V for Vendetta - TTLG Forums

Sypha Nadon on 28/3/2006 at 15:56

Actually, I was surprised how much of Moore's dialogue they ended up using, way more then I thought they would. The scene with Valerie's letter was taken almost verbatim.

I will say that the film had a better ending then the comic, the comic's ending being much more low-key and subtle, kind of fizzles down to nothing. That's one of Moore's problems, he seems to have trouble finishing his stories in an emotionally satisfying manner (Grant Morrison, another comic book writer I admire, seems to suffer the same problem). Anyway, I don't think Moore will ever like any film adaptation based on his work. I wonder what he'll say about "Watchmen"?

Martek on 28/3/2006 at 16:08

Quote Posted by Tocky

So the hero is an anarchist without the ability to see society as anything other than a smoking pile of rubble?

I took it more that he was an anarchist that freed society from the smoking pile of rubble that was its government.

Martek

Aerothorn on 28/3/2006 at 16:08

...they're making a Hollywood version of Watchmen? I appreciated V for Vendetta but did not love it, so if the movie version is messed up (dunno if it is or not, haven't seen it) I can live with that, but Watchmen is one of my favorite books...while it could make a good movie, I suppose, it is very literary in its style - the movie would need voiceover (because what is Rorschact without his journal?), and then critics would go "voicer is for sucky scriptwriters" and such.

Anyway, question for those who have seen the film: In the trailer, V survives like a bazillion guys shooting him. Did they actually make him bulletproof for the film? Or is this simply a false trailer thing? If the former, that sucks ass.

And Tocky: I cannot speak for the movie, but in the book, at least, I never felt V was heroized - the government is a sucktastic dictatorship, but on the other hand V unabashedly kills innocents (though for what it's worth, he mostly blows up government buildings, not busfulls of schoolchildren or anything).

D'Juhn Keep on 28/3/2006 at 16:16

Quote Posted by Sypha Nadon

Grant Morrison, another comic book writer I admire

haha, shocker :D

Quote Posted by Sypha Nadon

seems to suffer the same problem

Really? What of his stuff would you say suffers from this?

Agent Monkeysee on 28/3/2006 at 16:35

I don't really have any desire to see this movie but watching the Pundit-o-sphere get all huffy over what they perceive to be an "anti-Bush" movie is the kind of delicious absurdity you just can't make up.

Fafhrd on 29/3/2006 at 06:46

Quote Posted by Anonymous

I wonder if you read the post. Nowhere is detail about government policies mentioned.

Quote Posted by Udolpho's Literary Rant

The whole point is to spend as much time as possible detailing the horrific future world,

That would seem to imply going into why the evil future government is evil, which would require examining its policies about stuff.

BlackErtai on 29/3/2006 at 06:55

Heh, the movie is definitely anti-Bush. I'm a hardcore liberal, and I walked away wondering what they hoped to accomplished being so heavy handed about it. I mean, they added way too many references to "America's War" that were obviously not in the comic. And the blatant Nazi symbolizm of the dictator was retarded. Any politician worth his stripes knows to avoid red & black with large banners and marches. Come on...I mean, Come on. Overall, the movie was really good. They don't make V into a hero to the point that you agree with him on everything, but you definitely walk out of the movie thinking about how the other side of the terrorist issue sees things. Which is, rightfully, not something they go about justifying too much in the movie. It's more of a "well I did these things to get attention and now we should have a big protest" kind of thing.

And no, V is not bulletproof. You see something that's taken out of a larger scene where it makes sense. All I'll say is it's some stuff Doc would be proud of.

Paz on 29/3/2006 at 17:27

Alan Mooreophiles might enjoy this (http://syncretism.net/snd/FoF/Chain%20Reaction%20-%20Stewart%20Lee%20&%20Alan%20Moore.mp3) interview from early 2005 (part of a BBC Radio series called "Chain Reaction", in which person A interviewed person B ... and then person B would choose someone to interview AND SO ON)

Anyway, he talks about his work in general and his attitude toward film adaptations of his stuff. Passing mentions about V for Vendetta being a reaction to Thatcherism, too.

Anonymous on 30/3/2006 at 17:14

Quote Posted by Fafhrd

That would seem to imply going into why the evil future government is evil, which would require examining its policies about stuff.

Uh, but you said "policies", and the article reads "world", which sound like two entirely different things to my unimaginative mind. And you are insisting V for Vendetta is nothing like that stuff because no one talks about government policies in the movie or comic book.

Are you just dumb?

Fafhrd on 31/3/2006 at 00:05

Quote Posted by Anonymous

I am saying that V for Vendetta doesn't fit the definition of NAP fiction as described by Udolpho because the primary portion of his definition doesn't occur in the book or the film.

I am also saying that in dystopian and NAP fiction any description of how horrible the world is REQUIRES an examination of the fictional government's policies, because the inherent political nature of both forms of fiction makes the root of the horribleness of the world the government. If you can name me ONE SINGLE PIECE of dystopian literature where the root of the dystopia is NOT the government (and by extension the populace that allows that government to exist), I'll retract that statement.

Clearly I'm not the dumb one here.