V for Vendetta (2005)

Hi, I'm James McTeigue. I'm the director for V for Vendetta. Welcome to the In-Movie Experience. Something I thought I'd put together to guide you through the film. V is a very complex film politically, thematically. And I thought it might be nice if we could get the cast and the crew and myself... ...to talk about things that, otherwise, you wouldn't get to know about. SO, enjoy.

I was really excited by the idea... ...of having this big, sort of, Hollywood movie... ...with some very provocative political ideas... ...and things that just continually... ... you know, stimulate you. Guy Fawkes was a character... ... who was caught underneath Parliament in 1604... ... trying to blow up Parliament. A thinly, sort of, veiled Catholic plot against the king and the government of the day. He is now a folkloric hero in England. So, even though he tried to blow up the king and the queen and the government... ... he's now celebrated by burning his effigy every November the fifth. It's, I suppose it's... ...a kind of revisionist approach to the Guy Fawkes story... ... which largely, in England, he would be considered an enemy and a devil. And it's interesting to approach it in that way, you know. To look at things from the point of view of the oppressed... ... father than the oppressor. I suppose that's the history of a big empire... ... 1S the story of the victorious. The graphic novel was, like, really rich material... ...written by Alan Moore and David Lloyd. When, you know, the Wachowski's did, like, another version of the script... . like, in the mid-nineties, and then... ... towards the end of the second and third Matrixes... ...we decided to pull it out of the drawer because we thought it was really relevant... ...but we also thought it could be made more relevant by updating the material.

A lot of what you'll, you know, see in the character of V... ... IS how someone else is responding to him. And I thought that, you know, Natalie would be fantastic to be that person. And at the point that we thought... ... that Evey should be, you know, a little older than she is in the graphic novel... ...and a little more, you know, intelligent... ...Natalie seemed like, you know, a great, obvious choice. You see that she's really passive in the beginning... ...and she's just trying to live her life under the radar... ...and be, you know, stay safe. And you can see where she comes from because of what happened with her parents. And she goes from being this passive person to, sort of... ...by chance, ending up with V, sort of... ...not by her own doing and not being happy about tt... ...and then, through her imprisonment... ...she, sort of, learns, um... ... how to face her fears and that... ...overcoming that fear is the most important for her own integrity. If you have parents who have suffered, um... ...been punished for their ideals... ... it almost feels like a personal insult as a child... ... that your parents have chosen their ideals over you. Because they know what can happen to them. And even if those ideals are to make a better world for you... ...or whatever the fact of it is, she doesn't grow up with her parents. She's really in this mind space where she's just trying to... ...to keep out of trouble. One of the really interesting themes of the film... ...1S, like, the fate and coincidence idea. Which starts at the start of the film. The Strangers on a Train moment. You know, two people coming together and, you know... ...will they change, can they possibly change each other's lives. That's quite enough of that, thank you very much. Oh, shit. I took the template of how London looked 20 years ago... ...and how it looked when we made the film, which was 2005... ...and then I said to Owen, what I wanted to get about doing... ...Was just imagine London in another 20 years' time. It is a film that is set in the future because it's not really of our time. But it's not a futuristic film... ...which anyone, when they view the film will see. Because of the totalitarian government... ... everything, in a sense, in London was frozen in time. Because this is a city. And a city that's part of a country... ... that is very much controlled. A bit like the GDR in Germany... ...or a bit like we imagine Nazi Hitler must have been. It's not a particularly modern part of London... . It's, I guess, a timeless London that we were looking for. Fingerman Alley, which is one of the first things you see. I remember we had a discussion where I wanted it to be like an old... ...London alleyway, just so you would immediately... ...or the audience that didn't really know London... ...would immediately go: "Oh, well, this is the London that I know." The important thing about Fingerman Alley was... ...it's the introduction for V. So we took-- His entrance was quite important. And we have a kind of a little arch... ...which frames him rather nicely. So he was framed, if you like, almost as a silhouette. In his mask. And as he moves forward he's able to... ...away from the arch, he cocks his head and the light falls on his face. And it's really quite a dramatic effect.

Well, I guess the Fingerman fight, what I tried to do there was... ... IN some ways it's the establishment of V. The establishment of V, the classic superhero. So I wanted you to get the idea of his speed and strength straight off the bat. V is very theatrical. It's not quite what I'd call martial arts. I'd say it's violent theatrics is kind of what it is. As much as a man in a hat and a cape can do. Jesus Christ! Mercy! We are oft to blame in this... 'Tis too much proved. that with devotion's visage and pious action... ...we do sugar o'er the devil himself. What's that mean? - Spare the rod.

That speech, because it's such a muscular piece of writing... ... It needs to be attacked with great kind of gusto and flair. And passion and belief. And so, if that's all there, it's a wonderful introduction to the classic masked man. He just appears and you get that persona very, very clearly and very, very quickly. I would say there's not enough talking in films, nowadays. And, you know, there's not enough use of language. I think that introduction, you know, when he first turns up in the Fingerman Alley... ... throws the Shakespeare out to you, then you get the big alliteration speech. I think it's, like, it's nice to use words. And, you know, he uses them beautifully. I thought it was a cool way, also, to preserve from the graphic novel... ... how each chapter has a V word, which I love that. And I was like, I wish we could've kept that in the movie. But that sort of structure... ... 1S sort of condensed into that crazy use of V's in that speech. The important thing about that speech Is you're never gonna understand it. I mean, you know. But you're gonna understand the intent of it. The performance gives you the intent of what that speech Is. And then Natalie's reply is sort of, you know... ... you're the audience, you know, "Yes, what are you, a crazy person?" V does say that he's a humble vaudevillian veteran. He's an actor. I mean, he is an actor. The character is an actor. He's an actor activist. Or something. Who has been picked up and chucked inside... ...and then experimented on and tortured. Hugo's ability to use his physicality and his voice so expressively.... You're so intrigued by what's going on behind that mask... ...as an actor, as a character, as an audience member... ... that you're always going, okay, is he crying now? Is he happy? Is he angry? And because you're so, sort of, entwined in his emotions... ... you become V. And at the end, everyone is V. Because they've been trying to figure out his emotions... ... you know, everyone's trying to play him at the time... ...because they're trying to figure out what's going on under that mask... ...SO it's an amazing, sort of, engagement tool. And afterwards, you'll return home safely. All right. When you go up on the rooftop and you start hearing the music... ...I wanted you to be able to look out over London... ...and have some recognizable landmarks... ...even though it wasn't true to the direction that we were looking. We went up onto a rooftop nearby. We shot stills at night that we bracketed to get the full range of lighting information. Then we removed a few obvious buildings. The St. Paul's Cathedral stands out, there. It's very obvious. And just added a few extra skyscrapers and so on. Painted all the lights out for much lower levels... ...to sort of fit in with a late-night curfew. The Old Bailey Justice Courts itself is always a miniature... ... whenever we see it in this picture. And that's partly because the real building, if you go there at night is not properly lit... in any way that you'd, you know, really want to do it... ... If you were focusing on it like we were. We also made some slight design changes to the Old Bailey miniature. We changed the, flattened the, sort of dome roof, slightly... ...and enlarged the statue that's at the top... ...because she's quite an important part of the story, there. I still went with building miniatures for all of the intricacy and detail that you get... ... IN a very complex pyrotechnic explosion. To do that with a computer, although aspects of that are feasible now... ... the simulations are hugely complicated. And there are always these little happy accidents... ...and things that you get from doing something for real... ... that you're not... Not totally in your control. Which is a big reason why we do it. How beautiful, is it not?

I wanted it to be like a fascist state but more about... ... how people live now. About more how... ... society is, and politic is... ...and people are controlled by capitalism. It's not about beating people into submission anymore. I think everyone's worked out that those manifestos don't work. Today, I think a dystopic vision... ...lncludes something more like, you know... ...material comfort, sort of, you know... ...quelling your desire to speak out against injustice, or something. It's more like an Iran totalitarian society... ... than a Soviet Union totalitarian society. You do have the creature comforts. Maybe your choice is limited. But it's not about being beaten into submission. It's about being complicit. He should conclude that the New Bailey will become the symbol of our time... ...and the future that our conviction has rewarded us. Mr. Heyer. Our surveillance cameras captured several images of the terrorist... ... though the mask obviously makes retinal identification impossible. We also managed to get a picture of the girl that Creedy's men were detaining. Who is she, Mr. Finch? - Not sure yet, sir. But we're working on several leads. - Anything else? We located the fireworks launch... ...and found traces of the explosives used at both sites. Unfortunately it appears that despite the heavy level of sophistication... ... these devices were homemade with over-the-counter chemicals... ...making them very difficult to trace. Whoever he is, chancellor, he's very good. Spare us your professional annotations, Mr. Finch. They are irrelevant. Apologies, chancellor. Gentlemen, this is a test. Moments such as these are matters of faith. To fail is to invite doubt into everything we believe... ...everything we have fought for. Doubt will plunge this country back into chaos, and I will not let that happen. Gentlemen, I want this terrorist found... ...and I want him to understand what terror really means. England prevails. England prevails. TV is so ubiquitous, you know. I mean, it's everywhere. You can't escape it. Part of it is a bastardization of what happened in the novel. There is, like, a TV station siege. Then, I think it's pretty obvious... ... that, you know, capitalism has won out, everywhere. Part of your social strata in some countries... ... 1S how big your TV is and how many TVs you've got. That's a way of disseminating information. And whether that information is right or wrong or it's bad or it's good... .or it's true or it's untrue. I think that's what I was trying to get at. It's also a part of the, obviously, part of the system of control. You have a government broadcasting station and it seems to be the only one. I mean, I can't remember. I might be wrong. But it seems like it's the only station that everyone.... And then you see everyone watching that very station... ...and Evey's working at it. And Deitrich is ready for his tea. I don't get it. Why does he wear a Guy Fawkes mask? Didn't Fawkes try to blow up Parliament? It's not too late. He's still got another 16 hours. Maybe he's just getting started. Yeah? Okay. A lead on the girl. Look, don't get me wrong, I love it. A cow getting crucified. It's hysterical. But you'll never get it approved. You've got to rewrite it, okay? Gotta go. I don't recall getting stood up by a more attractive woman. Mr. Deitrich... - Gordon, please. I don't need "mister" to make this body feel any older. Gordon... ...I was on my way last night, but there were Fingermen... ...and I got scared and went home. Sadly, after last night, I think our curfew will only get worse.

