_for_Vendetta_(film)
Awards
Nominated for various awards in the following categories: Best Costumes (x2), Best Science
Fiction Film, Best Screenwriting, Best Actor, Production Design (x3)
Won awards for Best Actress,
McTeigue won Most Promising Director at the Chicago Film Critics Association Awards.
Reviews
V for Vendetta
by Roger Ebert
March 16, 2006
www.rogerebert.suntimes.com
This story was first told as a graphic novel written by Alan Moore and published in 1982 and
1983. Its hero plays altogether differently now, and yet, given the nature of the regime. Is he
a terrorist or a freedom fighter? Britain is ruled by a man named Sutler, who gives orders to
his underlings from a wall-sized TV screen and seems the personification of Big Brother.
And is: Sutler is played by John Hurt, who in fact played Winston Smith in “Nineteen
Eighty-Four” (1984).
"V for Vendetta" has been written and co-produced by the Wachowski brothers, Andy and
Larry, whose "Matrix" movies also were about rebels holding out against a planetary system
of control. This movie is more literary and less dominated by special effects (although there
are plenty), and is filled with ideas that are all the more intriguing because we can't pin down
the message. Is this movie a parable about 2006, a cautionary tale or a pure fantasy? It can be
read many ways, as I will no doubt learn in endless e-mails.
The character of V and his relationship with Evey (Natalie Portman) inescapably reminds us
of the Phantom of the Opera. V and the Phantom are both masked, move through
subterranean spaces, control others through the leverage of their imaginations and have a
score to settle.
With most action thrillers based on graphic novels, we simply watch the sound and light
show. "V for Vendetta," directed by James McTeigue, almost always has something going on
that is actually interesting, inviting us to decode the character and plot and apply the message
where we will.
The film has been disowned by Alan Moore, who also removed his name from the movie
versions of his graphic novels From Hell and The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, but
then any sane person would have been unhappy with the Gentlemen. His complaint was not
so much with the films as with the deal involving the use of his work. I have not read the
original work, do not know what has been changed or gone missing, but found an audacious
confusion of ideas in "V for Vendetta" and enjoyed their manic disorganization. 
Allusions, References and Noteable Notes
Guy Fawkes was a member of a group of English Roman Catholics who attempted to blow up
the Houses of Parliament and kill King James I of England, to protest Protestant rule, on 5
November 1605. The plot, called the Gunpowder Plot, resulted in 1800 pounds (36 barrels, or
800kgs) of gunpowder being gradually hidden in the cellar of Parliament.
Fawkes was tortured over the next few days, after the King granted special permission to do so.
James directed that the torture should be gentle at first, and then more severe. For three or four
days Fawkes said nothing, let alone divulge the names of his co-conspirators. Only when he
found out that they had proclaimed themselves by appearing in arms did he succumb. The torture
only revealed the names of those conspirators who were already dead or whose names were
known to the authorities.
Shakespeare's tragedy Macbeth was finished in 1606, shortly after the dismantling of the
Gunpowder Plot. It is widely believed that Shakespeare wrote the play as an effort to appease
King James, who could trace his family back through the Scottish Kings to Banquo's line.
Boston Tea Party was an action of rebellion against the British government carried out by
American colonists and was a key event in the development of the American Revolution. On
December 16, 1773, after officials in Boston refused to return three shiploads of taxed tea to
Britain, a group of colonists boarded the ships and destroyed the tea by throwing it into Boston
Harbor. The incident remains an iconic event of American history.
1984 is a classic Science Fiction novel by George Orwell, published in 1949. It is a dystopian
novel about the totalitarian régime of the Party, an oligarchical (absolute power rests in the hands
of an elite few) collectivist society where life in the Oceanian province of Airstrip One is a world
of perpetual war, pervasive government surveillance, public mind control, and the voiding of
citizens' rights. In the Ministry of Truth (Minitrue), protagonist Winston Smith is a civil servant
responsible for perpetuating the Party's propaganda by revising historical records to render the
Party omniscient and always correct, yet his meagre existence disillusions him into rebellion
against Big Brother (the enigmatic dictator of Oceania, where everyone is under complete
surveillance by the authorities, mainly by telescreens. The people are constantly reminded of this
by the phrase "Big Brother is watching you," which is the core "truth" of the propaganda system
in this state).
