Review - V for Vendetta

[wilderthan]

I saw the movie a while ago and remembered only one thing from it, really: the scene with Evey with her hair all cut off, reading the note from Valerie. As far as I remember, that whole bit was more or less the same between both the graphic novel and the movie. It's a very very powerful bit, for me, and I imagine it's the bit that's going to stick with me from the book, too.

I hit a certain point with this book, around the end of 'volume one', where I didn't want to stop -- where I had to keep reading all the way. At first I was a little more unsure about it, and I had difficulty telling all the characters apart -- something about the art made it hard for me, I think.

The dystopia is interesting: pretty Orwellian and influenced by Nazism, I think, though I imagine a lifetime of influences went into it, including obviously ideas about anarchy. Despite the fact that the novel's predictions so far haven't come true, dystopian novels don't need to come true to be warnings. I mean, if you don't think 1984 holds a warning for us, Brits, look up how many times a day you appear on CCTV.

Must get round to reading Watchmen...

Comments

[candeefloss.livejournal.com]

I mean, if you don't think 1984 holds a warning for us, Brits, look up how many times a day you appear on CCTV.

I just Googled that out of interest, and I found a news article saying Britain has 20% of the world's security cameras, or one for every fourteen people.

Jesus christ.

[wilderthan.livejournal.com]

Yeah, exactly.

[candeefloss.livejournal.com]

And then there's all the stuff about ID cards, and the fact police can keep your DNA on record (even if you're innocent of any wrongdoing) for up to ten years. Why do they even need all that useless data floating around?

[samuraiter.livejournal.com]

Though I was happy that the movie was done, I think that it cut too much from the story to be effective. The graphic novel itself is fantastic, IMO, and, though I prefer Watchmen, I find V For Vendetta to have a stronger, more focused narrative. And I love the artwork. Dark and moody, appropriate to the subject.

As for my favorite scene, it is when V goes to visit one of the doctors who worked on him at the facility. Before she dies, she asks to see his face. He removes the mask, and, though all the reader sees is a vague silhouette, she says that he looks beautiful.