V for Vendetta, Individual vs. society

The 2005 film adaptation of Alan Moore and David Lloyd’s graphic novel, V for Vendetta, is a classic dystopian story on par with the writings of even George Orwell and Aldous Huxley Through the great use of characterisation, director James McTeigue , who also directed The Matrix trilogy and Star Wars Episode 2: Attack of the Clones, has created a masterpiece in modern film storytelling, directing and editing. The film has become a major popular culture reference and its social and political effect on society has been demonstrated time and time again at mass rallies and protests by those who don a Guy Fawkes mask as a symbol of rebellion. The Guy Fawkes mask has now become synonymous with the film an V as not only a character by as a symbol of an individuals rebellion against society.

The film stars Hugo Weaving as a man simply known as V, after the Roman numeral for the number 5, the room in which he was experimented on in a government run laboratory in a concentration camp for undesirables. After escaping from the camp and with superhuman abilities as a result from the experiments, V seeks Vengeance or Vendetta, on those who imprisoned not only him but the thousands of innocent people persecuted, imprisoned and killed by the Totalitarian government party, Norse fire. Norse Fire’s totalitarian regime which utilise secret police to keep fear installed in the populace, and their attempt to rape a young woman ,named Evey Hammond ( Natalie Portmann) is foiled. After Destroying a government building and raiding Evey’s place of work at the government run television network, V and Evey are hunted by Norse Fire who label them as terrorists as the viewer would as freedom fighters. As Adam Lowry states “  The film, while set in the year 2030, is really a commentary about America and its policies since the September 11th terrorist attacks. This is in contrast to the graphic novel, which is a commentary on Britain and the political climate of the early 1980s. In the film, when V forces his way onto TV after destroying the Old Bailey, he does so that knowing that if he hadn’t, the government would have covered it up as construction work or as an attack by Islamic extremists. V instead takes his place in front of the camera and explains his actions for all of England”( Lowry, 2012).

As V’s popularity amongst the disillusioned population of Britain, he has become a symbol not only in the film but in modern culture as a political symbol of one man’s struggle against injustice. Symbolism in politics is always highly recognisable in society eg. Che Guevara for Socialists and now V for neo-Anarachists and anti-facists, Neil Anderson States “The most obvious symbol is the Guy Fawkes mask.  V wears it because (we are led to assume) his face has been disfigured by the diseases he fought when he was the subject of Delia Surridge’s medical research.  While V’s mask is a real one, Gordon Deitrich speaks of symbolic masks when he says, “You wear a mask so long you forget who you were beneath it ( Anderson, 2013)

Although he ultimately succeeds in bringing down Norse Fire and the population of Britain rises up with him, his success is a posthumous one, being killed in a gun battle between himself and secret Police Chief Creedy. To honour V and his commitment to his cause, Evey places him on a sub-way packed with explosives to finish the job that the orginal Guy Fawkes set out to complete and destroys Parliament house in full view of the now rebellious London.

References:

1.       Adam Lowry, The Cultural and Political Impact of V for Vendetta, July 6, 2011, http://tnlproductions.wordpress.com/2012/07/06/the-cultural-and-political-impact-of-v-for-vendetta/

2.       Neil Anderson, V For Vendetta, 2013

http://web.archive.org/web/20061207170901/http://www.chumlimited.com/mediaed/guidepage_scanning.asp?studyID=162

Dirty Harry – Morals vs ethics

Dirty Harry, one of Clint Eastwood’s most memorable roles as police Inspector “Dirty” Harry Callahan of the San Francisco Police Department and one of Don Siegel’s most memorable films portrays police work in a very different light from many other films. Whilst most police films have are action movies, Dirty Harry is portrayed in a different, almost Noir like manner, showing a darker side to police work particularly the homicide department in which Callahan works in. Dirty Harry is loosely based on the Zodiac killings of 1966 in the San Francisco Bay Area, in which the film was entirely set and directed. Throughout the film, Harry’s morals and view on justice often conflict with the ethics of police work which become not only the theme for the Dirty Harry series but a reflection of today’s society and our views on social justice versus the law.