Phantom of the Opera is a novel by French writer Gaston Leroux. In the story, Christine
Daaé's mother died when she was very young. During Christine's childhood, her father told
many stories and a character known as The Angel of Music figured heavily in all of them,
especially one about a girl he called Little Lotte, who was able to hear the Angel of Music.
Christine is eventually given a position in the chorus at the Paris Opera House. Not long after she
arrives there, she begins hearing a voice which sings to her and speaks to her. She believes it
must be the Angel of Music and asks him if he is. The Voice agrees and offers to teach her "a
little bit of heaven's music." The Voice, however, belongs to Erik, a disfigured genius who hides
in the rafters as the Opera Ghost (or Phantom). After her lessons result in success at the gala,
Erik takes Christine to live in his home in the cellars, but after two weeks, when Christine
requests release, he agrees, but only if she wears his ring and is faithful to him. Weeks later, Erik
kidnaps Christine during a production of Faust and attempts to persuade her to marry him.
V for Victory During World War II, British leader Winston Churchill
popularized its use as a "Victory" sign (for V as in victory).
On January 4, 1941, Victor De Lavelaye… made a BBC radio
broadcast to his countrymen, in which he suggested a new way of
striking at their Nazi occupiers:
I am proposing to you as a rallying emblem the letter V, because V is
the first letter of the words 'Victoire' in French, and 'Vrijheid' in
Flemish: two things which go together, as Walloons and Flemings are
at the moment marching hand in hand, two things which are the
consequence one of the other, the Victory which will give us back our
freedom, the Victory of our good friends the English. Their word for Victory also begins with V
De Lavelaye's campaign was taken up by the BBC, which began to broadcast the morse code for
V (dot-dot-dot-dash), followed by the opening bars of Beethoven's Fifth Symphony, whose notes
correspond to the morse signal; "fifth" can also be written using the Roman numeral, V. These
four notes would have an added significance for educated Germans, for Beethoven supposedly
said that they represented the sound of "fate knocking on the door.”
People in Nazi-occupied territories were told to chalk Vs on walls, and to make the V signal
whenever possible. Teachers could call children to order by clapping the signal, and train drivers
could make it using their whistles. Every time someone knocked on a door or rang a church bell,
they should use the rhythm of Victory.
The campaign was planned to undermine German morale in the occupied territories. De
Lavelaye explained, "The occupier, by seeing this sign, always the same, infinitely repeated, will
understand that he is surrounded, encircled by an immense crowd of citizens eagerly awaiting his
first moment of weakness, watching for his first failure."
Such was the success of the campaign that the Germans tried to counter it with their own "V for
Viktoria" project. They were too late, for the letter V was now understood across Europe as an
anti-Nazi sign
http://www.icons.org.uk/theicons/collection/the-v-sign/biography/v-for-victory
Adolf Hitler was the totalitarian leader of Germany from 1933 to 1945,
serving as chancellor from 1933 to 1945. His program of genocide took
Jews, non-Jewish Poles, Communists and political opponents, members
of resistance groups, homosexuals, Gypsies, the physically and mentally
handicapped, Soviet prisoners of war, Jehovah's Witnesses, Adventists,
trade unionists, and psychiatric patients were killed.
Cry Me a River
Lyrics by A. Hamilton
Now you say you’re lonely
You cry the long night through
Well, you can cry me a river
Cry me a river
I cried a river over you.
Now you say you’re sorry
For being so untrue
Well, you can cry me a river
Cry me a river
I cried a river over you.
You drove me, nearly drove me, out of my head
While you never shed a tear
Remember, I remember, all that you said?
You told me love was too plebeian
Told me you were through with me and
Now you say you love me
Well, just to prove that you do
Come on and cry me a river
Cry me a river
Cuz I cried a river over you.
If my pillow could talk
Imagine what it would’ve said
T’would be a river of tears
I cried in bed
So you can cry me a river
Daddy, go ahead and cry me that river
Cuz I cried how I cried
A river over you.
The painting beside V’s jukebox is Jan van Eyck’s “The
Arnolfini Portrait” (1434), which remains consistently
controversial because of its difficulty to interpret.
