V for Vendetta, 2005, Natalie Portman, Hugo Weaving
"V for Vendetta" is a 2006 action-thriller film set in London, England in a near-future dystopian society. The film follows the mysterious V, a freedom fighter seeking to effect sociopolitical change while simultaneously pursuing his own violent personal vendetta. The film is an adaptation of the graphic novel V for Vendetta by Alan Moore and David Lloyd. V for Vendetta was directed by James McTeigue and produced by Joel Silver and the Wachowski brothers, who also wrote the screenplay. The film stars Natalie Portman as Evey Hammond, Hugo Weaving as V, Stephen Rea as Inspector Finch, and John Hurt as Chancellor Sutler.
The film's release was originally scheduled for Friday, November 4, 2005 (a day before the 400th Guy Fawkes Night), but was delayed; it opened on March 17, 2006. Alan Moore, facing his disappointment in both From Hell and The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, refused to view the film and subsequently distanced himself from it. The filmmakers removed some of the anarchist themes and drug references present in the original story and also altered the political message to be what was perceived as more relevant to a 2006 audience.
The film was made by many of the same filmmakers involved in the Matrix trilogy. In 1988, producer Joel Silver acquired the rights to two of Alan Moore's works: V for Vendetta and Watchmen. The Wachowski brothers were fans of V for Vendetta and in the mid-1990s, before working on The Matrix, wrote a draft screenplay that closely followed the graphic novel. During the post-production of the second and third Matrix films, the Wachowski brothers revisited the screenplay and offered the director's role to James McTeigue. All three were intrigued by the themes of the original story and found them to be relevant to the current political landscape. Upon revisiting the screenplay, the Wachowskis set about making revisions to condense and modernize the story, while at the same time attempting to preserve its integrity and themes. James McTeigue cites the film The Battle of Algiers as his principal influence in preparing to film V for Vendetta.
Moore explicitly disassociated himself from the film due to his lack of involvement in its writing or directing, as well as due to a continuing series of disputes over film adaptations of his work. He ended cooperation with his publisher, DC Comics, after its corporate parent, Warner Bros., failed to retract statements about Moore's supposed endorsement of the film. Moore said that the script contained plot holes and that it ran contrary to the theme of his original work, which was to place two political extremes (fascism and anarchism) against one another. He argues his work had been recast as a story about "current American neo-conservatism vs. current American liberalism". As per his wishes, Moore's name does not appear in the film's closing credits. Co-creator and illustrator David Lloyd supports the film adaptation, commenting that the script is very good and that Moore would only ever be truly happy with a complete book-to-screen adaptation.
V for Vendetta was filmed in London, UK and in Potsdam, Germany at Babelsberg Studios. Much of the film was shot on sound stages and indoor sets, with location work done in Berlin for three scenes: the Norsefire rally flashback, Larkhill, and Bishop Lilliman’s bedroom. The scenes that took place in the abandoned London Underground were filmed at the disused Aldwych tube station. Filming began in early March, 2005, and principal photography officially wrapped in early June of 2005. V for Vendetta is the final film shot by cinematographer Adrian Biddle, who died of a heart attack on December 7, 2005.
The film was designed to have a future-retro look, with a heavy use of grey tones to give a dreary, stagnant feel to totalitarian London. The largest set created for the film was the Shadow Gallery, which was made to feel like a cross between a crypt and an undercroft. The Gallery is V's home as well as the place where he stores various artifacts forbidden by the government. Some of the works of art displayed in the gallery include The Arnolfini Portrait by Jan van Eyck, Bacchus and Ariadne by Titian, a Mildred Pierce poster, St. Sebastian by Andrea Mantegna and The Lady of Shalott by John William Waterhouse.
One of the major challenges in the film was how to bring V to life from under an expressionless mask. Thus, considerable effort was made to bring together lighting, acting and Weaving's voice to create the proper mood for the situation. In order to prevent the mask from muffling Weaving's voice, a microphone was placed in his hairline to aid post-production, when his entire dialogue was re-recorded.
To film the final scene at Westminster, the area from Trafalgar Square and Whitehall up to Parliament and Big Ben had to be closed for three nights from midnight until 5 a.m. This was the first time the security-sensitive area (home to 10 Downing Street and the Ministry of Defence) had ever been closed to accommodate filming. Prime Minister (at the time of filming) Tony Blair's son Euan Blair worked on the film's production and is said (according to an interview with Stephen Fry) to have helped the filmmakers obtain the unparalleled filming access. This drew criticism of Blair from MP David Davis due to the content of the film. However, the makers of the film deny Euan Blair's involvement in the deal, stating that access was acquired through nine months of negotiations with 14 different government departments and agencies. Wikipedia
