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V for Vendetta Going to Hollywood
gludington writes "Alan Moore's "other" early masterpiece, V for Vendetta, is in early pre-production. Joel Silver and the Wachowski brothers will produce for Warner Brothers, and Natalie Portman will play Evey Hammond. The rest of the movie is as yet uncast (and unwritten), so release dates on the article and the imdb entry should be taken with a sizable grain of salt."
Okay, Stupid. RTFA.
From said article: "Synopsis: A powerful story about loss of freedom and individuality, V for Vendetta takes place in a totalitarian England following a devastating war that changed the face of the planet. In a world without political freedom, personal freedom and precious little faith in anything comes a mysterious man in a white porcelain mask who fights political oppressors through terrorism and seemingly absurd acts. It's a gripping tale of the blurred lines between ideological good and evil."
and furthermore: "An adaptation of Alan Moore's graphic novel of the same name, the action-heavy script was written by the "Matrix" writers."
I'm going to take the opportunity to respond to one thing you said while ignoring most of the troll portion:
"grow up and realize that Sailor Moon and X-Men are not literature"
While I agree that most "comics" are not literature, there is a fine distinction between comics as entertainment and comics as art form. A good friend of mine presented his graphic arts thesis - a four foot high series of comic panels. I don't like the word comic because it naturally implies humor. So the term I've started to use is "graphic novels."
I don't consider serials or regular comic books to be graphic novels. But looking at something like the Pulitzer Prize winning Maus by Art Spiegelman, you see that it's not all funny or action-related. I read that when I was in seventh grade, just a year after it came out. I picked it up thinking it was a comic book... it's not.
I just read Blankets by Craig Thompson. I got sucked in and a few hours later it was all over. Most normal books don't have the emotional impact that his work does.
Graphic novels try to bridge the gap between literature and visual art. It's not often that they really succeed, but when they do it can be far more effective than a regular novel.
I really hope they don't fuck with the storyline and the politics of this classic. Alan Moore is one of my favorite political writers, and it'd be a shame if this is given the same treatment as "From Hell" was.
If you don't know, V for Vendetta was about an anarchist (in the classical theoretical sense, not the bs modern punk rock sense) revolutionary who uses "terrorist" tactics to save Britain from fascism. It's not something that I see Hollywood understanding, even though I think most people would understand why the tactics were used, and the politics behind them.
In the book, V straddles the line between anarchist and vanguard, taking actions into his own hands, but with the express purpose of encouraging the people to fight back. It's not about an anarcho-socialist utopia, it recognizes the compromises that an anarchist would have to make in dire circumstances.
And ultimately, it's really, really fucking cool. Please, hollywood, please don't fuck it up.
Agreed. They've having this comics frenzy at the moment which was fine as long as the victims were spider-man, x-men and other daredevil (one fucked up movie!). Also, the league of extraordinay gentlemen, average comic book, terrible movie, no problem. But now, sin city? (good please dont let them screw that one), V for Vendetta? (with Portman?nooooooo) and even scarier, the WATCHMEN??? please tell me who in hollywood is able to make a watchmen movie that will satisfy the readers expectations! About V for Vendetta, the W brothers have shown us their talent in Matrix (revolution.. yeah right) ad the third one (can't remember the title). As we say in French, it's giving jam to pigs...
.kill b honi soit qui mal y pense