Key Lines/Quotes
Evey: Remember, remember the fifth of November. But what of the man? I know his name was
Guy Fawkes and I know in 1605 he attempted to blow up the Houses of Parliament. But who
was he really? What was he like? We are told to remember the idea not the man because a man
can fail he can be caught and he can be killed and forgotten, but 400 years later an idea can still
change the world. I’ve witnessed firsthand the power of ideas; I’ve seen people kill in the name
of them, and die defending them, but you cannot kiss an idea, cannot touch it or hold it. Ideas do
not bleed, they do not feel pain, they do not love. And it is not an idea that I miss; it is a man – a
man that made me remember the fifth of November. A man that I will never forget.
Prothero: So, I read that the former United States is so desperate for medical supplies that they
have allegedly sent several containers filled with wheat and tobacco. A gesture, they said, of
goodwill. You wanna know what I think? Well, you’re listening to my show, so I will assume
you do. I think it’s high time we let the colonies know what we think of them. I think it’s
payback time for a little tea party they threw for us a few hundred years ago. I say we go down
to those docks tonight and dump that crap where everything from the Ulcered Sphincter of Asserica belongs. Who’s with me? Who’s bloody with me?! Did you like that? Ulcered Sphincter
of Ass-erica. I mean what else can you say? There was a country that had everything, absolutely
everything, and now, twenty years later, is what? The world’s biggest leper colony. Why?
Godlessness. Let me say that again: Godlessness. It wasn’t the war they started. It wasn’t the
plague they created. It was Judgment. No one escapes their past; no one escapes Jadgment.
You think He’s not up there? You think He’s not watching over this country? How else can you
explain it? He tested us, but we came through. We did what we had to do. Islington. Enfield. I
was there. I saw it all. Immigrants, Muslims, homosexuals, terrorists. Disease-ridden
degenerates. They had to go. Strength Through Unity, Unity Through Faith. I am a Godfearing Englishman, and I’m goddamned proud of it!
V: [Quoting the sergeant from Macbeth Act I Scene 2] "The multiplying villainies of nature do
swarm upon him disdaining fortune/with his brandish'd steel, which smoked with bloody
execution...?
V: [Quoting Polonius from Shakespeare's Hamlet Act 3, Scene 1] We are oft to blame in this, - /
'Tis too much proved - that with devotion's visage/ And pious action we do sugar o'er/ The devil
himself.
Fingerman: What does that mean?
V: Spare the Rod.
Evey: Who are you?
V: Who? Who is but the form following the function of what and what I am is a man in a mask.
Evey: Well, I can see that
V: Of course you can. I’m not questioning your powers of observation, I’m merely remarking
upon the paradox of asking a masked man who he is.
Evey: Oh. Right.
V: But on this most auspicious of nights, permit me then, in lieu of the more commonplace
sobriquet to suggest the character of this dramatis persona. Voia! In view, a humble,
vaudevillian veteran, cast vicariously as both victim and villain by the vicissitudes of fate. This
visage, no mere veneer of vanity is a vestige of the vox populi, now vacant, vanished. However,
this valorous visitation of a bygone vexation stands vivified and has vowed to vanquish these
venal and virulent vermin vanguarding vice and vouchasafing the violently vicious and voracious
violation of volition. The only verdict is vengeance, a vendetta, held as a votive not in vain, for
the value and veracity of such shall one day vindicate the vigilant and the virtuous. Verily, this
vichyssoise of verbiage veers most verbose. So let me simply add that it’s my very good honor
to meet you and you may call me V.
Evey: Are you a crazy person?
V: I’m quite sure they will say so. But whom, may I ask, am I speaking with?
Evey: Evey.
V: Evey? E-V. Of course you are.
Evey: What does that mean?
V: It means that I, like God, do not play with dice and I do not believe in coincidence.
V: Good evening, London.
Allow me first to apologize. I do, like many of you, appreciate the comforts of the everyday
routine; the security of the familiar; the tranquility of repetition. I enjoy them as much as any
bloke. But in the spirit of commemoration, whereby the important events of the past usually
associated with someone’s death or the end of some awful, bloody struggle are celebrated with a
nice holiday, I thought we could mark this November the fifth, a day that is, sadly, no longer
remembered, by taking some time out of our daily lives to sit down and have a little chat.
There are, of course, those who do not want us to speak. I suspect, even now, orders are being
shouted into telephones and men with guns will soon be on their way. Why? Because while the
truncheon may be used in lieu of conversation, words will always retain their power. Words
offer the means to meaning and, for those who will listen, the enunciation of truth. And the truth
is there is something terribly wrong with this country, isn’t there? Cruelty and injustice,
intolerance and oppression. And where censors and surveillance coercing your conformity and
soliciting your submission.
