V For Vendetta (2006)

In 1984's Nineteen Eighty-Four, John Hurt played the role of everyman Winston Smith. Through his unwise action of thinking outside the boundaries enforced by the Party, Winston is subjected to hideous torture until his will is bent to the liking of the overlord of Airstrip One, Big Brother. Just over 20 years later, the roles have been utterly reversed - John Hurt is now British Chancellor Adam Sutler (Susan in the original comic book), who rules this green and pleasant land with an iron fist and a powerful will. He even resembles Big Brother, with his moustachioed face appearing massive on the giant viewscreen in his government Lair O' Doom. This time the heroes are Hugo Weaving's V, a remarkably eloquent and frighteningly deadly masked freedom terrorist, and Natalie Portman's Evey Hammond, a normal girl caught up on V's attempt to take down the corrupt Norsefire party. Now, fans of the original comic book (creator Alan Moore included) will likely despise this adaptation, as nearly all talk of anarchism is expunged and instead V is fighting to free people from an oppressive government, not from government in general. In fact, the greatest, and generally quite fair, criticism is that this is merely a shallow ersatz of the Bush Administration, satirising the increased intrusion into public freedom post-9/11, rather than the anti-Thatcherite tone of the original story. This is generally fair, but since when was satire either boring or wrong? A faithful adaptation this is not, but this is still a clever and powerful film, treading some old ground and scouring some new as well. The entire story is held together well by its enigmatic and charismatic hero, and simply Hugo Weaving's vastly verbose and veritably victorious introductory monologue is well worth a watch. This film deserves little of the scorn it earns, as it remains entertaining, though not as inspirational as some dewy-eyed anarchists might wish.


There seems to be a theme developing with these totalitarian regimes...

Black Swan (2010)

Around the awards season it's not unreasonable to have a fair degree of scepticism about likely nominations being thrown around. In this case, Natalie Portman is being touted as a shoe-in for the Best Actress Oscar, having already won the Golden Globe in the same category, for her role as a veteran ballerina in Darren Aronofsky's Black Swan. Happily, Portman deserves her nomination for this part, a vulnerable and damaged young woman who discovers many things about herself after being chosen for the dual role of the Swan Queen in a production of Swan Lake. It's implied that Portman's character Nina was always high-strung and obsessive to the point of madness, and we see her begin to break under the pressure of her starring role, struggling to portray the feisty and sensual Black Swan, and fearing that new dancer Lily (Mila Kunis) will steal way her chance for success after years of intensive training. The entire film is slightly unnerving, with the ostentatious displays of Nina's cracking psyche balanced by many tiny, background effects that cause the viewer to wonder if they just imagined the moving picture or distorted face in their peripheral vision. Tchaikovsky dominates the musical score, lending a sense of immense grandeur to the proceedings, and cementing the music of Swan Lake into even the most ballet-phobic male stereotype. The incredibly tense finale is a blend of thunderous music, beautiful dancing, and some truly breath-taking imagery as Nina loses herself in her role and allows her old self to be overcome. The hype is justified and in this case the film is as much a piece of entertainment as a piece of art.


And I'm sure this scene wasn't added to placate hen-pecked boyfriends...