The Inner Tumult.
V for Vendetta is powerful. Go watch it. Orwellian, dystopic, but moments of oh-so-aching beauty and truth. A movie that critiques itself and its artform even as it fleshes out an idea about an idea. Musings on celluloid, art, truth, God, power, and ultimately, freedom.
The most intelligent aspect, of course, is how it manages all these things while remaining fun. The touches of dark humour, even in the most intense, truthful moments. The intense action. As usual, the Wachowski brothers use bullet-time, but at least it's been reduced to a single scene this time. And the powerful use of symbolism, even as it is discussed and dissected by the characters.
Allegory? Perhaps. But there are messages within messages in here - and I'm not even sure if I got them all. It appears that my next step is to pick up the graphic novel. I might even rewatch it, if only for the pleasure of revisiting art.
I'm no authority on the adaptation of graphic novels to film. In fact, two genres can probably never be compared - it would be like comparing sculpture to music. Different yardsticks, different standards, different premises. But as a person who appreciates graphic novels as an art form, the surfacing of graphic novels in the mass media's conciousness is a good thing - both for the development of the medium, as well as the artistic and literary development of society.
Then again, there's always the potential for disaster. Constantine, for example. Keanu Reeves mowing down demons with a crucifix-tommy gun? Sometimes, the film industry really cracks me up. In a sad way.
The most intelligent aspect, of course, is how it manages all these things while remaining fun. The touches of dark humour, even in the most intense, truthful moments. The intense action. As usual, the Wachowski brothers use bullet-time, but at least it's been reduced to a single scene this time. And the powerful use of symbolism, even as it is discussed and dissected by the characters.
Allegory? Perhaps. But there are messages within messages in here - and I'm not even sure if I got them all. It appears that my next step is to pick up the graphic novel. I might even rewatch it, if only for the pleasure of revisiting art.
I'm no authority on the adaptation of graphic novels to film. In fact, two genres can probably never be compared - it would be like comparing sculpture to music. Different yardsticks, different standards, different premises. But as a person who appreciates graphic novels as an art form, the surfacing of graphic novels in the mass media's conciousness is a good thing - both for the development of the medium, as well as the artistic and literary development of society.
Then again, there's always the potential for disaster. Constantine, for example. Keanu Reeves mowing down demons with a crucifix-tommy gun? Sometimes, the film industry really cracks me up. In a sad way.
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In other news - chicks. Love 'em, hate 'em, can't live without 'em.
posted by khel at 8:14 AM
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