Film 'V for Vendetta' and TV series 'The Last Enemy'

Anthony G Williams

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'V for Vendetta' (2006) is set in a future dystopian England in which security fears have led to the imposition of a police state, with tight controls on public behaviour and suppression of dissent. A girl (Natalie Portman) becomes caught up in the plans of a vengeful and resourceful man, known only as "V", who is planning the violent overthrow of the government. He always wears a mask and costume to represent Guy Fawkes, and it is suggested that he was badly disfigured by an official experiment which went wrong.

I'm not a fan of comics, and when I sat down to watch the film I didn't realise that it was based on a graphic novel. The comic-strip elements are clear enough: not only the man in a mask, but his improbable resources and apparently superhuman abilities with knives. What is slightly confusing is that the rest of the film appears to be a lot more serious in intent, using well-known actors and sending clear messages about the authoritarian direction in which the UK seems to be gradually but inexorably heading, and the dangers which lie down that path. I'm not sure that the serious and comic-strip elements work all that well together, but it was an interesting attempt and worth watching.

The theme of 'V for Vendetta' reminded me of the recent BBC TV series 'The Last Enemy' (shown in five episodes, totalling 330 minutes, in February and March). This was much more realistic, concerning a near-future British government plan to introduce a national "total surveillance" system, linking CCTVs, ID cards and other databases so that anyone can be immediately located and tracked, and comprehensive information about them obtained. A famous but unworldly mathematician is roped in to help sell the idea to the public, and also becomes involved in a parallel plot line concerning a mysterious and lethal ailment apparently caused by secret genetic experiments. Together with a few resourceful friends he tries to expose what is going on but, unlike 'V', the story does not have a happy ending.

The plot of The Last Enemy is really getting close to the truth now, because our government does indeed want to introduce a comprehensive system linking everything about everyone that is recorded on official electronic databases, and providing access to such data via the planned ID cards. There's a lot of debate about the introduction of the ID cards (which is going to be voluntary for most people: at least, at first…). In my view, too much of the discussion misses the point. I see no harm in ID cards. I carry one now – a driving licence with my name and address, date of birth and photo on it – and occasionally find it useful in confirming my identity. The main issue is the vast database which the government wants to put behind it, way beyond anything attempted anywhere else, and that's a problem for various reasons. The loss of privacy, the certainty of error in inputting the data, and the horrifying prospect of a really comprehensive identity theft if it's ever hacked (or a civil servant with input access is bribed or coerced). The catastrophic record of government failures in introducing computer-based systems far less sophisticated and complex than this is another reason to regard this idea as misconceived. As is the fact that the excuse for introducing the system is international terrorism, but all such recent attacks in the UK have been by British citizens in good standing who would have been perfectly entitled to be issued ID cards, so where's the benefit there? Oh well, rant over – for now.

(an extract from my SFF blog)
 
Loved V for Vendetta, haven't seen the series you mention though. There have been rumblings over here about "smartcards" and that kind of thing as well, periodically, although so far every time there's been a rumble, the populace in general snarls fairly loudly and the idea is shelved again.

My major concern with such a system, aside from all the privacy issues, is that the govt is asking us to trust that they can make something so complex and so important "hack-proof". Hello?

I also completely agree that such an ID system is very unlikely to deter or stop people who are citizens from acts of terrorism in any case.
 
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I have to say the comic which i own is so much more serious and realistic and darker than the movie which is typicaly hollywood if you knew how much they toned down the original story.

Of course in the comic he isnt a superhuman.

Alan Moore would cringe at being called comic strip and been looked on down, knowing the type of dark,serious comics,GNs he is known for. In comics he is greater than Neil Gaiman......


Only good thing about the movie is the actors weaving,portman.
 
Yeah, apparently Alan Moore HATED the movie version of V for Vendetta. If you look the film up on wikipedia, there are some links to interviews he gave at the time in which he...er...well, let's just say he gives the Warchowski brothers both barrels at point blank range...

One of his main beefs is that his original comic book was a study of anarchy as compared to facisim, with V not necceserily the hero OR the villan, whereas the movie became a "lone freedom-fighter saves the world" story.

