Movie of the Week: How the Guy Fawkes flick became a political statement in ‘V For Vendetta’
It’s surprising that so few filmmakers have seen the legacy of Guy Fawkes, the man who was involved in the failed Gunpowder Plot of 1605 and birthed an annual day of celebration on November 5th, as inspiration for a movie-making scheme. Christmas has been squeezed for all its cinematic potential, and so too has Halloween, so why is it that the Wachowski sisters’ V For Vendetta is one of the only films to celebrate Guy Fawkes Night?
A commemorative day created to recognise the failed Gunpowder Plot to blow up the English Houses of Parliament, Guy Fawkes Night is primarily celebrated only in the UK, though many other countries also recognise similar festivals. Set in a dark dystopia of Great Britain’s future, V for Vendetta follows a cloaked freedom fighter known only as ‘V’ who plots to overthrow the government with the help of a young woman named Evey (Natalie Portman).
Based on the 1988 DC Vertigo Comics limited series of the same name by David Lloyd, Tony Weare and the influential English writer Alan Moore, the story is set in a world inspired by George Orwell’s 1984, where Britain is ruled by the Norsefire political party, a fascist and authoritarian regime who rule strictly against immigrants, homosexuals, and people of alternative religions.
Released to critical indifference yet acclaim in popular culture, V for Vendetta embodied the true spirit of Guy Fawkes night, depicting a struggle between freedom and the state. Drawing stark imagery from classic tales of fact and fiction, McTeigue’s film cleverly ties itself in with the literature of the past, intrinsically linking itself to Orwell’s novel, using much of the same imagery, as well as cleverly casting John Hurt (who starred as the hero of the film adaptation of 1984) as the oppressive ‘Big Brother’ and the Under-Secretary for Defence.
Its distinctive imagery has left an indelible mark on contemporary culture, too, with the mask that ‘V’ wears in the movie having since become an icon of revolutionary thinking in far left-wing circles. As David Lloyd, the illustrator behind the original graphic novel, states in an interview with BBC News, “The Guy Fawkes mask has now become a common brand and a convenient placard to use in protest against tyranny—and I’m happy with people using it, it seems quite unique, an icon of popular culture being used this way”.
With the film’s imagery imprinted on modern culture, V For Vendetta’s political themes has also permeated their way into contemporary society, with many fans seeing it as an extension to Orwell’s 1984, a text that is continually over-referenced on talk shows and online message boards across the world. Still, this goes to show, V for Vendetta has swollen to represent something far more than a throwaway action film, with anarchists and other anti-government groups adopting the film as an allegory of oppression by the government.
As director James McTeigue stated in the production notes for the movie, “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”.
Whilst V For Vendetta is far from a perfect piece of cinema, its power to persuade, rouse and rally demonstrates its sheer inextinguishable pertinence.