In the film, V is described as an idea rather than a person, says Natalie Portman, who stars alongside Hugo Weaving as Evey Hammond, the young woman in whom V awakens a latent activism.
One of the reasons he is so invincible is because you can kill a man, but an idea cant be killed. So V represents truth, resistance and individualism. But his vengeance taints his political idealism.
Playing opposite an actor wearing a mask throughout the entirety of the film was challenging, but director McTeigue had no concerns with Portman’s ability to engage emotionally with the character despite his fixed disguise. I knew she would be able to play off the mask and help make it come alive.
A highly accomplished young actress, Portman’s career already boasts roles in Star Wars: Episode I, II and III, as well as acclaimed performances in such films as Closer, Garden State and Everyone Says I Love You. Having previously worked with Portman as first assistant director on Star Wars: Episode II ” Attack of the Clones, McTeigue had witnessed firsthand her incredible talent and focus. Shes completely professional, and looks luminous, compliments the director. But more than anything, her fearlessness and intelligence were perfect for the role.
Until the night that fate hurls V into Eveys life. Patrolling the streets after the universal 11pm curfew, undercover Fingermen, the states secret police, catch Evey alone in a cobblestone alley, stealthily making her way to a friend’s house. With only pepper spray to defend herself, she falls victim to the ruthlessness of their warped use of judicial discretion. But before the encounter disintegrates into brutality, a mysteriously cloaked man appears, saving Eveys dignity and her life. Unknowingly, this chance meeting sparks Eveys political awakening.
Chief Inspector Finch is the detective on the hunt for V, racing to stop his string of murders and find him before he fulfills his promise to destroy Parliament on the 5th of November. Leading the states investigation into the mysterious and eerily similar murders of several prominent figures, Finch is determined at the outset to simply catch the elusive terrorist and his seeming accomplice, Evey.
However, as Finch unearths details of Vs history, he discovers shocking state secrets concealed by the government he serves and his sympathies begin to shift. He starts to question that which he has accepted for far too long. The investigation thrusts reality and truth in his path, waking him from his acceptance of the states oppressive stranglehold on the rights and freedoms of its people. Played by actor Stephen Rea, Finch guides the audience through the films detective story as he slowly begins to uncover evidence that suggests that the British government may have something unspeakably criminal to hide.
Rupert Graves is Dominic, Finchs lieutenant and junior partner in the investigation. The villainous head of Englands totalitarian regime is Chancellor Sutler, played by the venerable John Hurt, two-time Oscar nominee for his lauded performances in Midnight Express and The Elephant Man. Sutlers government rules by fear, ensuring submission of its citizens through intimidating means ” secret police, constant surveillance and the threat of imminent and apocalyptic dangers. Censorship, propaganda, and subverting freedom of speech are the order of the day, and eliminating minorities is but a necessary casualty.
Hurt starred as Winston Smith in Michael Radfords film 1984, based on George Orwells chilling tale of a totalitarian society ruled by an omnipresent fascist leader. In V For Vendetta, with the exception of a few key moments, Sutler is predominantly seen on an oppressively immense monitor from which he delivers incendiary speeches to the country and erupts in vitriolic confrontations with his cabinet via digital conferencing.
In one comic scene, however, Hurt steps away from the screen to play opposite Stephen Fry in a mock variety show skit in which Frys character, television host Gordon Deitrich, daringly ” and dangerously ” pokes fun at the ruling Chancellor. Deitrich, a suave television personality hired by the government to produce a daily variety show, is Eveys trusted friend and confidante. But he has secrets of his own that must remain hidden from the state.
Rounding out the impressive ensemble cast is Tim Pigott-Smith, who plays Creedy, the head of Britains secret police, and Vs final and most dangerous nemesis. While Sutler appears to have the country tightly shackled, the real power rests within Creedys grip. Ben Miles is Dascomb, Sutlers head of propaganda who cleverly spins Vs explosion of Old Bailey on BTN, the government-controlled network, as an emergency demolition project.
Roger Allam
Two-time Laurence Olivier Theatre Award-winning actor Roger Allam plays Prothero, the arrogant, vitriolic host of a news program called The Voice of London. John Standing, one of Englands most respected stage, film and television actors, is Bishop Lilliman. This man of the cloths religious convictions takes a backseat to his perverse sexual cravings, which ultimately prove to be his undoing.
The course of Vs life, and subsequently Eveys as well, has been unalterably impacted by a woman named Valerie Page ” a woman who neither of them ever met. Her story is one of the thousands of those who were tortured and killed by the governments callous cruelty and persecution of those it deemed unfit ” and also a story of the small shred of hope that can ignite a revolution. The role of Valerie is played by Natasha Wightman, whose previous work includes Robert Altmans Gosford Park. Acclaimed Irish actress Sinead Cusack plays Delia Surridge, a coroner haunted by her horrific past ” a past she shares with V.