It was interesting to read his take on it, and though I don't agree with everything he says about film, storytelling and the world in general, he's still a very interesting guy.
 
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Alan Moore HATES all his conversions.

He has famously taken his name off everyone of them

From Hell
League of Extraorinary Gentleman (Mond you don't blame him for that one)
V for Vendetta

and the upcoming

Watchman
 
Coolhand :

I agree with Moore about Anarchy and V not being a hero. Its lame they made him some kind of superhero.

Its typical hollywood they cant make a movie about a character that kills without making excuses for him and making him the hero that saves the world despite he is a vengeful killer.
 
Alan Moore HATES all his conversions.

He has famously taken his name off everyone of them

From Hell
League of Extraorinary Gentleman (Mond you don't blame him for that one)
V for Vendetta

and the upcoming

Watchman

Yeah, someone who knows him (I think the guy who worked on V with him) said that Alan Moore would hate any movie adaptation that he didn't personally have 100% control over himself.

Which is useful to keep in mind when reading interviews with him, though like you say, with V for Vendetta and League getting so badly mangled, you can understand why he feels the way he does!

I actually read V and found it interesting but not the earth shattering classic I'd been told to expect. The movie version though...ick.

Connavar said:
I agree with Moore about Anarchy and V not being a hero. Its lame they made him some kind of superhero.

Its typical hollywood they cant make a movie about a character that kills without making excuses for him and making him the hero that saves the world despite he is a vengeful killer.

Yeah, that was one of my problems with the film as well. He's much more interesting in the comic, because he's not some cut and dried savour. In fact, in some ways he comes across to me as being just as scary as the government he fights.
 
Its typical hollywood they cant make a movie about a character that kills without making excuses for him and making him the hero that saves the world despite he is a vengeful killer.

if you own the special realease of A Fist Full of Dollers there is a delete scene in there which was made by the TV company to add to the start of the film for its release to "wider audiences". It basically gives a (legal) justification for the actions of the loan gunman, as opposed to just letting him be who he is.

Its a problem with Hollywood that they cannot have proper neutral characters - people must either be good or evil - never that grey of normality.

Also - one thing comes to my mind - why is it that authors keep selling thier rights to film groups when most film conversions are not made for fans, but for "the masses" (that means based on stats)? One argument is money and at the end of the day the offer of very large amounts of cash is no bad thing to a person that has to earn a living. But if you see a film made for hte masses and then compare it to a film for the fans (Sin City) there is a noticable difference in quality. I think more authors should stop thinking that the directors know what they are doing and keep tighter controls over their works as they head for the stage

ps - V is a watchable enjoyable film (more for non-fans than fans I would guess) but League was horrific in quality!
 
Also - one thing comes to my mind - why is it that authors keep selling thier rights to film groups when most film conversions are not made for fans, but for "the masses" (that means based on stats)? One argument is money and at the end of the day the offer of very large amounts of cash is no bad thing to a person that has to earn a living. But if you see a film made for hte masses and then compare it to a film for the fans (Sin City) there is a noticable difference in quality. I think more authors should stop thinking that the directors know what they are doing and keep tighter controls over their works as they head for the stage.
I don't think that's realistic. A film script requires a very different approach from a novel, and the financial backers usually have to be satisfied that the outcome will have enough mass appeal to make money. Few films will therefore be aimed at fans - unless the fan base is huge (LOTR and Harry Potter, for instance).

Speaking as an author, if Hollywood wants to throw me a large bundle of cash to make a film of one of my books, I would happily take the money and they could do what they liked with the script. I wouldn't feel any sense of ownership of the film - only the book.
 
You cant blame the authors. Alan Moore for example sold his rights 20+ years ago. It prolly made it easier for him to do the indie comic works he wanted to. It led to his now classic comics.

The same when i read another fav of mine Richard Morgan sold Altered Carbon to that Matrix producer, it made him a full time writer and not teach and write at the same time.

Who cares if and when the movie comes out. For an writer it must be a gold mine to sell rights for a million or so.
 

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