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Saturday, March 05, 2005
V for Vendetta - The Movie!
Aha.
Apparently, there's a V for Vendetta movie coming out next year, being filmed in a few months in Berlin (apt choice for a location, really). Natalie Portman will play the role of Eve, which is a casting decision that could work.
It still bothers me that the Hughes brothers completely misunderstood From Hell when they turned it into a film. Just about everything that could go wrong with the adaptation - the depiction of the victims, the romanticizing of Inspector Abberline's character, the focus on the "mystery" of Jack the Ripper's identity (rather than the broader, more philosophically weighty issues that Moore was concerned with), to name three big things - went horribly, misguidedly awry. Moore's greatest work was translated into a tawdry, new millenium variation on the same mythologizing, mysoginist bullshit that preceded it in the past century.
That said, V for Vendetta is a more straightforward adventure that should translate much easier to film. The one problem the film could face is again the philosophical heart of the source material: Moore's hero is an anarchist terrorist whose only purpose is to destroy the state. Granted, it's a fascist post-nuclear-war England, but it's clearly a reflection of Margaret Thatcher's regime, much the same way Watchmen was a reflection of Reagan America. But we're still talking about an unflinching portrayal of terrorism and its consequences - in the name of anarchy. Moore never made any apologies or excuses for what V does, but he doesn't condone it either. V is meant to unsettle us, and is a commentary of how violence is a cycle that needs to be broken... But by one man? It's Manichaeanism at its logical extreme. It's the consequence of the superheroic myth. After all, what is a superhero but a well-intentioned terrorist working outside the rule of law?
Even if they're filming in Europe, one has to wonder how such a film would be handled in a post-9/11 world. The people making the film seem very much aware of the controversial heart of the source material - and apparently it's been carried over to some degree in the script. But will it remain that way? Or will it be defanged, a splashy adventure film that would be interchangeable with any other adventure film?
One can only cross one's fingers.
Oh, and in reading up on the V film, I also found out that a film version of The Watchmen is also back in production. Lord only knows how that's going to turn out...
Apparently, there's a V for Vendetta movie coming out next year, being filmed in a few months in Berlin (apt choice for a location, really). Natalie Portman will play the role of Eve, which is a casting decision that could work.
It still bothers me that the Hughes brothers completely misunderstood From Hell when they turned it into a film. Just about everything that could go wrong with the adaptation - the depiction of the victims, the romanticizing of Inspector Abberline's character, the focus on the "mystery" of Jack the Ripper's identity (rather than the broader, more philosophically weighty issues that Moore was concerned with), to name three big things - went horribly, misguidedly awry. Moore's greatest work was translated into a tawdry, new millenium variation on the same mythologizing, mysoginist bullshit that preceded it in the past century.
That said, V for Vendetta is a more straightforward adventure that should translate much easier to film. The one problem the film could face is again the philosophical heart of the source material: Moore's hero is an anarchist terrorist whose only purpose is to destroy the state. Granted, it's a fascist post-nuclear-war England, but it's clearly a reflection of Margaret Thatcher's regime, much the same way Watchmen was a reflection of Reagan America. But we're still talking about an unflinching portrayal of terrorism and its consequences - in the name of anarchy. Moore never made any apologies or excuses for what V does, but he doesn't condone it either. V is meant to unsettle us, and is a commentary of how violence is a cycle that needs to be broken... But by one man? It's Manichaeanism at its logical extreme. It's the consequence of the superheroic myth. After all, what is a superhero but a well-intentioned terrorist working outside the rule of law?
Even if they're filming in Europe, one has to wonder how such a film would be handled in a post-9/11 world. The people making the film seem very much aware of the controversial heart of the source material - and apparently it's been carried over to some degree in the script. But will it remain that way? Or will it be defanged, a splashy adventure film that would be interchangeable with any other adventure film?
One can only cross one's fingers.
Oh, and in reading up on the V film, I also found out that a film version of The Watchmen is also back in production. Lord only knows how that's going to turn out...
