even though the movie i am discussing here may not seem to have an underlying hegelian message i believe it contains something much more relavent-- imo it shines a light on the importance and power of an idea-- perhaps woven in the background is a plan of action designed to thwart the norsefire of the day by usung the hegelian principals in reverse upon the oppressors?? here is an excellent review of the movie "V for Vandetta"
V for VendettaFrom the makers of The Matrix Trilogy, V for Vendetta paints the story of a vengeful terrorist – or freedom fighter? – which, whether in Thatcherite Britain of the 1980s or Bush’s America after 9/11, has an eternal message.
Philip Coppens
“Remember Remember the
Fifth of November…” November 5 in Great Britain is notorious for being Guy Fawkes’ night. Fawkes was a “terrorist”, an English Roman Catholic who tried to blow up the Houses of Parliament in the so-called Gunpowder Plot in 1605. The now yearly fireworks that are held across the country are a somewhat mocking “tribute” to his failed attempts.
The plan called for Westminster Palace to be blown up during the formal opening session of the 1605 Parliament, in which the king would address a joint assembly of both the House of Lords and the House of Commons. Fawkes’ activities were detected and following a severe interrogation involving torture and a trial, Fawkes and his conspirators were executed for treason and attempted murder. Fawkes became a national legend, whose actions continue to be remembered across Britain each year, and thus on par with certain Christian activities and the Queen’s birthday.
Guy Fawkes is central to “V for Vendetta”, which in origin was a comic book series that appeared in the 1980s, written by Alan Moore and illustrated mostly by David Lloyd, set in a dystopian future United Kingdom. Though set in the future, it was meant to attack the then present premiership of Margaret Thatcher. The comic book series depicted the “evil party” as Thatcher’s Conservative Party, based on fears of an extremist police state, which was notorious in 1980s’ Britain (e.g. the miners’ strikes). The political Norsefire party was also largely based on a fascist regime like the Nazi Party. In both stories, Norsefire/Conservative Party actively participates in the systematic elimination of racial minorities, homosexuals, and political dissidents from society.
Fawkes is V’s inspiration. “V” wants to change the course of history by blowing up the Houses of Parliament – he wants to succeed where Fawkes had failed, and the date for this attempt is of course November 5. As to why he wants to do so: he wants to destroy the authoritarian government. V is a freedom fighter who uses terrorist tactics in pursuit of a personal vendetta but, above all, to force socio-political change in a dystopian Britain. Though set in the future, one reviewer wrote that “the film came out in a world where politicians lied to get us into an unpopular war [Iraq], one where torture is no longer considered off-limits by people who are supposedly the good guys, and where public surveillance is all but ubiquitous.” The film thus become notorious for one of its plethora of catchphrases: “People shouldn’t fear their governments; governments should fear their people.” On this issue, director James McTeigue commented that “we felt the novel was very prescient to how the political climate is at the moment. It really showed what can happen when society is ruled by government, rather than the government being run as a voice of the people. I don’t think it’s such a big leap to say that things like that can happen when leaders stop listening to the people.”
As November 5 nears, V's various schemes cause chaos and the population grows more and more intolerant and subversive towards the regime. The TV pump up the ante and fear, to underline that obedience is required against the danger everywhere. There are references to civil war in the United States; water shortage and water coupons; avian flu ; quarantaine zones and airborne pathogen, while the terrorist V is linked with an attack on London 14 years ago. The government is trying to maintain the status quo of fear and showing that revolt will lead to severe consequences.
On the eve of November 5, Evey is shown a train in the abandoned London Underground which V has filled with explosives in order to destroy Parliament. He leaves the decision up to her and leaves to meet Party leader Creedy who, as part of an earlier agreement, has agreed to bring the Chancellor to V in exchange for V's surrender. Creedy kills the Chancellor in front of V, but rather than surrender, V kills Creedy. During the fight, Creedy asks: “Why won’t you die?” “Beneath this mask is an idea. And ideas are bullet proof.”
V, however, is also mortally wounded in the fight, but returns to Evey, thanks her, professes his love for her, and then dies. His body is placed upon the train with the explosives, his funeral barge, which Evey, with the consent of the chief inspector, sends towards the Houses of Parliament. Meanwhile, thousands of Londoners, all wearing Guy Fawkes’ masks, march on Parliament to watch the event. Because Creedy and the Chancellor are dead, the military receives no orders from superiors and, as a result, stands down in the face of these riots, preventing bloodshed.
Parliament is destroyed by the explosion amid the 1812 Overture. On a nearby rooftop, Evey and chief inspector Finch watch the scene together and hope for a better tomorrow – a real hope, not like the one that would turn an atomic into a biological war. Earlier, V illustrated that Victory was a perilous event, for it would be a domino-effect, illustrated by V playing with domino’s, in which one action leads to a next step, each increasing the former, until a crescendo is reached and the final domino does or does not fall… The reVolution was successful.
V is dead; his vendetta has wiped the slate clean; a new world will dawn tomorrow, a new Britain can be built. V is now no longer for Vendetta, but for Victory. V for Victory was used by Winston Churchill in the Second World War, a sign which had been an inspiration for the comic series. But in the end, V for Vendetta is also about love; though V’s actions will have major political consequences, in the end, he was also a man, and his motives were not purely for the greater cause, but also because he had suffered as a man. “A man can be killed and forgotten, but 400 years later, an idea can still change the world. […] Ideas do not bleed. They do not feel pain. They do not want love. But it is not an idea I miss. It is a man.” V.
