V FOR VENDETTA: Cult Comic Book Adaptation Decrypted

The tremendous success of the first part of the adventures of a clumsy hacker named Neo, who over time became the messiah of humanity oppressed by machines, led to the creation of additional installments of his adventures. These, however, did not match the quality of the original – a film that, under the guise of action cinema, contained deeper, almost philosophical reflections, slightly tinged with mysticism, and was a cultural amalgamation that set the bar too high even for its own creators. The elements that contributed to the success of the first part were desperately included in the three sequels, but with poor results. Reloaded and Revolutions turned out to be mere visual spectacles, masterpieces of special effects experts, while the pseudo-philosophical musings scattered here and there had the opposite effect of what was intended. Although both films grossed tons of dollars, they did not win the hearts of the fans of the first part, and the position of the visionaries with Polish roots was shaken. V for Vendetta

Nevertheless, the Wachowskis’ plan was realized – the commercial success of the entire trilogy pleased the Warner Bros. studio executives, and the hundreds of millions of dollars in revenue had their effect. Larry and Andy received the green light to make their dream film, whose theme does not differ much from what we experienced in their famous trilogy. The Wachowskis’ screenplay, shelved for several years, had to be refreshed and significantly modified in light of the events of the first decade of the 21st century, including terrorist attacks and the outbreak of several wars. Thus, the anarchistic tone of the comic was drowned out by the national liberation slogans thrown left and right by the main character of V for Vendetta, who almost started to resemble the aforementioned pop culture messiah, Neo, in his behavior and philosophy.

These changes displeased Alan Moore so much that he completely distanced himself from the otherwise good film adaptation. However, undeterred by this, the Wachowskis, either out of sympathy for Moore or pure attention to detail, despite all the screenplay changes from the original, decided to faithfully reproduce what was rather secondary. Hence, once again, we received a film filled with allusions, wordplay, and numerology – elements we became familiar with while watching The Matrix. We received a film far better than the aforementioned, entirely unnecessary sequels, a film so interesting that this small analysis focusing on just one aspect was created.

Puppet director James McTeigue, in his debut film, included an incredible number of references to the number 5. These references are often literal but even more frequently are symbolized by the letter V – the Roman numeral for five. Throughout the film, there are dozens of shots and scenes where a wink is given to the audience, indicating this numerological fetish, familiar to V for Vendetta fans from the comic. A significant portion of the allusions listed here were captured by the author of this text, some come from online sources, and some, which did not fit into this text, are still waiting to be found. Therefore, if fans of V for Vendetta notice something that is not as stretched as a bowstring in Robin Hood’s bow, and is captured by the reader of this micro-analysis, let it be reported and it will surely be added to the list presented below. A list interesting enough that another viewing of the still excellent adaptation of an even better comic will be indispensable.

Remember remember the fifth of November
Gunpowder, treason and plot.
I see no reason why gunpowder, treason
Should ever be forgot…

The number 5, in the form of the Roman symbol V, is already noticeable in the film’s title. However, not everyone may have noticed that English title consist of five syllables.

The first words spoken by V in the film are a quote from William Shakespeare’s Macbeth. The world’s most famous playwright adopted the iambic pentameter (a verse line with five metrical feet, each consisting of an unstressed syllable followed by a stressed syllable) as his signature meter. In nearly every line of each of Shakespeare’s works (including the mentioned Macbeth), there are five iambs, giving us ten syllables per line.

After rescuing Evey from the secret police, the mysterious masked figure introduces himself as V, first delivering a 5-sentence monologue during which he uses 49 words starting with the letter “v,” which, combined with four other words containing the letter within them, gives us 53 references to the number 5. Here is the full text of V’s introduction to Evey in its original version:

Voila! In view, a humble vaudevillian veteran, cast vicariously as both victim and villain by the vicissitudes of fate. This visage, no mere veneer of vanity, is a vestige of the vox populi, now vacant, vanished. However, this valorous visitation of a bygone vexation stands vivified, and has vowed to vanquish these venal and virulent vermin vanguarding vice and vouchsafing the violently vicious and voracious violation of volition. The only verdict is vengeance; a vendetta held as a votive, not in vain, for the value and veracity of such shall one day vindicate the vigilant and the virtuous. Verily, this vichyssoise of verbiage veers most verbose, so let me simply add that it’s my very good honour to meet you and you may call me V.

During the monologue, V makes a brief pause, during which he slashes a government poster on the wall with two cuts, creating the letter V.

The name Evey, the protagonist’s favorite, contains another four references to the number 5. “E” is the fifth letter of the alphabet, “V,” as everyone knows, is also five, but in Roman numerals. Then we have another “E,” and finally “Y” – the 25th letter (5×5) of the modern Latin alphabet.

Observing the courthouse, which is about to be blown up by the protagonist, one can see the motto Defend the Children of the Poor and Punish The Wrongdoer. However, the letter “U” in the word “punish” is depicted as “V” (the presentation in the film is consistent with the actual inscription, but it is not coincidental that it appears in this film).

In a conversation with the main character, Evey admits that she once played the role of Viola in Shakespeare’s play Twelfth Night.