Gotcha. What I wanted to do there... ...was make everyone inside the TV station feel a little trapped. I guess. So, I said it was important, uh... ...to make it like a classic TV station... ...but to make it very.... You know, there's a little element of green in the paint... ...which sort of gives you that, sort of, sickly, kind of, neon-y feel. And then, I wanted not only for V to feel like there was no way out... ...but, sort of no way out for Evey... ...and the other characters that come into the TV station. You know, the Deitrich character's in there, the Finch character. Dominic. You know, Dascomb. You would get the overall feel that... ... everybody couldn't get out of the TV station once V laid siege to it. Including V himself. This looks serious. Her parents were political activists. They were detained when she was 12. - What happened to her? Juvenile Reclamation Project... ...for five years. - Shit. We're gonna need backup, but keep it minimal. You sure about that, sir? I want a chance to talk to her... ... before she disappears into one of Creedy's black bags.

Who's that? Don't piss me about. You show me ID, or I'll get Storm Saxon on your ass.

Fucking hell. Come on, let's move!

You two, cover these elevators. The rest of you follow me. Attention. Attention. Will all personnel please evacuate the building? This is not a drill. Will all personnel evacuate the building?

What the hell's going on? It's jammed. - Break it down.

Dominic! Police! Out of the way! Get out the way!

Damn it!

/'// tell you what I know. I'll tell you what I know. I'll tell you what I know. England prevails. Clear the halls. - Sir. Help, Storm, help!

Don't touch it. Dad, what's wrong with the telly?

It was the very last scene me and Hugo did together, in actual fact. We did it the day after we finished filming. I took a small video crew and went and did it again. Because it's such an important speech... ...and there's so much information that you want to come over in an interesting way... ... that I thought it was really important to get it, like, exactly right. One of the most difficult things about that piece... ...1S not only do you have the masked man... ...uh, but also, he's sitting behind a desk addressing a camera. So you've actually enclosed him even more. He's at his least expressive. Physically and visually. Because, when you're talking to a camera, there's not a great deal of movement. There's not a great deal of head movement. The tendency is newsreaders will talk to the camera. And that's exactly what V's doing. Also on a trivial, sort of side note as well... .all that stuff, the newsreaders talking, Prothero talking, V talking... ...I shot all on video. Because I wanted it to be, almost, how you get information now. Even though no one will, kind of, really know that... ... sort of chemical process versus an electronic process. It is different, you know. There's all those studies... ... about what cathode rays do to you... ...and how they make you passive. I thought that was interesting... ...SO I shot it on video. And there's definitely an equation there too... ...between, you know, the rebel's message... ...and ways of disseminating information... ...and ways of using language and oversimplification... ...in a, sort of, propaganda with the leaders. So I think that's one of the interesting things about tt... .IS that, just because there is a just cause... ... to rise up against this government... ...doesn't necessarily mean that the way they're doing it... ...or what they might replace it with would necessarily be more commendable. Fear got the best of you. And in your panic, you turned to the now High Chancellor Adam Sutler. There's a lot of screens throughout the movie. There's a sort of Big Brother feel of images being projected to the population... ...and being told everything is good and fine and that they should just cooperate. So there are screens showing up throughout. Sometimes big screens placed on places like Piccadilly Circus in London. So we'll be actually creating a screen to put in there. We see on a number of occasions, um... ...the sequences where people are at the bar, the retirement home... ...a middle-class home, I guess you'd call it... ...and a more working class environment. And we see them also in Trafalgar square. Where there's this great big... ... image of government that's coming down and kind of lecturing you. And, of course, V's really smart at the beginning of the film. He takes control of that mechanism... ...and he is able to kind of get out his message to the population. And, which of course is great frustration to the government... ...because the way they've set this up... ... It's virtually impossible for them to stop it immediately. Kerosene fog. He's using our smoke machines. Cover the exits. No one gets out. The rest of you, follow me.

Left. You go right. Spread out.

Don't shoot! Please don't shoot! Hold your fire!

He put masks on all of us. Jesus. Don't shoot! - Wait! Wait! - Hold your fire! Freeze! Nobody move! If you're wearing a mask, get down on your knees!

Get their masks off. - Please hurry! There's a bomb in the control booth. Oh, no. Get anyone not wearing a mask out. - Yes, sir. Marshal, help carry this man. - Sir. Everyone else, let's go.

Good God. Hurry up, you lot! Come on! Everybody out!

Dascomb. Have you any idea how long it would take to rebuild this facility? Do you have any idea what you're doing? Wait, wait! I wanted what's happened outside the TV studio... ...and when V Is trying to escape... ...I wanted to be that... To show, like, the animal side of V. Or, like, the person that gets trapped, what he'll do if he's in a situation... ... that he needs to get out of. You know, the viciousness of him and the bipolarness of him. And how he will, like, do anything to further what he needs to do... ...which speaks to one side of his character, if you like. The film being very interior... ... you know, and purposefully interior too, I guess, you know. Because you wanna have a sort of sense of claustrophobia... ...I think the action sequences are cathartic, you know? They're sort of metered throughout the film. Freeze! Get your hands on your head. Do it now or I shoot. I must say that I am rather astonished by the response time of London's finest. I hadn't expected you to be quite so Johnny-on-the-spot. We were here before you even started. Bad luck, chummy. Oh, I don't know about that. Aah!

We're interrupting your regular program to bring you this terrifying report... ...of a terrorist takeover of Jordan Tower which ended only moments ago. A psychotic terrorist, identified only as the letter V... ... attacked the contro! booth with high-powered explosives and weapons... ... that he used against unarmed civilians in order to broadcast a message of hate. We've just received this footage of a daring police raid. Stop! Stop, stay where you are, or we'll shoot! Stay where you are! Now, this is only an initial report... ... but at this time, it's believed that during this heroic raid... ... the terrorist was shot and killed. Bollocks. Again, from what we've been told by authorities, the danger is now over. The terrorist is dead.

Right there. What's he thinking? Is he considering leaving her? After she just saved him? He's a terrorist. You can't expect him to act like you or me. Some part of him's human. And, for better or worse, she's stuck with him. I wanted the mood to almost stop, like she's being stopped. Or she's being trapped. And so I thought it was, like, good that she wakes up... ...she hears the music and then she comes out and, you know... ... she discovers the reality of her situation. And in some ways, you know, I wanted the music to draw her out. Because that was gonna be used as a recurring motif for later on. I think the Shadow Gallery is a, um.... And V is a custodian of many, many, um... ...art forms that have been either banned, that have been banned by the government. And so he's collected all these things together in this one space. So it's a place of refuge. And it's, in a way, it's a place of refuge for the viewer as well. As a result, because there are only two characters you see in the Shadow Gallery... . It's a place of intimacy. And it's where Evey and V start to connect as human beings, rather than.... You don't see the masked man, although, of course, he's still in a mask. You start to find out about the human being. It's also something that makes her.... It's a place that makes her understand the cause, I think. Because all of this art and literature and music and everything is there. You know, it's like the Churchill thing that he said during World War Il... ...when they asked him to cut arts spending... ...he said, "Well, then what are we fighting this war for?" It's like, you can't sacrifice... ... the very things you're fighting for. My favorite line in the movie... ... which obviously comes later in your chronology. But my favorite line is when V says... ...a revolution without dancing is a revolution not worth, you know, fighting. I think the other thing about the Shadow Gallery that I really liked... ...and it was a really nice part of the book, is... ... the art that they had in there. The books that they chose. The music that they had. And the things that they thought were gonna be banned. Which I thought were very interesting, you know, choices in the graphic novel. And then I just used an extension of that, almost. And it was a really good chance to put a lot of stuff in there that I like. And James won't brag about this, but, like... ... the jukebox... ... had, like, 300 handpicked songs... ...by James of, like, what he would save. It was all written out, like, very specifically. You were unconscious and I had to make a decision. I did have this crazy idea, at one point. I was gonna light the day scenes different to the night scenes. Just because I thought that V wouldn't perpetually live on, like, a... ...some sort of 24-hour clock. So I was gonna do this blue hue at one point... ...and then this, sort of, like, golden hue. But I went for the golden hue in the end. Because I thought the blue thing was a little cold.

