REMEMBER, REMEMBER THE 5TH OF NOVEMBER.
In the future, England has turned into a fascist dictatorship, but a masked freedom fighter called V (Hugo Weaving) intends to bring it down – perhaps with some help from young Evey Hammond (Natalie Portman). Perhaps this movie version of the classic graphic novel seems bloated at times, but as a project coming from a first-timer it’s still impressively staged. Uneven on the whole, but the action is good and so are the actors, particularly Portman and Weaving (who never shows his face, but is still commanding). The social criticism is topical and interesting; eerily enough, the rise of the dictatorship is easy to believe.
2006-Britain-Germany-U.S. 132 min. Color. Widescreen. Directed by James McTeigue. Screenplay: The Wachowskis. Graphic Novel: Alan Moore, David Lloyd. Cast: Natalie Portman (Evey Hammond), Hugo Weaving (V), Stephen Rea (Eric Finch), Stephen Fry, John Hurt, Tim Pigott-Smith.
Trivia: Co-produced by the Wachowskis. Scarlett Johansson was reportedly considered for the part of Evey.