How did this happen? Who’s to blame? Well, certainly there are those who are more
responsible than others. And they will be held accountable. But again, truth be told, if you’re
looking for the guilty, you need only look into a mirror. I know why you did it. I know you
were afraid. Who wouldn’t be? War, terror, disease, there were a myriad of problems which
conspired to corrupt your reason and rob you of your common sense. Fear got the best of you
and in your panic you turned to the now high Chancellor, Adam Sutcliffe. He promised you
order; he promised you peace, and all he demanded in return was your silent, obedient consent.
Last night, I sought to end that silence. Last night, I destroyed the Old Bailey to remind this
country of what it has forgotten. More than 400 years ago, a great citizen wished to imbed the
fifth of November in our memory. His hope was to remind the world that fairness, justice and
freedom are more than just words. They are perspectives.
So, if you’ve seen nothing; if the crimes of this government remain unknown to you, then I
would suggest that you allow this fifth of November to pass unmarked. But if you see what I
see; if you feel as I feel; and if you seek as I seek, then I ask you to stand beside me, one year
from tonight outside the gates of Parliament, and together we shall give them a fifth of
November that shall never, ever be forgot.
V: [Quoting Macbeth from Macbeth Act I Scene 7] I dare do all that may become a man; who
dares do more is none.
V: People should not be afraid of their governments; governments should be afraid of their
people.
Evey: And you’re going to make that happen by blowing up a building?
V: The building is a symbol, as is the act of destroying it. A symbol is given power by people.
Alone, a symbol is meaningless, but, with enough people, blowing up a building can change the
world.
Evey: I wish I believed that was possible, but every time I’ve seen this world change, it’s always
been for the worst.
Evey: Vi Veri Veniversum Vivus Vici.
V: By the power of truth, I, while living, have conquered the universe.
Evey: Personal motto?
V: From "Faust."
Evey: That's about trying to cheat the devil, isn't it?
V: It is.
V: [quoting Shakespeare's Richard III, Act I Scene 3] And thus I clothe my naked villainy / With
old odd ends stolen forth from holy writ/And seem a saint when most I play the devil.
Creedy: The security of information is paramount in these volatile times.
Gordon: You see we’re both fugitives in our own way.
Evey: But…
Gordon: You’re wondering why you were invited here to supper in the first place if my appetites
were for less conventional fare. Unfortunately, a man in my position is expected to entertain
young, attractive ladies like yourself. Because, in this world, if I were to invite who I desired, I
would undoubtedly find myself without a home, let alone a television show.
Evey: I’m sorry.
Gordon: Not as sorry as I am. The truth is, that after so many years, you begin to lose more than
just your appetite; you wear a mask for so long, you forget who you were beneath it.
Finch: I want to ask a question, Dominic. I don’t care if you answer me or not; I just want to say
this aloud. And I need to know that this question will not leave this office.
Dominic: Yes, of course, Inspector. Because of the terrorist?
Finch: No.
Dominic: What is it, Chief, what’s going on?
Finch: The question I want to ask is about St. Mary’s and Three Waters; a question that’s kept
me up for the last 24 hours. The question I have to ask is – what if the worst, most horrifying
biological attack in this country’s history was not the work of religious extremists?
Dominic: I don’t understand; we know it was: they were caught, they confessed.
Finch: And they were executed, I know. And maybe, that’s really what happened. But I see this
chain of events; these coincidences, and I have to ask – what if that isn’t what happened? What
if someone else unleashed that virus? What if someone else killed all those people? Would you
really want to know who it was?
Dominic: Sure.
Finch: Even if it was someone working for this government. That’s my question. If our own
government was responsible for what happened at St. Mary’s and Three Waters, if our own
government was responsible for the deaths of almost 100,000 people, would you really want to
know?
Valerie: I know there’s no way I can convince you this is not one of their tricks, but I don’t care.
I am me. My name is Valerie. I don’t think I’ll live much longer, and I wanted to tell someone
about my life. This is the only autobiography that I will ever write and, God… I’m writing it on
toilet paper.
I was born in Nottingham in 1985, I don’t remember much of those early years, but I do
remember the rain. My grandmother owned a farm in Tottle Brook and she used to tell me that
God was in the rain. I passed my 11 Plus and went to girls’ grammar. It was at school that I met
my first girlfriend. Her name was Sarah. It was her wrists; they were beautiful. I thought we
would love each other forever. I remember our teacher telling us that it was an adolescent phase
that people outgrew. Sarah did. I didn’t.