The first drawing of the Shadow Gallery was much grander than it ended up being. And, you know. Budgetary restraints... ... always get in the way, I guess. But, you know, I think we, like, got a great set out of it, you know? It is quite big. You know, I said that it should feel like it's under some place of, like, great import... ...some sort of cultural institution... ... that has been closed down by the government of the day. Anything else on the parents? - Yeah, it ain't good. They were interned at Belmarsh. Oh, no. - Yeah. She died in a hunger strike. He died when the military retook the shed. And that ain't the worst of it. Her brother was at St. Mary's. Christ. - It's nothing but bad luck here. So we know her story. Now we need his.

V? Ah. Bonjour, mademoiselle. I just wanted to apologize for my reaction last night. I understand what you did for me, and I want you to know I am grateful. Your hands. Yes.

There, that's better. I hope I didn't put you off your appetite. No, please. It's just-- Are you all right? - Yes, yes, yes, I'm fine. Can I ask what happened? There was a fire. A long time ago. Ancient history, for some. Not really very good table conversation. Now, would you care for a cup of tea with your egg? Yes, thank you. I'm starving, actually. - Have a seat.

Mmm. It's delicious. - Good. God, I haven't had real butter since I was a little girl. Where did you get it? A government supply train on its way to Chancellor Sutler. You stole this from Chancellor Sutler? - Yes. You're insane. I dare do all that may become a man. Who dares more is none. Macbeth. - Very good. My mum, she used to read all his plays to me... ...and ever since, I've always wanted to act. Be in plays, movies. When I was 9, I played Viola in Twelfth Night. Mum was very proud. Where is your mother now? She's dead. I'm sorry. Can I ask about what you said on the telly? Did you mean it? - Every word. You really think blowing up Parliament's going to make this country a better place? There's no certainty, only opportunity. You can be pretty certain that if anyone does show up... ...Creedy'll black-bag every one of them. People should not be afraid of their governments. Governments should be afraid of their people. And you'll make that happen by blowing up a building? The building is a symbol, as is the act of destroying it. Symbols are given power by people. Alone, a symbol is meaningless, but with enough people... ...blowing up a building can change the world. I wish I believed that was possible. Every time I've seen this world change, it's always been for the worse. Roger Allam, who plays Prothero, is a fantastic theater actor. Those shock jocks exist in every country... ...whether it's America or whether it's England... ...or whether it's Australia or wherever you are. I think the common denominator is they are in every country in some form. And he really embodied that. All the awfulness... ...and the disgustingness and the duplicity that a lot of those guys have. He's the voice of Britain, so he runs a television program... ...in which he rants his particular beliefs... ...which are also the beliefs of the government. I mean, very much like, I suppose... ...some of those evangelist kind of programs that you have in the States. Only his evangelism is a kind of nationalistic fascism, I Suppose. Roger really relished the role. I thought that he really did a good job. So, you know, I made him.... You know, he has those shirts that have the, like, the squeezing neck... ...and I put him, like, in a fat suit... ...and I made him a bit colorful and really made him over the top. One's initial impulse is to be quite big. Then you think, this is a movie. I better be smaller. And they were sort of also, "Oh, no, be big." You know, so. So, you know, you pick up influences... ...and direction and encouragement from wherever you can, really... ...and just sort of hope it all stitches together. Don't worry, I've made sure our reunion won't be disturbed by... ...any pesky late-night phone calls, commander. Stop. Why do you keep calling me that? That was your title, remember? When we first met, all those years ago. You wore a uniform in those days.

You. It is you. - The Ghost of Christmas Past.

Yeah? - Finch, it's Dascomb. Dascomb. - I've already called the chancellor. We have to get control of the situation. - What situation? Chancellor Sutler agreed, for obvious reasons, we have to keep this discreet. In the wrong light, the loss of the Voice of London... ...could be devastating to our credibility. Perhaps a stroke? No, no, it's too horrific. A quiet, dignified death in his sleep. We got any eyes or ears on this? - No, camcos were cult. It's the same m.o. as before. But we got an elevator log ID. Let me guess. - She's in deep, inspector. V?

My fat, metal friend.

Mondego.

Oh, God. I hope I didn't wake you. No, I just thought you were fighting. I mean, for real. My favorite film: The Count of Monte Cristo, with Robert Donat as Edmond Dantes. It is not my sword, Mondego, but your past that disarmed you. It gets me every time. Never seen it. - Really? Would you like to? - Does it have a happy ending? As only celluloid can deliver. Okay. Put the sword away. Forensics just wrapped. No prints, no hair, no fibers. The guy is like a ghost. You won't believe what they found on Prothero. Drugs? - Could've started his own hospital. Interesting. - Why? Did you know Lewis Prothero was one of the richest men in the country... ...before he was the Voice of London? Drugs? - Legal ones. Major stockholder in Viadoxic Pharmaceutical. Viadoxic and St. Mary's in less than a week. Coincidence? When you're at this as long as I've been, you stop believing in coincidence. May we come up? You find your own tree. - You find your own tree.

Did you like it? - Yeah. But it made me feel sorry for Mercedes. - Why? Because he cared more about revenge than he did about her. nationwide were devastated as news of the most popular... Wait. What's this? most awarded stars in the history of the BTN... ...@ man known to the entire nation as "The Voice of London"... . passed away late last night from apparent heart failure. She's lying. - How do you know? She blinks a lot when she does a story she knows Is false. It came as no surprise to those who knew him... ... that his body was at his office... ... where he often worked long hours after everyone else had gone home. Lewis, you will be sorely missed.

V, yesterday I couldn't find my ID. You didn't take it, did you? Would you prefer a lie or the truth? Did you have anything to do with that? Yes, I killed him. - YOu.... Oh, God. - You're upset. I'm upset? You just said you killed Lewis Prothero. I might have killed the Fingermen that attacked you. I heard no objection. What? - Violence can be used for good. What are you talking about? - Justice. Oh, I see. There's no court in this country for men like Prothero. And are you going to kill more people? Yes. Take a look at this. Prothero's military record. What do you see? lraq, Kurdistan, Syria, before and after, Sudan. Busy boy. - But after all that... ... they put him in charge of a detention facility at Larkhill. Well, no good deed goes unpunished. You think there's a connection between our boy and Larkhill? It might explain the connection between him and the Hammond girl. Problem is, I can't find any other record of it. Larkhill? Larkhill? I cannot recall that particular facility, inspector. You're welcome to review our records. - We've been through your records. All it says is that there was a detention facility at Larkhill... ... approximately 10 miles north of Salisbury. Well, there you have it. This is a matter of some urgency, major. We need to know if there was anything different about this facility. I'm sorry, inspector, I simply cannot recall. Was there a specific profile for those being sent there? Usual undesirables, I should think. - But do you know? Of course not. I wasn't stationed there. - Do you know who was? I cannot recall specific names, but if you look through our records... Your records are either deleted, omitted or missing. As head of the Detention Program at that... Before you go further, let me remind you things were very chaotic back then. Now we don't have the problems we had back then. We all did what we had to do. And in those circumstances, we did the best we could. That's all I have to say about that. I think there is a lot of fear-based politic now. And not that there hasn't always been, you know, because tt's, like, the good tool... ... that you can use to really, you know, keep the population under wraps. The Evey character becomes, like... ... you know, becomes encased in that sort of subtle fear, I guess I would call it. I also think that fear is at the heart of the film. In a totalitarian state... ... fear is the major weapon that's used. And fear is the state in which everybody in that state lives. Not just your average person in the street... ...In fact, even the top echelons of government. They're living in fear. And it's true in the film. - Also, the other extreme... ... fearlessness, which, obviously we deal with too... ... 1S also equally dangerous. I mean, fear is a socially necessary... It's how you save your life. - It's-- Yeah. It's how you learn from your past experiences... ...and protect yourself in the future from further pain... ... that you've experienced in the past or you've heard about from other people. And obviously it is exploited by governments, by media... ...to control people. But fearlessness is another extreme of a dangerous position to be in... ...where people are willing to do things that do put themselves or others at risk. The character of Evey in the graphic novel is a... ...well, let's call her, like, a very unconscious, you know... ... young girl. Almost like a, you know, a caricature of a blond, young, kid. And she becomes, in the graphic novel like a piece of clay that, you know, V molds... ...and sort of pushes this way and pushes that way. We thought it'd be better to make her a little politically aware... ... you know, like, through her parents. But not, you know, super conscious. It's like she tried to push that back because of what happened to her parents... ...and how her life as a child was and how it had been affected by her parents. And on that point as well... ...by giving her certain strengths that she may not have in the graphic novel... . it actually humanizes V as well... ...because it forces him to change and it forces him to be... ...more than just this all-powerful figure who kind of is a step away from that... ...a step removed from humanity. And it actually gives him, forces feelings upon him... ... that he may not necessarily feel otherwise. In the graphic novel it really feels like... ...V can almost, like, do anything he wants to her... ...and I think when you give the Evey character... ... you make her a little stronger... ... it makes her push up against V a little bit... ...and makes the conflict a little more interesting, I thought. One thing is true of all governments: The most reliable records are tax records.

