V for Vendetta (2005)

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V for Vendetta (2005)

The story is set in the near future, when Britain is ruled by a totalitarian regime called Norsefire. It follows Evey Hammond (Natalie Portman), a young woman who, at the start of the film, is rescued from state police by a masked vigilante known as "V" (Hugo Weaving). After rescuing her, V takes Evey to a rooftop location to witness his spectacular destruction of the Old Bailey. The regime explains the incident to the public as a planned demolition, but this is shown to be a lie when V takes over the state-run TV station the next day. He broadcasts a message urging the people of Britain to rise up against the oppressive government on November 5 (Guy Fawkes Night), one year from that day, when V will destroy the Houses of Parliament.

Evey, who works at the TV station, helps V to escape. V brings Evey to his lair, where she is told that she must stay in hiding with him for her own safety. She stays for some time, but upon learning that V is killing government officials, she escapes to the home of one of her superiors, Gordon Dietrich (Stephen Fry). However, the state police raid Gordon's home shortly afterwards, and Evey is captured. She is incarcerated and tortured for days, finding solace only in notes left by another prisoner, Valerie. Evey is eventually told that she will be executed unless she reveals V's whereabouts. An exhausted Evey says she would rather die, and, surprisingly, is then released. Evey discovers that she has been in V's lair all along, and that her imprisonment was staged by V. By forcing Evey to experience what he had gone through long ago, V hoped that Evey would understand that our integrity, "the very last inch of us", can be more important than our lives.

Evey initially hates V for what he has done, but comes to realize that having faced her own death, she can now live without fear. She leaves V, promising to return before November 5.

Meanwhile, Inspector Finch (Stephen Rea), through his investigation of V, learns how Norsefire came to power, and about V’s origins. Fourteen years previously, Britain had suffered from war and terrorism. The ultra-conservative Norsefire party led a reactionary purge to restore order; so-called enemies of the state disappeared during the night. The country was deeply divided over the loss of freedom until a bioterrorist attack occurred, killing about 100,000 people. The fear generated by the attack allowed Norsefire to silence all opposition and win the next election by a landslide. A cure for the virus was discovered soon afterwards. With the silent consent of the people, Norsefire turned Britain into a bigoted totalitarian order, with their leader Adam Sutler (John Hurt) as High Chancellor.

However, the viral catastrophe had actually been engineered by Norsefire as a ploy to gain power. The virus had been engineered through deadly experimentation on "social deviants" and political dissidents at Larkhill detention center. V had been one of the prisoners, but instead of being killed by the experiments, he had gained heightened mental and physical abilities. V eventually destroyed the center and escaped, vowing to take revenge on Norsefire's regime.

As November 5 nears, V's various schemes cause chaos in Britain and the population grows more and more intolerant and subversive towards government authority. On the eve of November 5, V is visited again by Evey, and shows her a train which he has filled with explosives in order to destroy Parliament through an explosion in the abandoned London Underground. He delegates the destruction of Parliament to Evey, believing that the ultimate decision should not come from him. He then leaves to meet Party leader Creedy who, as part of an earlier agreement, has agreed to bring V the Chancellor in exchange for V's surrender. Creedy kills the Chancellor in front of V, but V does not surrender, instead killing Creedy and his men. V, mortally wounded in the fight, returns to Evey. He thanks her, and then dies. His body is placed upon the train with the explosives.

Evey is about to send the train down the track when she is discovered by Inspector Finch. However, Finch, having learned much about the corruption of the Norsefire regime, allows Evey to proceed. 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 stands down in the face of a civil rebellion. Parliament is destroyed by the explosion. On a nearby rooftop Evey and Finch watch the scene together and hope for a better tomorrow.

Part 1

Part 2

Part 3

Part 4

Part 5

Part 6