In 2002, I fell in love with a girl named Christina. That year I came out to my parents. I
couldn’t have done it without Chris holding my hand. My father wouldn’t look at me. He told
me to go and never come back. My mother said nothing. But I’d only told them the truth – was
that so selfish? Our integrity sells for so little, but it’s all we really have. It is the very last inch
of us. But within that inch - we are free...
I’d always known what I wanted to do with my life, and in 2015 I starred in my first film, The
Salt Flats. It was the most important role of my life, not because of my career, but because that
was how I met Ruth. The first time we kissed I knew I never wanted to kiss any other lips but
hers again. We moved to a small flat in London together. She grew Scarlet Carsons for me in
our window box and our place always smelt of roses. Those were the best years of my life. But
America’s war grew worse and worse, and eventually came to London... After that, there were
no roses anymore. Not for anyone...
I remember how the meaning of words began to change. How unfamiliar words like “collateral”
and “rendition” became frightening; while things like “Norsefire” and the “Articles of
Allegiance” became powerful. I remember how “different” became dangerous. I still don’t
understand it: why they hate us so much.
They took Ruth while she was out buying food. I’ve never cried so hard in my life. It wasn’t
long till they came for me. It seems strange that my life should end in such a terrible place. But
for three years, I had roses and apologized to no one.
I shall die here. Every inch of me shall perish. Every inch but one. An inch: it is small and it is
fragile and it is the only thing in the world worth having. We must never lose it or give it away.
We must never let them take it from us. I hope that, whoever you are, you escape this place. I
hope that the world turns and that things get better. But what I hope most of all is that you
understand what I mean when I tell you that even though I do not know you, and even though I
may never meet you, laugh with you, cry with you, or kiss you – I love you. With all my heart; I
love you. -Valerie
V: Hello, Evey.
Evey: You. It was you.
V: Yeah.
Evey: That wasn't real... Is Gordon - ?
V: I'm sorry, but Mr. Dietrich’s dead. I thought they'd arrest him, but when they found a Koran
in his house, they had him executed.
Evey : Oh God...
V: Fortunately, I got to you before they did.
Evey : You got to me? You did this to me? You cut my hair? You tortured me? You tortured me!
Why?
V: You said you wanted to live without fear. I wish there'd been an easier way, but there wasn't. I
know you may never forgive me... but nor will you understand how hard it was for me to do
what I did. Every day I saw in myself everything you see in me now. Every day I wanted to end
it, but each time you refused to give in, I knew I couldn't.
Evey : You're sick! You're evil!
V: You could've ended it, Evey, you could've given in. But you didn't. Why?
Evey : Leave me alone! I hate you!
V: That's it! See, at first I thought it was hate, too. Hate was all I knew, it built my world, it
imprisoned me, taught me how to eat, how to drink, how to breathe. I thought I'd die with all my
hate in my veins. But then something happened. It happened to me... just as it happened to you.
Evey : Shut up! I don't want to hear your lies!
V: Your own father said that artists use lies to tell the truth. Yes, I created a lie. But because you
believed it, you found something true about yourself.
Evey : No.
V: What was true in that cell is just as true now. What you felt in there has nothing to do with
me.
Evey : I can't feel anything anymore!
V: Don't run from it, Evey. You've been running all your life.
Evey : I can't... can't breathe. Asthma... asthma! When I was little...
V: Listen to me, Evey. This may be the most important moment of your life. Commit to it. They
took your parents from you. They took your brother from you. They put you in a cell and took
everything they could take except your life. And you believed that was all there was, didn't you?
The only thing you had left was your life, but it wasn't, was it? You found something else. In that
cell you found something that mattered more to you than life. It was when they threatened to kill
you unless you gave them what they wanted... you told them you'd rather die. You faced your
death, Evey. You were calm. You were still. Try to feel now what you felt then.
Evey : Oh God... I felt...
V: Yes?
Evey: I'm dizzy. I need air. Please, I need to be outside.
Sutler: If I’m sure of anything, Inspector Finch, it’s that this would not survive if it is to be
subject to your feelings. Mr. Dascomb, what we need right now is a clear message to the people
of this country. This message must be read in every newspaper, heard on every radio, seen on
every television. This message must resound throughout the entire Interlink: I want this country
to realize that we stand on the edge of oblivion. I want every man, woman and child to
understand how close we are to chaos. I want every to remember why they need us.