The credo professed by the protagonist (engraved on the surface of the mirror polished by Evey at one point) reads: Vi Veri Veniversum Vivus Vici (By the power of truth, I, a living man, have conquered the universe). In the film, these words are attributed to Christopher Marlowe, the creator of The Tragical History of Doctor Faustus, while in reality, their author is the famous occultist Aleister Crowley. Incidentally, the word Veniversum does not exist in Latin – both the comic and the film contain a typo. The correct spelling of the Latin word for “universe” is Vniversum. Initially, the Latin alphabet did not distinguish between the letters “V” and “U.”

Among the numerous literary works quoted by the main character, excerpts from Thomas Pynchon’s book titled V. are also included.

On the expired BTN television studio pass found by Finch, three letters “V” can be seen: in Miss Hammond’s name, in the word “television,” and on the void sticker.

During the national address, broadcasted after taking over the BTN television building, the red curtain behind the main character is lit in such a way that the light forms the letter “V.” Meanwhile, in the corner of the screen, we see the logo of the pirate station VTV.

V was transported to the Larkhill prison on May 22nd (= the fifth month) along with 49 other individuals, totaling 50 people on whom experiments could be conducted.

The main character was held in a cell marked with the Roman numeral “V.” This is likely where his name/pseudonym originated. An additional curiosity: in the binary system, 5 is written as “101,” which is a (slightly stretched) reference to Orwell’s Room 101, the most terrifying place in the novel 1984.

During Evey’s first interrogation, light enters the room from the upper left side of the screen. During the final interrogation, it enters from the upper right side. If we place frames from both interrogations side by side, the light forms the letter “V.”

Evey finds a letter in her cell written by a woman named Valerie, who was born in 1985 and experienced the happiest moments of her life in 2015.

The memorial to the victims of the biological attack on St. Mary’s school consists of five people holding hands.

When visiting Creedy’s house, V turns on Ludwig van Beethoven’s V Symphony to prevent government agents from eavesdropping. The opening bars of this piece in Morse code are: “…-” and represent the letter “V.” Furthermore, during World War II, every BBC radio broadcast began with this fragment, referencing Churchill’s gesture and slogan “V for Victory.” The title of both the comic and the film is a play on the words of the most famous British prime minister.

Although it’s not clearly visible in the film, in the dance scene before the finale, V chooses song number 5 from the jukebox. Incidentally, all the songs in his jukebox are labeled with the number five.

The main character lives in the underground of a metro station named Victoria. One of the film’s most spectacular scenes, V’s duel with Creedy’s men, takes place there.

The toppled dominoes form a “V” enclosed in a circle – the symbol of the revolution planned by the main character. An additional curiosity: the domino effect was achieved using entirely conventional methods, without computers. Several professional “setters” were hired to create this amazing quasi-mosaic from over 22,000 dominoes.

The symbol of the revolution – a “V” enclosed in a circle – appears several times throughout the film. Most often as graffiti spray-painted over government propaganda posters. An additional curiosity: if you turn this symbolic logo of the main character 180 degrees, it resembles the symbol used by anarchist organizations.

During the skirmish with Creedy and his men at the metro station, before throwing his knives, V crosses them in his hand, forming a symbolic “V.”

During his flight, just before striking down two of Creedy’s henchmen, the previously crossed knives spin five times.

The dying chancellor has a bloody scar on his forehead shaped like the letter “V.”

Just before dying, Creedy fires five shots at the main character. To his own misfortune, he didn’t have time to reload his revolver completely.

After the fight, the blood-soaked V, staggering, hits the wall with his shoulder, leaving a bloodstain resembling his name.

The destruction of the Larkhill prison, the Old Bailey courthouse, and Parliament all occurred on November 5th. This also references the Gunpowder Plot by Guy Fawkes, the real attempt to blow up the British Parliament on its opening day, November 5, 1605. Moreover, November is the only month whose name contains the letter “V.”

At the moment before the revolution begins, the hands of Big Ben form the shape of the letter “V,” indicating 11:04 PM. People start coming out into the streets at 11:05 PM, on the night of November 5th. Writing 11:05 as a date, we get 11.05 – the fifth day of November.

Londoners in Guy Fawkes masks approach the parliament from four intersecting directions, forming two “V”s.

To complete his vendetta, V kills five high-ranking people in the state: Lewis Prothero, Bishop Lilliman, Delia Surridge, Adam Sutler, and Creedy.

Both the explosion at the beginning of the film and the one at the end contain a fireworks sequence. The fireworks illuminating the sky at one point form the ever-present “V.”

From the moment the first words of the film are spoken until the end of the song Street Fightin’ Man in the end credits, almost exactly 125 minutes pass. At first glance, this doesn’t seem to have much to do with the number 5, but if we represent 125 as 5x5x5, everything becomes clear.

When Gordon shows Evey around the secret chamber in his villa, the girl is amazed at the illegal relics of the past he has collected. One of them is the Koran, which holds a place of honor in a display case. It is open and arranged in such a way that it resembles the letter “V.”

Whenever Adam Sutler has reasons for dissatisfaction or begins giving orders, he convenes a videoconference with trusted agents of his government. Each time, he speaks to five people.

As you can see, references to the third prime number, the fifth Fibonacci number, the atomic number of boron, simply the number five, are plentiful. In fact, there are so many that there probably isn’t a shot where, in some way, either verbally or graphically, the number five isn’t referenced. Such a high concentration of this number per square millimeter of film reel makes the already excellent V for Vendetta even more intriguing. I highly recommend it, especially to those who enjoy hunting for movie trivia.

Words: Michał Fedorowicz