James Mcteigue's V For Vendetta

Set in the near future, James McTeigue’s V for Vendetta (2005) serves as an allegory of historical and contemporary political climates while glorifying violence and the idea of an armed revolution to fight fascism and injustice in a dystopian political environment. The film depicts an autocratic government that rules over an oppressed society through means such as mass media mediation and corrupt state-sanctioned police. V for Vendetta presents contentious messages as it highlights the negative effects of several past dystopian regimes such as Nazi Germany as well as current social unrest caused by events such as 9/11 while portraying a terrorist, V, as a freedom fighter who condones violence for both his personal vendetta and to overthrow

an authoritarian government.
Originally a graphic novel by Alan Moore and David Lloyd published in the late 1980s, the apparent political dystopia in V for Vendetta presents parallels to Britain during Thatcherism. Throughout the film we see “detention centers,” a reference to Thatcher “building concentration camps in which [she] intended to house HIV-positive patients” (Shepard, 2006). The film emphasizes the authoritarian government’s abuse of power by showing the barbaric tests run on the prisoners at these detention centers where the prison population comprised of political nonconformists, various non-white ethnic groups, and, in particular, homosexuals. The film also relates Thatcher’s views on homosexuals. “Thatcher and her cronies were poised to stamp out homosexuality in Britain,” and she established this point of view during her speech at the Conservative Party Conference in 1987 where she said, “children who need to be taught to respect traditional moral values are being taught that they have an inalienable right to be gay. All of those children are being cheated of a sound start in life -- yes, cheated" (Shepard, 2006). Within the first five minutes of the film, we are introduced to this idea of state-sanctioned homophobia through a broadcasted news channel on the television. We see Lewis Prothero, also known as ‘The Voice of England’—the controlling government’s spokesperson saying, “Immigrants, Muslims, homosexuals—disease-ridden degenerates. They had to go” (Davidson, 2007).
There are constant reminders that this dystopian autocratic government is not something new to our world. In addition to references to Thatcherism, the film’s dystopian political environment also reflects upon Nazi Germany. The constant reiteration of the barbaric practices carried out at the detention centers, such as the scene showing bodies being thrown into a mass grave, mirror those of the concentration camps that existed during Hitler’s reign. Just before the scene showing the mass graves, we see a tracking medium shot of prisoners at the detention centers being injected and experimented on. This scene reminds us of the cruel acts being performed on these patients, who have only been imprisoned due to the fascist government’s attempt at creating the ‘perfect race’—which does not include homosexuals or non-white ethnic groups. Again, this scene can be seen as reminiscent of Nazi Germany where people “were killed because they did not fit, for one reason or another, the scheme of a perfect society” (Zerzan, 2005). Many characters in the film, such as “the agency of the Gestapo-like Fingermen, who black-bag the heads of their victims,” as well as the film’s tyrannical leader himself, High Chancellor Adam Sutler—a portmanteau of “Susan” (the High Chancellor’s last name in the graphic novel) and “Hitler”— are blatant references to this dystopian environment’s similarities to Nazi Germany (Shepard, 2006). Another obvious reference to Hitler is the scene where we see Chancellor Sutler giving a speech while an army parades in front of his podium. Just before the scene changes, there is a brief medium shot of Sutler speaking passionately with one arm up while his political party’s red and black logo fills the background, another parallel to the fascist Nazi leader. The masked antagonist, V, also clearly references Nazi Germany during his “pirate television broadcast” where he speaks “against a backdrop which shows images of Hitler, Stalin, and Mussolini” (Call, 2008).
Although set in the near future, the film establishes a post-figurative culture by referencing past autocratic regimes.

The similarities between the reactionary dystopian environment emphasized throughout the film and our current political cultures it references give rise to the idea that political systems present in the world today could “easily lead to totalitarianism” (Davidson, 2007). Throughout the film, there is evidence of several subtle critiques on the contemporary neo-conservative American government under George W. Bush. There are numerous references to the war in Iraq, domestic spying, and also talk of “rendition,” which can be seen as a comment on “creeping authoritarianism in post 9/11 America” (Porton, 2006). Lewis Prothero, ‘The Voice of England,’ hosts his show on the BTN, British Television Network—“a thinly veiled surrogate for Fox News”—which acts as one of the controlling government’s propagandist channels that helps to induce fear in society and maintain the governments power over them (Porton, 2006). Later on in the film, we see one of the reporters at the BTN saying, “our job is to report the news, not fabricate it; that’s the government’s job,” further implying an authoritarian state created by the Bush Administration post 9/11. Another implicit reference to the American government is the secret state police, who “black-bag the heads of their victims Abu Ghraib-style,” as well as the torture scenes in prisons reminiscent of Guantanamo Bay (Shepard,

2006).
Although the film repeatedly highlights the negative aspects of violence and control in past and contemporary autocratic regimes, V for Vendetta celebrates the violent protagonist, V, as a freedom fighter rather than a terrorist.

V condones violence when it is used for the good of society, he uses violence to elicit change and fight for freedom and justice in the midst of political tyranny. He believes that due to the idleness of the citizens, the fascist, authoritarian government has been able to remove almost all civil liberties from them, controlling their jobs, establishing a curfew, and even controlling the types of foods they are allowed. Therefore, V uses violence to awaken the citizens and allow them to gain the courage to fight back against the totalitarian

government.
V’s first act of terrorism, blowing up the Old Bailey, can be seen as the moment when the audience is allowed to decide whether they believe him to be a terrorist, or a revolutionary. As the symbol of justice, V sees the Old Bailey as hypocrisy, as the totalitarian government is far from just, and uses that as his first attempt at awakening the public. This act is accompanied with the 1812 Overture playing on the speakerphones around the city, an overture commemorating Russia’s defense against Napoleon I—a tyrant. This scene serves as a powerful symbol of the beginning of V’s revolution, the loud music along with the explosion, which resembles fireworks, allows the audience to celebrate with V and makes them believe that violence can be justified if it’s in the name of freedom.
Another significant scene where violence is glorified is the domino montage. In one of the film’s most compelling scenes, McTeigue uses thematic juxtaposition to connect two unrelated shots—V setting up dominoes, while Eric Finch, the detective in charge of capturing V, is in his office telling a colleague about his findings. McTeigue incorporates crosscutting to imply that these two events are occurring simultaneously. The scene begins with an establishing shot of thousands of packages being delivered around London, followed by a cut to Finch and a little girl both receiving the same package containing a Guy Fawkes mask. The camera then cuts to a close-up of V’s hand setting up dominoes. The use of cross cutting between these two shots suggest a relationship between the two, that V isn’t just setting up dominoes but also a larger scheme that will unfold. The audience first gets a sense of the chaos ahead when the shot cuts to a man—wearing the same mask—robbing a store at gunpoint. Finch is seen narrating his findings while the camera cuts back and forth between him, and significant scenes that were shown earlier in the movie. McTeigue zooms into a close-up of Finch’s grave expression from a medium shot to stress the significance of his findings, that V’s master plan for chaos will be widespread. McTeigue establishes the cause and effect relationship between the shots when he cuts to Finch finishing his speech when we see a slow-motion shot of V flicking the first domino just after Finch says “and then.”