It appears that the original electronic records have all been lost. Probably during the Reclamation. A lot of things went missing back then. But I found this hard copy filed in the cold vault. Everything we've got on Larkhill is In there. Thanks. This is a great help.

"By the power of truth, I, while living, have conquered the universe." Personal motto? - From Faust. That's about trying to cheat the devil, isn't it? It is. And speaking of the devil... ...I was wondering if your offer to help was still standing. Of course. - It appears unforeseen circumstances... ...Nave accelerated my original plan. As a result, I'm in need of someone with some theatrical skill. I'll do my best. I believe you will.

Another doctor. Why does a detention facility need so many doctors? I don't Know, but this is interesting. The highest-paid person at the camp was a priest. Really? - Yeah, Father Lilliman. Lilliman. - Was paid almost 200 grand a month. Now, that is interesting. Looks like he was promoted. He's a bishop now. Lilliman is played by John Standing. Who, you know, I think you just need to look in the news media at the moment... ... to, you know, see where that character is drawn from. I think it is also, like, part of.... You know, religion plays, like, such a big part of our daily lives... . that it's interesting to look at people like that... ...Who do act like human beings. Like, with all human beings' foibles. I thought Lilliman was an amazingly good cameo. Because it had all sorts of hideous aspects to it. And I liked it. I mean, I thoroughly... I thoroughly enjoyed doing it. Because it's slightly comic and it's awful. And it finishes up by being utterly atrocious and dying. it's just a singularly vicious man. It's a vicious prelate, is what it is. Seething underneath with sensual aberration. This is not a Catholic. This is not a Catholic... ...bishop at all. It's an Anglican. Or supposedly. But I think he's a sensual, sex-crazed prelate. Everybody was frightened of the gun. I fired the gun and had my wrist broken and was smashed about the place. And having fired rifles and Bren Guns and God knows what... ...for 13 months in the army... ...I couldn't understand why everybody was heated up by a little pop gun that I had. That's really all that happens. And I die quite often, actually, nowadays. I think it's my longevity that produces this... ... flavor in people of needing to kill me off. But then quite a lot of people get killed during the course of this film. I think this should balance it out. - What are you talking about? I'm Evey Hammond. I'm... I've been the prisoner of the terrorist V for the past several weeks. I'm telling you that any moment, he's going to come through that door. I unlocked the window in the room where Denis told me to get ready. Wonderful! It's a game I've never played! What a delightful mind you have. I hope the rest of you is just as interesting. No, please, you have to believe me. - Oh, I do, I do, I do. Let me show you the firmness of my beliefs. Stop it! Get off of me! Seems I've captured a dangerous terrorist. Now, how best to procure her confession? Oh! You little bitch. You fucking little whore! Reverend. - Oh, my God. She wasn't lying. It is you. I'm sorry. I had to. - Evey!

And thus I clothe my naked villainy... ...With old odd ends stolen forth from holy writ... ...and seem a saint, when most I play the devil. Oh, please, have mercy. Oh, not tonight, Bishop. Not tonight. Don't do this, I beg of you. Well, then. Children's hour at the abbey. Open your mouth and stick out your tongue. What the--? - I don't want to die! This is Surveillance 109. We have an emergency. Creedy is played by Tim Pigott-Smith... ...Who's a great English actor. What I would say about, you know, the Creedy character... . IS there's always someone who's carrying out the dirty work. There is always, like, the public face of governments. But there's always the person working behind the scenes. And I guess he's the classic henchman. I'm playing this part of the... He's called Creedy, the Fingerman. And somebody refers to him in one scene as creepy Creedy. So I've stuck my ears back against my hair... ...to try and get my hair flat. To try and look hyper-lizard-like. It's just great. I mean, baddies are fun to play and he's pretty bad. And I've enjoyed working with James and Larry and Andy a great deal. He's supposed to have been responsible for inventing the notion... ... which is really very interesting when you think that the book was written in the '70Os. The best way to control a population is to frighten them. Because if you think of the recent election in America... ...I certainly think a large proportion of the population... ...were frightened into voting in a certain way. Control by fear. It's not quite as bad in England. But there is still a McCarthyite element in what goes on. So Creedy is the, sort of, philosopher, if you like, of the regime. He's come up with this notion that what you do... .1S terrify your own country, not the enemy. And that's really, that's where.... He's completely without conscience. Very largely without feeling.

Why am I playing it? I'm such a nice guy. ...and I'd find him soon.

Please. Deitrich is played by Stephen Fry who.... I guess, if you live in England, he's, you know, he's somewhat ubiquitous. You know, he has his own game show... ...he's writing books, he's directing films... ... he's the smartest guy in the room. But I thought that that character... ...more than anyone else... ...embodies a lot of people. And especially in the entertainment industry... ...people who can't really say how they feel... ...because they have to be wary of, you know, how audiences view them. It's very traditional on these DVD extras and "making of" films and things like this... . it's very traditional to ask an actor how on earth he got the part. And I always yearn to say that I was walking in the countryside... ...and I kicked a stone and a little elf came out... ...and offered me three wishes and I said, "I want to play this part, please." But, unfortunately, the answer is always the same, my agent called me up... ...and said will you go and see this director about this particular film... ...and that's what happened in this case. No magic enthralling anecdotes about... ...pixies or elves or magic fairies. I play the character called Gordon Deitrich. Rather weirdly spelled D-E-I-T-R-I-C-H. We don't Know why it's spelled like that. No German Deitrich would be spelled that way. But he's a chat-show host, I suppose. A comic chat-show host. To Americans, more in the line of David Letterman, Jay Leno, I suppose. There's no real British equivalent of exactly that. And in our imagined world of England 2005... In V for Vendetta-land... ... he's the closest they get in this authoritarian world to satire. It's a very gentle type of satire. But, as in all these kind of stories... ...Without giving too much away, he switches sides... ...and uses his power as a television figure... ...to state the case for the opposition, shall we say. Deitrich has a secret vice, which is art. He has others too, which I'll let the film surprise the viewer with. But he has a cellar full of illicit art objects. Because we're living in a present, in a world in which... ...art is regarded as a, sort of... ... radical, communistic, disgusting thing. Can you imagine such a world? And so he secretly worships at the altar of the muses without telling anybody.

You could get these poisons from any house in London. Thanks, Delia. Any leads on finding this guy? Nothing yet. But there's something else you can help me with. You started as a botanist, didn't you? It's-- It's a Scarlet Carson. They're believed to be extinct. He leaves them at the crime scenes. I'd appreciate it if you could have a look at it. Any information could be helpful. Of course. Excuse me. Yeah? I just finished going through the file, inspector. You better get back here. Yeah, okay. My God. He's killed them all. - All but one. Who is she? - Not sure. She's clearly one of the people in charge at Larkhill. But after they shut it down, she disappeared for two years. Till she applied for an overseas visa, which was denied. Running away? Probably, because after that, all record of her seems to stop. She changed her name. - That's what I'm guessing. I put a call in to the registry, but I haven't heard back. It's late, or early. - Call them again. I want that name.

What? Are you sure about that? Okay. Thank you. Dr. Diana Stanton changed her name to Delia Surridge. The coroner? - Yeah. Jesus, I just saw her.

It's you, isn't it? You've come to kill me. - Yes. Thank God. /'m sorry, I can't get a response from that number. There's a problem with the connection. Jesus Christ. He's there. After what happened, after what they did... ...I thought about killing myself. But I knew that one day you'd come for me. I didn't know what they were going to do. I swear to you. Read my journal. What they did was only possible because of you. Oppenheimer was able to change more than the course of a war. He changed the entire course of human history. Is it wrong to hold on to that kind of hope? I have not come for what you hoped to do. I've come for what you did. It's funny. I was given one of your roses today. I wasn't sure you were the terrorist until I saw it. What a strange coincidence, that I should be given one today. There are no coincidences, Delia. Only the illusion of coincidence. I have another rose. And this one is for you.

You're going to kill me now? - I killed you 10 minutes ago... ... While you slept. ls there any pain? - No. Thank you. Is it meaningless to apologize? Never. I'm so sorry.