The film starts with a man shooting a woman swimming in an apartment buildings pool with a sniper rifle from the roof of an adjacent skyscraper. A ransom letter so to speak is left at the scene in which the sniper demands a cash payment or he will keep killing. The case is given to homicide inspector “Dirty” Harry Callahan and his new partner Chico Gonzalez who is quickly shown the ropes by Harry to the true nature of police work. Harry, an effective investigator who gets results, is often in trouble with his superiors due to his often brutal use of force, an example is the film’s most famous line “I know what you’re thinking: “Did he fire six shots, or only five?” Well, to tell you the truth, in all this excitement, I’ve kinda lost track myself. But being this is a .44 Magnum, the most powerful handgun in the world, and would blow your head clean off, you’ve got to ask yourself one question: “Do I feel lucky?” Well do ya, punk?

While Gonzalez and Callahan work the case against Scorpio, he kills again and takes a 14 year old girl hostage. During the ransom exchange, Gonzalez and Callahan are wounded by Scorpio. In the following search for Scorpio, Harry finds plenty of evidence and “Harry demands to be told where the girl is buried. Scorpio refuses to disclose her location; demanding his rights to a lawyer. As the camera draws back from the scene Harry stands on Scorpio’s bullet mangled leg to torture confession of the girl’s location out of him. This scenario provides a vivid example of a kind of situation which has attracted a deal of comment in police ethics literature under the title ‘Dirty Harry situations’.In such a situation a police officer is faced with a conflict between conforming to their duty to obey the law”(Alexandra,2000)

By the time the police arrive at the location, the girl is already dead and due to an abuse of Scorpio’s rights however, the case is dropped. Soon after, Scorpio hijacks a bus full of school children in which Harry, now suspended, foils and kills Scorpio. Although Harry’s method get results, which often either gains popularity or notoriety for the police department, his moral code is never unbroken although it risks his ethical behaviour as a police officer. As Roger Ebert stated in his review of the film in 1971 “The movie clearly and unmistakably gives us a character who understands the Bill of Rights, understands his legal responsibility as a police officer, and nevertheless takes retribution into his own hands. Sure, Scorpio is portrayed as the most vicious, perverted, warped monster we can imagine — but that’s part of the same stacked deck. The movie’s moral position is fascist. No doubt about it” (Ebert, 1971). Whether or not Callahan’s actions can be completely justified in terms of a moral binding and ethical execution of the law is uncertain, but what is certain is that the film is a timeless classic which will leave both its fans and critics debates to ponder over for years to come.

References

1. Roger Ebert: Dirty Harry Review, 1^st of January, 1971
2. Andrew Alexandra, Violence and Police Culture,Melbourne: Melbourne University Press, 2000, pp. 235-248

What makes me Unique? – The Breakfast Club

John Hughe’s 1985 film, The Breakfast club, is renowned as one of the best coming of age films of the 1980’s, if not in all film history. Hughe’s main focus of the 1980’s was teen coming of age films such as 16 candles and Ferris Buller’s day off, but no other film showed the realities of teenage and high school social life and the uniqueness of individuals like the Brekfast club did. Staring Moly Ringwald, Emilio Estevez, Anthony Michael Hall, Judd Nelson and Ally Sheedy as a group of high schoolers on weekend detention who are all part of different social cliques around the school, the film highlights what makes everyone, particularly teenagers who are seeking an outlet, what makes them unique.

