“Remember, remember! The fifth of November, The gunpowder treason and plot; I know of no reason why the gunpowder treason should ever be forgot!” -Guy Fawkes. In James McTeigue’s rendition of V for Vendetta, Guy Fawkes’ plan to bomb parliament is reimagined. The story takes place in a modern orwellian society in which “voracious violation[s] of volition” are a common occurrence. The beginning to the film starts out with one of the two main characters, Evey Hammond, who knowingly defies curfew and is stopped by the fingermen. A vicious battle to save Evey from the hands of the fingermen leads to the brilliantly alliterative introduction of the main protagonist, V. When brought into V’s home, McTeigue provides a view beyond V’s visiage of vengeance. …show more content…
His polarized vision of V is able to simultaneously tell two stories at once. The first of a broken man who stands up for what he believes, even if it means he does not live to see the outcome. The other story expresses the immortality of an idea. Nevertheless, both interpretations suggest the importance of standing up for what is right. The gradual introduction to V’s tragic backstory intrigues the viewer, and explains why V describes himself as a ”humble vaudevillian veteran, cast vicariously as both victim and villain”. Because V cannot remember anything before his rebirth in flames, he wears a mask and attempts to create a fresh persona to fill the void in his memory. Unfortunately, as Deitrich says, “You wear a mask for so long, you forget who you were beneath it”. This statement rings true, even for V, and reveals an overlooked vulnerability in his identity. Although the primary conflict resembles man versing society, V’s disassociation with himself allows for a second thematic conflict to be presented to the viewer, man verses self. This is made evident when Evey attemps to kiss V, and he must pull back in order to stop himself from losing the immortality associated with his