Damn it. The terrorist obviously wanted us to have it. He wanted us to know the story, or at least a part of it. Am I to understand that you have read this document, inspector? Yes, sir. - Has anyone else read it? No, sir. - Then let me make this perfectly clear. The contents of this document are a matter of national security... ... constituting an assault on the character of several important party members... ...as well as a blatant violation of the Articles of Allegiance. As the authenticity of this document cannot be verified... ... It could be an elaborate forgery created by the terrorist... ...as easily as it could be the deranged fantasy of a former party member... ...who resigned for psychological reasons. Any discussion of this document or its contents... . Will be regarded, at the very least, as an act of sedition... .../f not a willful act of treason. ls that understood, Mr. Finch? - Yes, sir. You would do well, inspector... ...to put it out of your mind.

l-- I guess in all regimes or in all governments in all societies... ... there is the Larkhills. They're always used and they never go away. And unfortunately, we keep seeming to wanna use them. And I thought that I would, like, take a shot at, um... ... trying to make it speak to the past, which is obviously... ... you know the Nazis and the concentration camps... ...or maybe it goes back to the Inquisition. And then, you know, in the present there's the Guantanamos... ...and the Abu Ghraibs and the Belmarshes. lt made me nervous... ...but the commander assured me there wouldn't be a problem. June 2nd. I keep wondering if these people knew how they might be helping their country... ... If they would act any differently. They're so weak and pathetic. They never look you in the eye. I find myself hating them.

August the 18th. Of the original four dozen, over 75 percent are now deceased. No controllable pattern has yet emerged. September the 18th. There is one case that continues to give me hope. He exhibits none of the immune-system pathologies the other subjects developed. I've discovered cellular anomalies in his blood that I've been unable to categorize. The mutations seem to have triggered... ... the abnormal development of basic kinesthesia and reflexes. The subject said he could no longer remember... ...who he was or where he was from. Whoever he was, he is now the key to our dream... ...and the hope that all of this will not have been in vain. November the 5th. It started last night, around midnight. The first explosions tore open the entire medical section. All my work, gone. I was trying to understand how it could've happened when I saw him. The man from room 5. He looked at me. Not with eyes. There were no eyes. But I know he was looking at me because I felt it.

Oh, God... ... what have I done?

Bonjour, mademoiselle. What is that you're making? We called it "eggie in the basket." My mum made them. This is weird. - What? The first morning I was with him, he made me eggs just like this. Really? - I swear. That is a strange coincidence. Although there's an obvious explanation. There is? - Yes, Evey. lam V. At last you know the truth. You're stunned, I know. Hard to believe, isn't it, that beneath this wrinkled, well-fed exterior... ... there lies a dangerous killing machine with a fetish for Fawkesian masks. Viva la revolucion. That is not funny, Gordon. Yeah, I know. I'm useless without a studio audience. I've seen people go to jail for less than that. Of course, he was right, wasn't he? There is something wrong with this country.

Morning, inspector. You're at it early. Is something wrong? You don't look so good, sir.

I wanna ask a question, Dominic. I don't care if you answer me or not. I just wanna say this aloud. But I need to know that this question will not leave this office. Yeah, of course, inspector, but... Because of the terrorist? No. So, what is it, chief? What's going on? The question I want to ask is about St. Mary's... ...and Three Waters. The question that's kept me up for the last 24 hours... ... the question I have to ask, is: What if the worst... ...the most horrifying biological attack in this country's history... ...Was not the work of religious extremists? I don't understand. We know it was. They were caught. They confessed. And they were executed. I know. And maybe that's really what happened. But I see this chain of events... ... these coincidences, and I have to ask: What if that isn't what happened? What if someone else unleashed that virus? What if someone else killed all those people? Would you really wanna know who it was? Sure. Even if it was someone working for this government? That's my question. If our own government was responsible... ... for what happened at St. Mary's and Three Waters... ... if our own government was responsible... ...for the deaths of almost 100,000 people... ...would you really wanna know? This has to be the bloody coldest March in years. Keep talking like that, we'll lose our party status. They're a pack of lying hypocrites! Keep it down, will you?

Based on random audio sweeps, I've projected that right now... ...80 percent of the public believe the terrorist is still alive. We're also showing a 12-percent increase... ...over last month's positive mention in all four quadrants. Mr. Creedy? - We're handling it as best we can. Arrests are as high as they've been since the Reclamation. I want more than arrests. I want results.

I'm not a character who is interested... ...in the company of young, pretty ladies. I'd be one of the few people who wouldn't give their eyeteeth... ...to have dinner with Natalie Portman. Though, I like her very much as a person. But that's another thing I have to hide. My character can't parade his sexuality in this brave new Britain... ...because that's outlawed. And so, what with my art and my sexuality... ... that's my little secret world. But I invite women from time to time... ...because that's expected of a successful man. And I've invited her, but she never makes it. But she trusts me. Um, and.... And after a few adventures on her part... ...she ends up at my house and I come out to her... ...in every sense. As an art-lover and as a gay man and everything else. And her bravery, I think, is what pushes me over... ...and makes me think, okay, I'm going to make a stand now and l... ...fip up the censor-approved script of my nightly show... ...and write one which makes vicious fun of the chancellor. The Deitrich show was the homage to Benny Hill, in a lot of ways. And it was also something that would really piss of Sutler... ... you know, in a very short amount of time. Because it was an attack on his personality in a lot of ways. And he's hailed as this icon in the government. And I thought it was a really good way for the audience... ...to see how Deitrich really got underneath his skin. This is Gordon's swan song. I mean, a part of him seems to believe... ... if we're to take him on trust... ... that he's gonna get away with it. That he'll be made to apologize in public... ...and have to sort of work in the salt mines of television for a while... ...before being reinstated. But actually what happens is he that he's beaten to a pulp by... ...oy the brute squad. - To be fair... ...that was one of John Hurt's ideas. I was gonna face-mold him, actually. And I got to talking to him about it one day... ...and he just said, "What about if I did that?" "I'll just play both guys. You know, we'll split them down the middle... ...and we'll see how it goes." I talked to Paul Engelen... ...the makeup designer... ...and he said, "Yeah, I could put, like, big pancake makeup on him"... ...and it looked like he had a mask, almost. And I like that idea that you kind of, "Is it him? Is it not him?" The little glasses girl, she's going, "Oh, it's him! Oh, it's the Chancellor." And he did a great job. And he really has a great physicality too. That's a lot of him rolling around on the floor... ...and falling over and tripping over. Faker! - Fraud! Ready! - Aim! Fire! - Fire!

What are they gonna do, fine us? Big deal. We've got the most-watched show on air. Well, you're my agent, that's what I pay you for. Protect me. I should've hired him to be my mother. You're mad. - Either that or I wasn't breast-fed. ls everything a joke to you? - Only the things that matter. What if they come after you? - I tell you what's gonna happen. I'll have to make some kind of apology, do some boring fundraiser. In the meantime, our ratings will go through the roof. It'll be fine. Trust me.

Gordon? Quick, Evey, hide!

Not so funny now, is it, funnyman?

Gotcha. - No, no.

We were so fortunate to have Natalie Portman in the movie. I mean, she is just glorious. I mean, she is just an incredible girl... ...an unbelievable actress, so beautiful. And she went through such hell in the movie. She gets her head shaved, I mean she.... Those scenes where she's dealing with, kind of, squalor... ... she's shooting them in, kind of, squalor. It was a rough performance because, I mean, she has to have an arc. In some ways I find it's the emotional part of the film. That part of the story, you know? Like, the film within the film. I wanted you to feel her journey or her transformation. And I also wanted at that point to really reference the graphic novel. Because I thought in the graphic novel it was really brilliantly drawn. It was important for you to go with the character... ...and feel the way that that happens to the character. It's one of the reasons I love this character... ...was that her transition is... ...very complicated. In, I think, a viewer's judgment of it. The other part that really interested me about that is... ... how you can give two people exactly the same experience... ...but how they come out as two totally different human beings. But it is a manipulation. She's being manipulated. She's being lied to. She's being brainwashed in a way... ...that complicates the whole matter. And I really like that, because I think in the evolution... ...of someone who becomes... ...Willing to use violence to express themselves... ... there has to be an element of... ...Whether it's being manipulated or whether it's putting blinders on your own humanity. It's not that huge a change to be quietly, you know... ...working with, you know, complicitly... ...passively going along with your government... ...and then going to, sort of... ... in a sort of passive way, become a follower of a character like V. And I liked that element of it too. It actually wasn't the hardest stuff to shoot... ...because, I'm like, I have to be, like, manic when I do those scenes... ...where I'm doing the scenes... ...and as soon as they say cut... ...I have to go start joking and laughing and playing around... ...because otherwise I'd go crazy. Yes. She is the antithesis of method. That's for sure. Yes. Like, stay in character? What's that? But part of a method of working on film, I think, I agree with Natalie... . IS to maintain an energy and a freedom on set... ...so that you can actually do things. Otherwise you just burn up. And you exhaust yourself. Absolutely exhaust yourself.