Empire Magazine journalist Simon Crook gives the viewer a basic overview of the film by stating “To Shermer High, then, where five Kellogg’s Teen Pack archetypes — jock, weirdo, nerd, rebel, prom queen — are assembled for an all-Saturday detention. Over the course of eight hours, they pick at each other’s defences until an existential maelstrom hits and they come to learn some universal teen-truths (Crook, 2006). As the day progresses, the group begin to open up to one another and learn each other’s hopes, dreams, desires, fears, secrets and regrets. For instance, Anthony Michael Hall’s character, Brian, the nerd of the group, has considered suicide and tis he reason for his detention is hiding a flare gun in his locker which exploded and Judd Nelson’s character John Bender who describes his abusive and neglectful home life. The group realise that although they come from different social cliques in and outside the school, they are all very similar in their thoughts and ideas on school, peer pressure and their parents. In essence, the characters ,who are unique in their own right as individuals, realise that even though they are all very different people, they are not as unique as they think they are when it comes down to the issues they deal with every day.

All though a ground breaking film for its portrayal of teenage realities, character exploration and a 1980’s icon, Roger Ebert says of the film “Nothing that happens in “The Breakfast Club” is all that surprising. The truths that are exchanged are more or less predictable, and the kids have fairly standard hang-ups. It comes as no surprise, for example, to learn that the jock’s father is a perfectionist, or that the prom queen’s parents give her material rewards but withhold their love. But “The Breakfast Club” doesn’t need earthshaking revelations; it’s about kids who grow willing to talk to one another, and it has a surprisingly good ear for the way they speak” (Ebert, 1985).

Ebert’s statement, has truth to some extent but never before or since has a director like Hughes create a timeless classic about the realities of teenage life and their uniqueness as individuals.

References:
1. Roger Ebert, The Breakfast club, 1985
http://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/the-breakfast-club-1985

2.Simon Crook, The Breakfast Club, Empire magazine, 2006
http://www.empireonline.com/reviews/reviewcomplete.asp?FID=14432

What is real – Memento

The question of “What is real” is often asked and explore in art, film and television but Christopher Nolan’s film Memento from 2000 explores the theme of reality through the story of Leonard Shelby played by Guy Pearce, in his quest to avenge the rape and murder of his wife although he is suffering from anterograde amnesia, which does not allow him to create and store new memories. The film is told in two separate time sequences, a black and white sequence to show the “real time” of the film and the colour sequences to display Leonard’s  memories which are displayed progressively backwards about the events that lead to the present.

Phillip French decribes the plot of the film “As he pursues the killer he’s reduced to making notes, annotating Polaroid pictures, having essential information tattooed on his body either by a professional in a tattoo parlour or with his own needle. He also has to depend on others, all unreliable – the devious desk clerk at a seedy motel, attractive barmaid Natalie (Carrie-Anne Moss), who may be using him for her own ends, the slimy, ubiquitous Teddy (Joe Pantoliano), who claims to be a solicitous cop but might well be a crook( French, 2000).

Although new memories are not available to Leonard, his polaroids, notes and tattoos provide

him sources of information and to some extent remind him of his contacts, each of them are unreliable and manipulative towards Leonard and his desire to seek revenge. Leonard begins to believe that “Teddy” is the real murderer of his wife and although he is trying to help Leonard, he comes to accept the evidence provided by Natalie that Teddy is the man who killed his wife. Natalie gives Leonard a driver’s license and vehicle registration details to Leonard which reveals that Teddy’s real name is John Edward Gammal. Leonard’s tattoos and Polaroids claim that a man with the initials John G killed his wife and he is certain that it is Teddy. But how can Leonard trust this information when he can’t even trust himself in knowing what is real?
The beauty of memento is that it leaves the viewer guessing until the end ,or the beginning of the film according to the time sequence followed.

 As Rob Blackwelder claims “But as “Memento” continues to turn the clock back, we bear witness to

all that Leonard doesn’t remember: the events that lead him to this blind act of vengeance — not all of which are what they seem. An unforgettable, ingeniously original deconstructionist film noir, “Memento” is meticulously and precisely assembled so that each scene jumps back a few minutes or a few hours to reveal a little more of its mystery. Earlier scenes hint that Teddy may have been helping Leonard in his search. But why would Teddy do that if he’s the one who killed Leonard’s wife? The plot thickens”.(Blackwelder, 2013).

