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V for Vendetta is a 2006 cult action-thriller film directed by James McTeigue and produced by Joel Silver and the Wachowski brothers, who also wrote the screenplay. The film is an adaptation of the graphic novel V for Vendetta by Alan Moore and David Lloyd. Set in London, England in a near-future dystopian society, the film follows the mysterious V, a freedom fighter seeking to effect sociopolitical change while simultaneously pursuing his own violent personal vendetta. The film stars Natalie Portman as Evey Hammond, Hugo Weaving as V, Stephen Rea as Inspector Finch and John Hurt as Chancellor Sutler.
The film was originally scheduled for release by Warner Bros. Friday, November 4, 2005 (a day before the 400th Guy Fawkes Night), but was delayed; it opened on March 17, 2006. Alan Moore, facing his disappointment in both From Hell and The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, refused to view the film and subsequently distanced himself from it. The filmmakers removed many of the anarchist themes and drug references present in the original story and also altered the political message to what they believed would be more relevant to a 2006 audience.
In the year 2038, Britain has become totalitarian, ruled by the Norsefire regime. The story follows Evey Hammond, a young woman who is rescued from state police by a masked vigilante known as "V". After rescuing her, they witness V's destruction of the Old Bailey. The regime explains the incident to the public as an emergency demolition, but this is shown to be a lie when V takes over the state-run British Television Network (BTN) the same day. He broadcasts a message urging the people of Britain to rise up against the oppressive government on November 5; one year from that day, when V will destroy the Houses of Parliament. Evey helps V escape, but is put in danger. V saves Evey from being captured and interrogated by officials and does this by bringing her to his lair, where she is told that she must stay in hiding with him. Upon learning that V is killing government officials, she escapes to the home of one of her superiors, Gordon Deitrich. However, the state police raid Gordon's home, and Evey is captured. She is incarcerated and tortured for days, finding solace only in notes left by another prisoner, Valerie. Evey is told that she will be executed unless she reveals V's whereabouts. Evey says she would rather die. She is then released. Evey discovers that her imprisonment was staged by V, to force Evey to experience what he had gone through, in order that Evey would understand integrity can be more important than life. Evey is infuriated by this at first, but later comes to believe that V was helping her not hurting her. Later that day Evey leaves V, promising to return before November 5.
Inspector Finch, through his investigation of V's origins, learns how Norsefire came to power. Fourteen years previously, Britain had suffered from war and terrorism. The socially-conservative and openly fascist Norsefire party led a purge to restore order; enemies of the state (Muslims, Jews, blacks, homosexuals, communists) disappeared during the night. The country was divided over the loss of freedom until a bioterrorist attack occurred, killing about 100,000 people. The fear generated by the attack allowed Norsefire to silence opposition and win the next election by a landslide. A cure for the virus was discovered soon afterwards by the Norsefire company, Viadoxin. With the silent consent of the people, Norsefire turned Britain totalitarian, with their leader Adam Sutler as High Chancellor. The virus had been engineered by Norsefire as a plot to gain power, through deadly experimentation on "social deviants" and political dissidents at Larkhill detention center. V had been one of the prisoners, but instead of being killed by the experiments, he had gained heightened mental and physical abilities. V eventually destroyed the center and escaped, vowing to take revenge on Norsefire's regime.
As November 5 nears, V's schemes cause chaos in Britain and the population grows more intolerant and subversive towards government authority. On the eve of November 5, Evey again visits V, who shows her a train that he has filled with explosives in order to destroy Parliament through an explosion in the abandoned London Underground. He delegates the destruction of Parliament to Evey, believing that the ultimate decision should not come from him. Evey tries to convince V not to leave and kisses him. He tells her he can't stay and then leaves to meet Party leader Creedy; who, as part of an earlier agreement, has agreed to bring V the Chancellor in exchange for V's surrender. Creedy kills the Chancellor in front of V, but V does not surrender, instead killing Creedy and his men. V, mortally wounded in the fight, returns to Evey. He tells her that he had fallen in love with her, thanks her, and then dies. His body is placed upon the train with the explosives.
Evey is about to send the train down the track, when she is discovered by Inspector Finch. However, Finch, having learned much about the corruption of the Norsefire regime, allows Evey to proceed. Meanwhile, thousands of Londoners, all wearing Guy Fawkes masks, march on Parliament to watch the event. Because Creedy and the Chancellor are dead, the British Army stands down in the face of a civil rebellion. Parliament is destroyed by the explosion. On a nearby rooftop, Evey and Finch watch the scene together.
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