V for Vendetta A hyperbolic but portentous manifestation of cynicism about impending fascism, and a sole renegade, in an apocalyptic perspective

- this movie is a visual, literary and intellectual gourmet. And while we may or may not concur with the dystopian view of the future as presented here, or the modus operandi of the protagonist, it sure calls for one stimulating debate over where the world is moving to. The movie is set in sometime in future in England; with an Orwellian regime established in the land. Ironically, a figure from the history is the subversive protagonist. Throughout the movie, the protagonist V hides behind a symbolic mask this goes on to explain that V is but an idea; a line of thought which everyman like Natalie Portman adopts. The heroine is rescued in the beginning of the movie by V, but then is locked in his hideout, where he impresses upon her his ideas, philosophy and plans. The heroine, though initially reluctant, later embraces the ideas as truth, and brings to completion the act started by him the blowing up of the 10 Downing Street. The movie is high on reference to classic literature and history. Creating the protagonist as a faceless hero with an emotionless voice and an eerie fixed smile is an interesting way of empowering him as a passionate, intellectual rebel, unlike some of the earlier rendition of rebels in the past, who were charged up with emotion to the extent that it seemed vain. The heroine is an embodiment of the common man troubled, and then enlightened, to rise against the fascist rule. The movie is not meant to be a political treatise; nor does it purport as the solution to the totalitarian reign. It aims at entertaining and intriguing the intellectual, and, Voila! It achieves it with more than just a flare.