Rookwood: Our story begins, as these stories often do, with a young up-and-coming politician.
He's a deeply religious man and a member of the Conservative Party. He is completely singleminded and has no regard for the political process. The more power he obtains, the more obvious
his zealotry, the more aggressive his supporters become. Eventually, his party launches a special
project in the name of 'national security'. At first, it is believed to be a search for biological
weapons and it is pursued without regard of its cost. However, the true goal of the project is
power, complete and total hegemonic domination. The project, however, ends violently... but the
efforts of those involved are not in vain, for a new ability to wage war is born from the blood of
one of their victims. Imagine a virus - the most terrifying virus you can, and then imagine that
you and you alone have the cure. But if your ultimate goal is power, how best to use such a
weapon? It is at this point in our story that along comes a spider. He is a man seemingly without
a conscience; for whom the ends always justify the means and it is he who suggests that their
target should not be an enemy of the country but rather the country itself. Three targets are
chosen to maximize the effect of the attack: a school, a tube station, and a water-treatment plant.
Several hundred die within the first few weeks. Fueled by the media, fear and panic spread
quickly, fracturing and dividing the country until, at long last, the true goal comes into view.
Before the St. Mary's crisis, no one would have predicted the outcome of the elections that year;
no one. But then, not long after the election, lo and behold -- a miracle. Some believed it was the
work of God himself, but it was a pharmaceutical company controlled by certain party members
made them all obscenely rich. A year later, several extremists are tried, found guilty, and
executed while a memorial is built to canonize their victims. But the end result, the true genius of
the plan, was the fear. Fear became the ultimate tool of this government. And through it our
politician was ultimately appointed to the newly created position of High Chancellor. The rest, as
they say, is history.
Finch: Can you prove any of this?
Rookwood: Why do you think I'm still alive?
Finch: Right. We'd like to take you into protective custody, Mr. Rookwood.
Rookwood: Oh, I'm sure you would. But if you want that recording, you'll do what I tell you to
do. Put Creedy under 24 hour surveillance. When I feel safe that he can't pick his nose without
you knowing, I'll contact you again. Until then, cheerio.
Finch: Rookwood. Why didn't you come forward before? What were you waiting for?
Rookwood: Well, for you, Inspector. I needed you.
V: Sutler knew he never could trust you, could he, Mr. Creedy? And we both know why. After I
destroy Parliament, his only chance will be to offer them someone else, some other piece of meat
and who will that be? You, Mr. Creedy. A man as smart as you has probably considered this. A
man as smart as you probably has a plan. That plan is the reason Sutler never could trust you;
it’s the reason why you’re being watched right now, why there are eyes and ears in every room
in this house and a tap on every phone.
Creedy: Bollox.
V: Oh a man as smart as you, I think knows otherwise.
Creedy: What do you want?
V: Sutler. Come now, Mr. Creedy, you knew this was coming. You knew one day it would be
you or him. That’s why Sutler has been kept underground for security purposes. That’s why
there are several of your men close to Sutler; men who can be counted on. All you have to do is
say the word.
Creedy: What do I get out of this deal?
V: Me. If you accept, put an X on your front door.
Creedy: Why should I trust you?
V: Cuz it’s the only way you’re ever going to stop me.
Sutler: Tonight, I will speak directly to these people and make the situation perfectly clear to
them: the security of this nation depends on complete and total compliance! Tonight, any
protestor, any instigator, or agitator will be made example of!
Dascomb: [clears throat] Chancellor, there is a contingency that has not been addressed.
Sutler: And what is that, Mr. Dascomb?
Dascomb: Should the terrorist succeedSutler: He won’t.
Dascomb: I understand that it’s highly unlikely, but if he doesSutler: If he does, and something happens to that building, the only thing that will change, the
only difference it will make will be that, tomorrow morning, instead of a newspaper, I will be
reading Mr. Creedy’s resignation!
Evey: The masks were ingenious. It was strange to suddenly see your face everywhere.
V: [Quoting Viola from Twelfth Night Act I Scene 2] Conceal me what I am, and be my aid for
such disguise as haply shall become the form of my intent.
Evey: Twelfth Night.
V: Viola.
Evey: I don’t understand.
V: What?