I know there's no way I can convince you... ... this is not one of their tricks, but I don't care. lam me. My name is Valerie. I don't think I'll lve much longer. I wanted to tell someone about my life. This is the only autobiography that I will ever write and, God... .../'m writing it on toilet paper. There is always that great history of the first people... ...picked on or imprisoned are minorities. And it was important to, you know, show the Valerie character... ...and where she starts off with... ...and where, you know, where her life leads her... ...and then, you know, how the government come in... ...and they sweep up all those people... ...and then... ...and then how it affects Evey... ...and how Evey comes to, like, understand what has happened to those people... ...and how it, I guess it really sparks her political consciousness after her parents. Natasha, who plays Valerie is really, really lovely. And she, I mean, incredible actress. And James had her on set so that when I was reading the letter... ... that she would be reading it live for me... ...Which made it so much more human, instead of... I mean, not to disparage script Supervisors in any way... ...but a lot of times when there's voiceovers that you hear... ...the script supervisor will just read it from the script. And obviously they shouldn't be trying to act it out or anything... ...but that can be a very cold feeling. When you have the actual actor there, that's pretty amazing. For me, it's a point in the film where you're both propelled on... ...and also you're propelled backwards. And so you're going down this fantastic rabbit hole... ...at a point in the film where it expands the film... ...and it expands your mind. And you have to stay on the train you're on, but also at the same time... ...get onto another train. And I love it when films do that. So It's a fantastic thing to do at that point in time. It also is a very important back-story for V as well. Because it's to that note... ...1S something that links all three characters. And, you know, I love that all that... The thing that changes them... ... IS written on a piece of toilet paper. I think that is, like, totally fantastic. You would. I'd always known what I wanted to do with my life... ...and in 2015 I starred in my first film, The Salt Flats. lt was the most important role of my life. Not because of my career... ... but because that was how I met Ruth. The first time we kissed... ...I knew I never wanted to kiss any other lips but hers again.

We moved to a small flat in London together. She grew Scarlet Carsons for me in our window box... ...and our place always smelt of roses. Those were the best years of my life.

But America's war grew worse and worse... ...and eventually came to London. The bill proposed by the Undersecretary for Defense, Adam Sutler... ...to close the remaining tube stations passed with.... After that, there were no roses anymore. Not for anyone. You won't last much longer. You're gonna die here. Why protect someone who doesn't give a shit about you?

I remember how the meaning of words began to change. How unfamiliar words like "collateral" and "rendition" became frightening... ... While things like "Norsefire" and the "Articles of Allegiance" became powertul. I remember how "different" became dangerous. I still don't understand it... ...wWhy they hate us so much.

They took Ruth while she was out buying food. I've never cried so hard in my life. It wasn't long till they came for me.

It seems strange that my life should end in such a terrible place. But for three years, I had roses and apologized to no one. I shall die here. Every inch of me shall perish. Every inch... ...but one.

An inch. It is small, and it is fragile... ...and it is the only thing in the world worth having. We must never lose it or give it away. We must never let them take it from us. I hope that, whoever you are, you escape this place. I hope that the world turns and that things get better. But what I hope most of all is that you understand what I mean... ...when I tell you that even though I do not know you... ...and even though I may never meet you... ...laugh with you, cry with you... ...Or KiSS you... ...1 love you. With all my heart... ...1 love you. Valerie.

I wanted to trick the audience, I guess. You know, I absolutely wanted you to keep guessing... ...or not really Knowing. And because Tim Pigott-Smith, the Creedy character... ... had just been up there, and he'd just... ... he'd just bashed Stephen Fry, yeah, the Deitrich character. When you got into the interrogation, I wanted you to think it was him. Maybe it was Creedy. But I changed his voice. You know, I got Tim Pigott-Smith... ...but I got another actor to come and voice over him... .1n the same way that when Natalie gets her head dunked... ...it's done by Hugo. And it's done by, like, the V character. But I put a different voice on the guy. I also wanted to play into, you know, with the Creedy character.... The two characters are actually broken up. Which you sort of get, but you don't get. One's called the interrogator and one's called Rossiter. It's essentially like the good cop and the bad cop. And the Creedy character was the bad cop... ...and the stuff that Hugo says... ... IS essentially the good cop, Rossiter. He comes and he pleads with her. "Just one little piece of information." And they're little, they're just one-liners. So you can kind of get away with that. Yeah. - Yeah. Then you have no fear anymore. You're completely free.

What?

I'd always thought that scene... ...Was possibly the hardest scene in the film. Now, I'm not just talking about emotionally difficult. It's actually the hardest film, I think, for a viewer to accept, in a way. Like, they have to suspend all sorts of disbelief... ...In order to kind of travel on from that point in the film. It was also complex for me... ...because I was actually dealing for the first time... ...With kind of being in the mask, in this gear. And I was waving my arms around much too much... ...and I was being much too technical about the whole thing, you know. It was actually really appropriate that that was our first scene together... ...because that's the moment in the movie where they're suddenly estranged. They're at their most estranged, in a way. So, also for those reasons, exactly. It is the hardest suspension of disbelief... ...as Hugo put it, because... ... you want her to be more angry, or something... ...aS a viewer and as a reader, when you're reading the script... ... you're going, how can she end up going with him after that--? What? But, actually, I mean, psychologically itis, probably, very likely. There's the Stockholm syndrome part of it. In the graphic novel there is much more of the Stockholm syndrome evident. But when we changed the Evey character... ...We thought that you just, you couldn't do that. There is no way after he did that to her... ...With the way the Evey character was now drawn in the film... ... that she would ever stay with him. I mean it seemed kind of ludicrous. You know, there is a syndrome called the Stockholm syndrome for a very good reason. Your own father said that artists use lies to tell the truth. Yes, I created a lie. But because you believed it, you found something true about yourself. No. - What was true in that cell is true now. What you felt in there has nothing to do with me. I can't feel anything anymore! Don't run from it, Evey. You've been running all your life. I can't.... Can't breathe. Asthma. When I was little... Listen to me, Evey. This may be the most important moment of your life. Commit to it. They took your parents from you. They took your brother from you. They put you in a cell and took everything they could take... ...except your life. And you believed that was all there was, didn't you? The only thing you had left was your life, but it wasn't. Oh, please. - You found something else. In that cell, you found something that mattered more to you than life. When they threatened to kill you unless you gave what they wanted... ... you told them you'd rather die. You faced your death, Evey. You were calm. You were still. Try to feel now what you felt then.

Oh, God. I felt... Yes? I'm dizzy. I need air. Please, I need to be outside. There's a lift. It'll take us to the roof.

God is in the rain.

The way we shot that was Natalie standing on a dry stage. And then... - Um, excuse me. I sort of remember an extremely rainy, freezing stage for many days. I do too because I was lucky I was out of it. And I was like.... Well, the visual effects part of it. - There was a visual effects part, yes. But, yes, she was subject to a lot of rain. That is true. But... Which, with no hair, becomes extremely, extremely cold.

V. I'm leaving. There are 872 songs in here. I've listened to them all, but I've never danced to any of them. Did you hear me? - Yes. I can't stay here. I Know. Well, you won't find any more locked doors here. I thought about keeping this... ...but it didn't seem right, knowing you wrote it.

I didn't. May I show you something before you go?

She was real. - Yes. She's beautiful. Did you know her? - No. She wrote the letter just before she died. And I delivered it to you as it had been delivered to me. Then it really happened, didn't it? Yes. - You were in the cell next to her. And that's what this is all about. You're getting back at them for what they did to her. And to you. - What was done to me created me. It's a basic principle of the universe... ... that every action will create an equal and opposing reaction. Is that how you see it? Like an equation? - What was done to me was monstrous. And they created a monster.

Do you know where you'll go? - No. That would have scared me before... ...but I suppose I should thank you. Well...

Thank you. Goodbye. Evey... ...may I ask you for something? If I had one wish, I would wish to see you again, If only once... ...before the 5th. All right. - Thank you.

Chancellor Sutler is played by John Hurt. And I thought it was a nice inversion of his 7984 role, you know? His Winston Smith role. And I think John really got the irony of that when we presented the role to him. It was great to have him up there, you know, bellowing down at those guys. Because John, in reality, is very slight. But I made him look so mammoth and so huge... ...and he is really scary and repulsive. Then the thing that I wanted to happen... ...which I thought John would really be able to embody Is that... ...at the end when you finally get to meet, you know, Sutler the human being... ...and what a pathetic coward he would be... ...he doesn't mind, like, dishing it out... ...but when he's faced ultimately with his own death... ... how he cries like a baby. I want this country to realize that we stand on the edge of oblivion. I want every man, woman and child to understand how close we are to chaos. I want everyone... ...to remember why they need us! In the former United States, civil war continues to devastate the Midwest. Scientists attribute this water shortage to the lack of rainfall the last two years. Ministry officials expect water coupon prices to rise. Police have arrested nine suspects.... Can you believe this shit? Been going on all summer. Outside the quarantine zone, a new airborne pathogen has killed 27 people. Authorities uncovered new evidence linking the terrorist organization called V... ...to the St. Mary's viral attack on London 14 years ago.

My friend inside the Finger came up with something. There were three men. Covert intel. Original black-baggers, all under Creedy. Alan Percy, Robert Keyes, William Rookwood. The day after the St. Mary's outbreak... ...Percy gives his Beretta a blowjob, Keyes dies in a fire... Rookwood goes missing. Bloody coincidences are making me sick to my stomach. Rookwood. How do I know that name?