It is revealed at the end of the film that Teddy / John Gammal is actually the police detective assigned to Leonard’s case who believes his story and assists him in his quest for vengeance which they succeeded in a year before the film is set.  However, due to Leonard’s memory loss, he never realises that his quest has been fulfilled and they continue to hunt criminals called John G. Leonard, unable to morally comprehend these random acts of vengeance begins to plan the murder of Gammal by rearranging the evidence so that the details of the John G he is to track and kill is Gammal who is the man killed at the start of the film.

By creating his own reality, Leonard conflicts with what is real and with the death of Gammal, it is unknown how Leonard will function in society as he cannot grasp with anything else but his notes.

References
1. No, wait. It’ll come to me, A revenge thriller about a man with amnesia rings all the right bells.     Philip French, guardian.co.uk, Sunday 22 October 2000 21.28 BST
http://www.guardian.co.uk/film/2000/oct/22/philipfrench

2.Blanks for the memories, Rob Blackwelder, 2013
http://splicedwire.com/01reviews/memento.html

. Star Wars, The Empire Strikes back- Destiny

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Without a doubt, George Lucas’s original Star Wars star wars trilogy is one of if not the most influential piece of modern film. Modern popular culture is filled with Star Wars references and the trilogy, despite its less critically acclaimed prequels creating a rift between fans, still remains one of the most much love film sagas of all time.  Episode V:The Empire Strikes back, released in 1980 wowed audiences the world over with its visual and special effects and the plot twist that Darth Vader is in fact the father of Luke Skywalker. Luke’s destiny as one of the last remaining “force” capable beings in the galaxy is to defeat his father and overthrow the Empire and Emperor for whom he serves. Luke questions his destiny several times throughout the film and only confronts Vader to save his friends and then unknown to him his twin sister Leia from a trap set by Vader to lure Luke to the Dark side and rule the galaxy with his son.

Whilst under training to defeat Vader and the Emperor under former Jedi Master Yoda, Luke struggles to come to terms about his destiny and questions the Jedi way of life and Yoda’s training methods.  Roger Ebert in his 1997 review of the film says that “Yoda has just sent Luke Skywalker into a dark part of the forest to confront his destiny. Luke says a brave farewell. There is a cut to R2-D2 whirling and beeping. And then a cut back to Yoda, whose face reflects a series of emotions: Concern, sadness, a hint of pride” (Ebert, 1997). When Luke confronts his destiny, he confronts and defeats Vader only to realise that the slain Vader is in fact Luke himself only to realise that it was vision. As he consults Yoda on the meaning behind this, Luke learns that Vader is attempting to lure Luke into a trap and convert him to the Dark side by realising his pure anger and hatred out on Vader who has captured his friends Han Solo, Chewbacca, C3P0 and his sister Leia. Further consulting Yoda, Yoda states “If you leave now, help them you could. But you would destroy all for which they have fought and suffered.” This is the true meaning of tragedy: When attaining what you most desire leads to its very destruction” (Carlson, 2013).

Although he assists in rescuing his friends, he is defeated in a duel by Vader who reveals himself as Luke’s father. Accepting the ways of the force and realising that his destiny is to defeat Vader, the Empire and all that is evil in the galaxy, Luke plummets down  the abyss of what is the inside of Bespin to be rescued in turn by Leia, Chewbacca and Bespin governor Lando Calrissian whilst Han Solo is taken away captive by the bounty hunter Baba Fett.

Despite earlier doubts about his destiny and the role he has been given to bring back harmony to the galaxy, Luke’s acceptance of his role later proves vital to the destruction of the empire, the mortally damaging re-conversion of Darth Vader to the good side of the force and eventual peace throughout the galaxy.

References
1. http://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/the-empire-strikes-back-1997
Roger Ebert, The Empire Strikes Back, 1997

2. http://www.pajiba.com/pajiba_blockbusters/the-empire-strikes-back-review.php

David Carlson, Luminous Beings Are We, 2013