Evey: How you can be one of the most important things that has ever happened to me and, yet, I
know almost nothing about you: I don’t know where you were born, who your parents were, if
you had any brothers or sisters, I don’t even know what you really look like.
V: Evey, please. There is a face beneath this mask, but it’s not me; I am no more that face than
the muscles beneath it or the bones beneath them.
Evey: I understand.
V: Thank you.
Evey: It’s really going to happen, isn’t it?
V: It will, if you want it to.
Evey: What?
V: This is my gift to you, Evey: everything that I have. My home, my books, the Gallery, this
train, I’m leaving to you, to do with what you will.
Evey: Is this another trick, V?
V: No. No more tricks, no more lies, only truth. And the truth is you made me understand that I
was wrong, that the choice to pull this lever is not mine to make.
Evey: Why?
V: Because this world, the world that I’m a part of and helped shape will end tonight and
tomorrow a different world will begin that different people will shape and this choice belongs to
them.
Sutler: [voice over empty rooms and a kidnapped Sutler being handed over to V] My fellow
Englishmen, tonight our country, that which we stand for, and all that we hold dear faces a grave
and terrible threat… This violent and unparalleled assault on our security will not go
undefended… or unpunished… Our enemy is an insidious one; seeking to divide us and destroy
the very foundation of our great nation… Tonight we must remain steadfast, we must remain
determined, but, most of all, we must remain united…Those caught tonight in violation of
curfew tonight will be considered in league with our enemy and prosecuted as a terrorist without
leniency or exception… Tonight, I give you my most solemn vow that justice will be swift, it
will be righteous, and it will be without mercy.
Creedy: Die! Die! Why won’t you die?! Why won’t you die?
V: Beneath this mask there is more than just flesh. Beneath this mask there is an idea, Mr.
Creedy; and ideas are bulletproof.
[Finch sees that V is dead]
Finch: Then it’s over.
Evey: Almost.
Finch: Stop. Get your hand off that lever.
Evey: No.
…
Finch: Why are you doing this?
Evey: Because he was right.
Finch: About what?
Evey: That this country needs more than a building right now; it needs hope.
Finch: Who was he?
Evey : He was Edmond Dantés... and he was my father…and my mother... my brother... my
friend…he was you... and me...he was all of us.
Discussion Questions
Film as Story
 Themes of Justice and Vengeance – V as antihero (What’s with all the Shakespeare?)
 Symbolism of mirrors (connection to film techniques)
 Concept of terrorism – which characters are terrorists? How?
 Idea of power and control – symbols of entrapment and freedom. What is the role of truth
Freedom of speech and censorship – who controls words? Look at how Creedy’s ability to
control conversation (esp. with Det. Finch) //s Stanley’s.
 Evey accuses people of being crazy, insane, mad and makes other comments about losing
one’s mind – How does this // Evey being the ‘ideal’ citizen?
 Symbolism of the Scarlet Carson
 Character parallels and foils
 What is the intended message of Gordon’s uncensored broadcast? What was so offensive to
the government about it?
 Symbolism of dominoes
 Symbolic acts. V’s all about them – what are some examples, how do they get their meaning?
V as a symbol of an idea. What is that idea?
 Rebirth, identity (V explains his character is more important than a name, when meeting Evey
for example). Rain and fire as symbols.
 Guy Fawkes mask – Who wears different types of masks? What do masks represent? How is
that carried through to the final scene? And what is the meaning of all the dead people in the
crowd?
Film as Technique
 Film opens with a point of view shot – what is it? What is its significance? Other point of
view shots?
 Darkness, lighting, shadow
 Color (especially red)
 Camera angles and camera/character proxemics to represent power/powerlessness
 Framing and angles to represent entrapment/freedom
Parallel shots/scenes, wipes, dissolves, match & flash cuts, and Negative space (what’s with
ALL the negative space) – connection to mirrors
 The song playing when Evey wakes up in V’s Shadow Gallery (and when she returns on the
night of the revolution) is Julie London singing “Cry Me a River” – what is its symbolic
relevance? Why is it banned by the government? How does the ‘reading’ of the song shift from
the first to the second time it is played?
 Juxtaposition of digetic voice overs and on-screen visuals. Use of irony in the film.
 Use of non-digetic sound (music assoc w/ V; Evey’s imprisonment)
 Fade to black – what does it represent? When is it used?
 Montage during Finch’s Larkhill monologue