Shit. He must have had a hidden trip on his file at the Finger. But how'd he know it was you? What do we do? I'm a cop. I have to know. I think it was a good choice just to have him sitting there. There's no movement. You're forced to listen to what he's saying. And, you know, he knows that Finch is on the cusp of putting it all together... ...but he needs to, like, tip him over the edge. He just needs to go, "Okay, here's all the chess pieces. Here's how it all fits together and, you know, I needed you, inspector." I really love that writing. I mean, it's exposition. But it's really, really important to know it. And you're also finding out a lot of information about... ...particular members of the government... ...and how they got to where they are now... ...and how corrupt the whole government structure Is. From the point of view of the disguise, I'm in that kind of.... It was like dress-ups, you know? This kind of crazy false nose... ... false beard, you know. All sorts of-- A ridiculous wig. - Hat, fat suit. Fat suit, hat, cane. I was like, "Hey, give me a parrot," you know? "Give me an eye patch." I don't quite have enough here to disguise myself. And also, it was relatively gloomy in that particular space. And so, even with all that on... ... you don't really see the face that much. The only time he's on camera you can't see him. And Rokewood, of course, is a name of one of the group.... One of the conspirators from the original gunpowder plot. You know, when they're looking at the computer screen... ...and they're going ""Rokewood" and "Catesby"... ... they're giving you some of the other conspirators of the gunpowder plot. and then imagine that you and you alone have the cure. But if your ultimate goal is power, how best to use such a weapon? Well, it's at this point in our story that along comes a spider. Here's a man seemingly without a conscience... ... for whom the ends always justify the means. He suggests that their target should not be an enemy of the country... ...but rather, the country itself. Three targets are chosen to maximize the effect of the attack: A school, a tube station and a water-treatment plant. Several hundred die within the first few weeks. Three Waters has, in fact, been contaminated. Authorities are attempting to control its deadly spread. sent destruction through the Underground. Fueled by the media, fear and panic spread quickly... ... fracturing and dividing the country until, at last... ... the true goal comes into view. Before the St. Mary's crises... ...10 one would've predicted the results of the election that year. No one. And then not long after the election, lo and behold, a miracle. Some believed it was the work of God himself. But it was a pharmaceutical company controlled by certain party members... ... that made them all obscenely rich. A year later, several extremists are tried, found guilty and executed... ...While a memorial is built to canonize their victims. But the end result, the true genius of the plan, was the fear. Fear became the ultimate tool of this government. Through it, our politician was ultimately appointed... ...to the newly created position of high chancellor. The rest, as they say, is history. Can you prove any of this? - Why do you think I'm still alive? All right. We'd like to take you into protective custody, Mr. Rookwood. I'm sure you would. But if you want that recording, you'll do what I tell you to do. Put Creedy under 24-hour surveillance. When I feel safe he can't pick his nose without you knowing... . I'll contact you again. Till then, cheerio. Rookwood... ...Why didn't you come forward before? What were you waiting for? Well, for you, inspector. I needed you.

Shh, shh, shh....

What's he doing in the dark there? Creepy Creedy. Not sure I wanna know. Sutler can no longer trust you, can he, Mr. Creedy? And we both know why. After I destroy Parliament... ...his only chance will be to offer them someone else, some other piece of meat. And who will that be? You, Mr. Creedy. A man as smart as you has probably considered this. A man as smart as you probably has a plan. That plan is the reason Sutler no longer trusts you. It's the reason why you're being watched right now... ...Why there are eyes and ears in every room of this house... ...and a tap on every phone. - Bollocks. Oh, a man as smart as you, I think, knows otherwise. What do you want? - Sutler. Come, now, Mr. Creedy, you knew this was coming. You knew that one day it'd be you or him. That's why Sutler's been kept underground for security purposes. That's why there are several of your men close to Sutler... ...men that can be counted on. All you have to do Is say the word. What do I get out of this deal? - Me. If you accept, put an X on your front door. Why should I trust you? Because it's the only way you're ever going to stop me.

It is not my sword, Mondego, but your past that disarmed you. May we come up? You find your own tree.

We got Creepy pinned like a butterfly for weeks. Still no word. What's he waiting for?

Yeah? Inspector, it's for you. Yeah. - Is that Chief Inspector Finch? It is. - This is Captain Clark... ...of the 137th Ward at Southend. We found him. - Found who? William Rookwood, the one you're looking for. I saw your report a couple weeks back, thought I'd run it through our John Does. I hooked him. Perfect dental match. A floater. Fishermen picked him up. No ID, never solved. Till now, that is. William Rookwood is dead? - I'd say so. Twenty years now.

Goddamn it! That son of a bitch sat there... ...and spoon-fed me that bullshit, and I ate it up! So, what do we do now, inspector? We do what we should have been doing. We find him. I guess V, for the whole film, has... ...been playing everybody off against each other in his own way. And once we get to the domino sequence... ... it's about V putting all the pieces in place... ...and setting the train in motion. The inexorable, kind of, rush to the end of the film... . IS set in place by the dominoes. With this film and a film like this... ... there's a lot of talk about, you know, what it means... ...and the political content and the ideas that it expresses. Which I really like, but, at the end of the day... . itis a piece of fiction from a comic book. And I don't think that should really be lost, you know? Because I just want to make a piece of entertainment to start off with. And then if you get that stuff on the back side... ... then that's a good outcome. And so, there is a lot of devices like that... ...which is just straight out, movie devices. And the domino piece Is one. You know, it's just like a cool piece of... ... you know, set piece to put in there. That started off, funnily enough the props department had rigged... ...we had made a lot of dominoes... ...to do what we thought, essentially we would do... . like all things. And we set it up... ... where we had built a very flat floor... ...1n a kind of a ring which is about 12-foot in diameter... ...three-point-six meters in diameter... ... which was always in the design of the floor of the shadow gallery. And we'd set this up so that James could come and look at this with Larry and Andy. And so they came along and we had, I think... ...one or two rows of dominoes going through... ...to demonstrate the size and the shape and the look. And it went off and did exactly what it had to do. It went...right around and... ... stopped exactly where it should have. It might have just missed by one. But it was really close. But it was incredibly underwhelming. For want of a better word. Soa gentlemen was contacted from Holland... ...who's an expert in these things. Well, I'm Robin Weijers and also known as Mr. Domino. And that is because, well, I have my own company... ... solely based on the domino effect. And we are especially working with dominoes... ...and to communicate with dominoes all kinds of stories. We had to know exactly what it was about, here in the Shadow Gallery. How to make that shape. The size of the shape. But not only the size, of course. How should the dominoes be toppled? And for that we tested all kinds of different settings. Special small settings to get the V in the middle... ...the circle around it... ...and in the meantime, we wanted to have... ... really amount of dominoes filling out the black. So that made, in total, 22,000 dominoes. ...and all trapped by it.

So do you know what's gonna happen? No. It was a feeling. But I can guess. With so much chaos, someone will do something stupid.

And when they do... ... things will turn nasty.

Rioters were arrested in Brixton. And then Sutler will be forced to do the only thing he knows how to do.

At which point, all V needs to do is keep his word. And then....

Tonight's your big night. You ready for it? Are we ready for it?

I missed this song. I didn't think you'd come. I said I would. - Ah. You look well. Thank you. May I inquire as to how you've avoided detection? A fake ID works better than a Guy Fawkes mask. I must confess, every time I heard a siren, I worried about you. I worried about myself for a while. But then, one day, I was at a market... ...and a friend, someone I had worked with at the BTN, got in line behind me. I was so nervous that when the cashier asked me for my money, I dropped it. My friend picked it up... ...and handed it to me. She looked at me right in the eyes... ... didn't recognize me. Whatever you did to me worked better than I'd have imagined.

I have a gift for you, Evey... ...but before I give it to you, I'd like to ask you something. Would you dance with me? Now? On the eve of your revolution? A revolution without dancing is a revolution not worth having. I'd love to. Tonight, I will speak directly to these people... ...and make the situation perfectly clear to them. The security of this nation depends on complete and total compliance. Tonight, any protestor, any instigator or agitator... ... Will be made example of! Chancellor, there is a contingency that has not been addressed. And what is that, Mr. Dascomb? Should the terrorist succeed... - He wont. I understand that it is highly unlikely, but if he does... If he does, and something happens to that building... ... the only thing that will change, the only difference it will make... ...1S that tomorrow morning, instead of a newspaper... ...1 will be reading Mr. Creedy's resignation! I really loved both those scenes around the jukebox. They somehow, it was something to do with the music. They almost forced a particular, um... ...atmosphere. And, uh.... Both those scenes are expressing very intimate and delicate emotions. And I think they're, kind of, extremely beautiful in terms of their relationship. So I really loved just those days when we shot those scenes, too. Yeah, the Cat Power song, too, is so incredible. I mean, it's so-- It's amazing when music can... ... immediately put a scene in the right mood. Yeah. - I mean, the scene without it... ...has such a different feel. - Yeah. Because that wasn't put in until later. We didn't shoot it with that. And it's an old Velvet Underground song. Which I liked. It's that, you know, always... I guess I was always... ... Just trying to feed back into the graphic novel... ...but not in super-obvious ways. And The Velvet Underground was part of what... ... the songs that V really liked in the graphic novel. And that was a cover and I thought it was, you know, beautiful. I went by Parliament. Never seen anything like it. Tanks, anti-aircraft, infantry. Makes you wish that no one would show up tonight. But if they do, what do you think will happen? What usually happens when people without guns... ...Stand up to people with guns. Pull over here. We've searched these tunnels for weeks. You think you're gonna find him now?

