Most of the time, attacks on monuments or iconic buildings in movies are perpetrated by the bad guys: the terrorists, the aliens, the monsters, the corrupt government officials, etc. Only rarely is the destruction of a building a source of catharsis for the viewer – an act not of aggression, but of liberation.
There are few more cathartic experiences than the end of V For Vendetta. The entire film works us up to that single moment, as the Houses of Parliament erupt in fireworks, celebrating the 5th of November and the liberation of an oppressed nation. The surrounding faces, revealed from beneath Guy Fawkes masks as each of our characters, living and dead, show a nation escaping together from fear and totalitarianism. A new world is beginning.
Released fairly close following both the 9/11 attack and the bus bombings in London, V For Vendetta was accused of valorizing terrorism. And it is indeed centered around the act of blowing up the Houses of Parliament, as Guy Fawkes failed to do back in the 18th Century. The film does take pains to show that no one is injured in the explosion – it’s an act of defiance, not violence. Parliament has become not a symbol of freedom, but a symbol of the terrible control of a fascist government. V For Vendetta proposes that a building is indeed a symbol, and that the destruction of it need not be an act of violence or hate, but of freedom. The country needs to be liberated from the ties to the past, from the web of hate and deceit that has imprisoned them. The building is destroyed so that people can be free.
Published: Jun 28, 2013 11:08 am