When she switches off her TV, he does too. V puts on his mask and we cut to Evie ( Natalie Portman) stands in front of a mirror. They complement one another and eventually both subjects merge within the same frame. Through careful editing inspired by Eisenstein's theory of montage, we witness two intersecting parallel scenes carefully edited together. This sign is hammered to the viewer throughout the picture both subliminally and consciously.Īfter the title flashes before the screen we are transported to contemporary times. Both of which are very anti-establishment. A large V sign lights up the screen, it references two culturally significant signs, the anarchist A symbol and the Z from Zorro. This is considered the prologue of the story as it all happens before the title flashes on the screen. As the camera moves down, the figure rises within the frame symbolically expressing a dying man rising to the heavens. The man gets hanged and the camera moves slowly from his head to his struggling body all the way to his feet dangling in the air. The use of a close-up is very relevant as it demands and evokes an emotional response from the audience. We then get an extreme close-up of her eyes as a tear slides down her cheek. When we finally see her, the shot isn't set up from a high angle suggesting she's the only righteous person there. As the noose is tied around his neck, he searches for a loved one, the only sad person in a sea of angry people.
The fact that the shot was angled from above helps the viewer look down at these people both literally and figuratively.įawkes is wearing a white shirt symbolizing his innocence. We get a high angle shot of an angry crowd waving their fists into the air. Visually we know we're witnessing the story narrated through the costume designs of a period hundreds of years old.įawkes is caught and he's about to be executed in front of the public. He tried to blow up the house of parliaments on November the 5th of that year. We are introduced to man by the name of Guy Fawkes. These credits resemble old footage of Nazi propaganda films which plays a major role in this film as historical context is one of its themes.Ī narrated voice then transported to the 17th century, 1605 A.D. Intense military music plays in the background and the images have aged markings on them like they belong to an old film reel. The human eye automatically associates black and white with old. James McTeigue's "V for Vendetta" starts with black and white opening credits. I decided to write about how the film delivers its message visually. Granted the constant referring drove me to revisit "V for Vendetta" and when I did, it wasn't the controversy or the dozens of similarities between both the previous Egyptian regime and the government in the film that caught my attention. For a film that better understands this material, I recommend the superior " The Battle of Algiers". But this isn't why I decided to write about the film. In other words, there has to be a mutual aspect between governments and their people and it shouldn't be fear by rather a mutual understanding. In fact, a government should be at peace with its people and vice versa.
Fear should not be the driving factor behind anything. "People should not be afraid of their governments, governments should be afraid of their people." was tweeted endlessly during the revolution, even though I fully disagree with what it says. The same can't be said about the members of the British government in the film. The only difference is V could also be considered a freedom fighter. By definition the government portrayed in the picture could be considered terrorists as well for they are a group that "frightens others". V is not a typical terrorist, for he terrorizes a group that uses terror to rule the masses. V does blow up buildings, but they're usually empty after the curfew and he does kill policemen when they attack him. a person who terrorizes or frightens others a person, usually a member of a group, who uses or advocates terrorismĢ. Does the film promote terrorism? Is V a terrorist or a freedom fighter? By definition a terrorist is one of two things:ġ. The controversy back then was one that split opinions between critics and film fans alike.
0 kommentar(er)