Inspector. It's all gone wrong, hasn't it?

The Underground? I thought they closed this all down. They did. It took nearly 10 years to clear the tracks and lay a bit of my own. Let me show you.

These tracks lead to Parliament. Yes. Then it's really going to happen, isn't it? It will if you want it to. What? - This is my gift to you, Evey. Everything that I have: my home, my books, the gallery, this train... ...l'm leaving to you to do with what you will. Is this another trick, V? No. No more tricks. No more lies. Only truth. And the truth is, you made me understand that I was wrong... ... that the choice to pull this lever is not mine to make. Why? - Because this world... ...the world that I'm a part of and that I helped shape, will end tonight. And tomorrow, a different world will begin... ... that different people will shape, and this choice belongs to them.

Where are you going? The time has come for me to meet my maker... ...and to repay him in kind for all that he's done. V, wait! Please, you don't have to do this. You could let it go. We could leave here together. No. You were right about what I am. I have no tree waiting for me. All I want, all I deserve, is at the end of that tunnel. That's not true.

I can't.

Thematically, it's V, you know? He is on this quest to take down anybody that's ever done him wrong. And, I guess by default, the government. And so he is going after the heads of government. I did wanna make it a cathartic moment for V. It's like his blood quest, I guess. It's the only way that he thinks that... ... the society that he's part of can come to an end... ...and that a new society can be, you know, born afresh. The Victoria Station set that we ended up using... ...I modeled off an actual London Underground station called Gant Hill. Which was in turn, you know, stolen from some of the Russian... ...some of the Moscow underground, which is, like, an amazing underground system.

Those caught tonight in violation of curfew... ... Will be considered in league with our enemy... ...and prosecuted as a terrorist without leniency or exception. I want to see his face. Tonight I give you my most solemn vow... ... that justice will be swift... .it will be righteous... ...and it will be without mercy. Oh, God. No. At last, we finally meet. I have something for you, chancellor. A farewell gift. For all the things you've done, for the things you might have done... ...and for the only thing you have left. Goodbye, chancellor. Mr. Creedy. Disgusting.

Now that's done with... ... It's time to have a look at your face. Take off your mask. No.

Defiant to the end, huh? You won't cry like him, will you? You're not afraid of death. You're like me. The only thing you and I have in common, Mr. Creedy... ...1S we're both about to die. How do you imagine that's gonna happen? With my hands around your neck. Bollocks. What are you gonna do, huh? We've swept this place. You've got nothing. Nothing but your bloody knives and your fancy karate gimmicks. We have guns. No, you have bullets and the hope that when your guns are empty... ... I'm no longer standing, because if I am... ... you'll all be dead before you've reloaded. That's impossible! Kill him.

We did concept-design work with an artist called George Hull... ...Who Larry, Andy and James all Know from Matrix. And he drew up the initial sketches that we approved... ...and put into the digital pipeline. When we were shooting it, we didn't actually do a great deal different. We kind of left them to it. We ended up having some rig removal. And the way the blood was done was very crude, if you like. We literally taped plastic bags of stage blood... ...to the costumes of the S.W.A.T. members. And V's stunt double, Dave Leitch... ...used a real knife. And he just had to be very precise to cut the bags... ... Just at the right level so that the blood would splurt out. There are some shots when the knife is in the air... ...where we have got digital knives. CG knives that we put in there. And then, throughout the sequence we had tracked V's motions... ...and rendered in the trails that you see. It's the final confrontation... ... sort of ideological confrontation... ... between Creedy, who represents the administration... ...and V, the independent-minded terrorist. The great line at the end of it is that, you know... ...when Creedy can't shoot him. And he says, "You can't kill me because an idea cannot be killed."

Die! Die! Why won't you die?! Why won't you die? Beneath this mask there is more than flesh. Beneath this mask there is an idea, Mr. Creedy. And ideas are bulletproof.

Although he's fallen in love with her... ...obviously it's not going anywhere, is it'? It's not gonna go anywhere. So he understands as a human being... ...that that's where he's gone. And that's where they've gone. And yet, he knows that there's no future in that. So she redeems the human side of him. And yet, that's not... It's just not there anymore. And so he kind of passes that... ... he passes himself on to her. The human side of himself is passed on to her. And he becomes an idea. And then that idea is recreated in many, many, many masks... ... which all are expressing the same idea. The same idea. So-- And he blows. You know, literally, he's gone. until I saw you. Then everything changed. I fell in love with you, Evey... . like I no longer believed I could. V, I don't want you to die. That's the most beautiful thing... ... you could have ever given me.

V? V?!

For three nights we closed down Trafalgar Square... ...1N Whitehall and outside the Houses of Parliament. And logistically it was really tough. We could only shoot from 12 a.m. to 4 a.m. We had, probably, between the cast and the crew members, 1000 people... ...every night to move around in a very concise and succinct manner... ...and Terry Needham, who was the first A.D... ...I think he did an incredible job on that. When you do crowd replications... ... you know, the traditional way, and people will have seen... ... you shoot various passes and versions with the crowd standing in different places... ...and then you can add all those layers together to create your final shot. The shooting restrictions we had when we were on location... ...at Trafalgar Square and down at Parliament... ...Was SO, SO tight, that the amount of time we had... ...there was no opportunity to do anything special for visual effects. It was literally, try to get what they could for the main photography. What it does is you also have to be very concise... ...about your storytelling. We were able to use a lot of alternate takes, different angles... ...to build up the crowds. And the digital V figures were mainly used for the overheads. Obviously, a normal film day is 12 hours. And when you're condensed down into a 4-hour period... ... your appetite is always bigger than what you can ever achieve. That was a microcosm of that kind of, you know, filmmaking.

Jesus bloody Christ.

It's time.

Tell me... Determining the scale of models Is always tricky. You wanna try and build them as big as you can. Because the closer you can get it to life-size, the more realistic it will behave. But there are trade-offs in terms of physical stage space... ...and the size of models that we can build or afford to build. At this point in the movie, which is when the V's actually encroach on Westminster... ...on Parliament, and they've been summoned by a message... ... that V puts out earlier in the film, they show up... ...and we have a big sequence that was filmed down at Whitehall... ...and once they've arrived is basically the moment when the clock strikes 12... ...and Parliament explodes. And we cut to various shots that are a combination of plates... ...that are photographed around the Houses of Parliament... ...Into which we insert some miniature elements. And then there are other cameras that we're placing... ... you know, nice and close so you get big, full-screen... ...miniature, pyrotechnic events. Should look pretty cool. Without being, you know, too portentous about the film... ...I think there's a lot of things around us... ...we don't feel there's any hope of changing things. And I think the film ends on a measure of hope, you know? Because you always do go forward, you know? And no matter how bad things get, human beings always rally... ...and they always go forth. But I think we live in such a time... ...Of, unfortunately, like, everyday violence... ... that it was interesting to make a film... ... that discussed that and discussed why people think... ... they're driven into acts of violence... ...or the only way out of their situation is through acts of violence. I think you, to have those discussions... ...or to get people to go and see films... ... you can't just be very didactic... ...and, you know, express political opinion all the time. And so if you can get them into the cinema... ...to watch an action political thriller with elements of sci-fi... ... then I think that's good. And if they go out of the film and they think about it... ... then I think that's good too. And so hopefully I've made... ...a Saturday night film that you can go home and think about. I was so excited when I saw this movie. I just think it's an amazing story on its own... ...characters that you go with and are interested by... ...and you move with them... ...and yet, you also feel and think... In very, sort of, mixed ways, which I think is... ... throughout the movie it's constantly testing you... ...and testing, once you get to a certain, sort of feeling... .or idea, it tests that idea and turns it the other way. And so you're going on this, it challenges you. And I think that is so rare in an entertainment-based movie, you know... ... that the primary objective is to entertain... ... that you're also really being challenged. And that was really exciting for me. I think it's a really great ride. It's a really great roller coaster ride. Not a roller coaster ride. It's a really great ride. It propels you from beginning to end. And yet you do go down all these other rabbit holes. And yet those rabbit holes tie back into essential parts of people's characters. As I was talking earlier about when I read the film... ...what was it that I was worried about... ...and what was it that I was excited about. In the end is what I'm excited about the film... . 1S this-- It is this, the content and the form of the piece. And how in many ways, they're extremely radical. I don't Know of another film that sits in this, um... ...in the same marriage.