Saturday, March 25, 2006
 v is for vendetta
starring natalie portman
written by the Wachowski Bros
directed by James McTeigue
a thousand tiny little cuts.
every day Bush/Cheney/Rove gets a pie slammed in their face. sometimes its custard, sometimes its whipped cream, sometimes its shitfilled.
V is for Vendetta cuts swiftly, poetically, constantly and beautifully.
V cuts from the other side of the pond at the British side of the coalition of the willing using a British hero that most Americans have never heard of, but anyone who has been awake since 9/11 knows who this movie is about, or against.
theres a karl rove character, theres a bill o'reilly/rush limbaugh character, theres democracy squandered in the name of security, theres a villan nicknamed The Terrorist who cannot be caught by neither all the kings horses nor all the kings men, theres big media being used to promote propaganda, theres lies and there are deceptions.
but as beautiful and idealistic and worth-watching as this film is, it speaks to exactly what is missing in todays American society: there is no hero from the Left who is willing to be demonized and called names and ridiculed in the name of peace and justice.
and the People continue to just sit in front of their televisions and watch, instead of taking to the streets (or the polls) to stop the madness.
with every tiny cut that the press exposes or the court exposes or the witnesses exposes about the corruption of the Bush Administration, BushCo cuts back. just yesterday it was discovered how the President snuck in an addendum to the patriot act which apparently allows him to avoid telling Congress when he's up to no good.
im not saying that the US needs an early 17th century Guy Fawkes who wants to blow up the impotent Parliment and kill the King, but times like these and movies like these remind us that if we dont learn from the past, some hero will help us repeat it.
the only question is will that hero be natalie portman, hillary clinton, some anonymous positive commentor, or you.
V is for Vendetta takes the best from George Orwell, Batman, Network, and Robin Hood. it could have just as easilly been co-written by Michael Moore, William Shakespeare, or Stan Lee.
of course the LA Times gave it a bad review because the LA Times is caught up in the menutia and the history and the tiny little details that are always contradictory in fabulous movies. the idiot who gave it a thumbs down in the Times would have given Star Wars a bad grade for the fact that all the sharpshooting storm troopers never hit any of the rag-tagged passengers of the millenium falcon as they escaped the death star.
honey, what does the big picture tell you? how did the movie make you feel? what does this film say spiritually, romantically, and idealistically? of course most of it is far fetched, but so is the fact that you get paid quite handsomely to write opinions on fucking movies while other people actually have to work for a living in the sun.
but the people, oh the people love V is for Vendetta. and they should.
it doesnt talk down to them. it hasnt been Americanized for your protection. it doesnt overly explain itself. in fact it might even be confusing to those with simple minds or to those who are used to being spoonfed plotlines while at the cinema.
hell if i knew who Guy Fawkes was. im from Chicago. hell if i knew half the lines the dashing masked man was seducing petitte natalie with - it all sounds like Shakespeare to me. and hell if i knew where the story was going or what was happening or how i even got into the theatre last night.
but i was there and i was happy i was there and when i left i was uplifted and wide awake in america.
it was definately worth the $12 that marc brown shelled over. it was so good i might even pay him back.
aaron gleeman is in this week's SI + accordian guy + zona boy
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