“Remember, remember, the Fifth of November
The gunpowder treason and plot
I know of no reason, the gunpowder treason
Should ever…be…forgot.” English Children’s Rhyme
‘V for Vendetta’ is a film worth watching every November fifth to see how much more like the present this 2005 film has become. We have dystopian fascists in the near future, a corrupt and brutal government, a plague that kills a hundred thousand–caused by the government–which happens to come up with the cure on its road to power. SWAT teams, secret police, a docile, cowed population. And we have “V” in the Guy Fawke’s mask. One man’s terrorist is another man’s freedom fighter.
If you’ve ever wondered why so many people appear in protest marches and demonstrations wearing a Guy Fawkes mask, this movie is the reason. The original Guy Fawkes was a principle in the Gunpowder Plot to blow up Parliament, including King James I, on November 5, 1605. More than 400 years later he is still a celebrated, or vilified, character in England.
Fantastic cast: Hugo Weaving, Natalie Portman, Stephen Fry, John Hurt, and Stephen Rea as the conflicted Inspector Finch, a member of the ruling regime, and who leads the hunt for V *.
*Note on Stephen Rea in the context of his role in this film: He was a Belfast born Protestant who embraced the Irish Catholic Struggle against England and the Northern Irish Protestants during ‘The Troubles.” For 20 years he was married to Dolours Price, who was labeled a terrorist as she’d participated in a car bombing for the Provisional Wing of the Irish Republican Army and who became one of the hunger strikers after she was arrested.
This link is V’s speech to London after he blows up the Old Bailey.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dKnjxT5HRJQ