Summer project essay - Terribly put together due to not being in the Induction class because of last minute subject change.

Comparing the Narrative, style and themes & attitudes of V for Vendetta and Children of Men

V for Vendetta and Children of Men are both dystopia, futuristic, thriller films that have very similar and also very different ways of showing the narrative, themes and attitudes.

Both films show a fear of their own government in their own ways, they show the security being stricter and more secure and the way that the government now deals with Britain. Both show aspects of Nazi Germany in the way that society is now ruled. In V for Vendetta Britain is shown to have a male hierarchy and women mainly being told what to do, although they are allowed to have normal jobs such as working at the ‘BTN’ centre, they aren’t allowed to be part of the government, they have a curfew, have to be escorted everywhere by a male and men also have complete control to do whatever they want to women. This is shown in one of the first scenes of the film when V saves Evey from nearly being raped by a gang of police men and again later when V saves Evey from nearly being raped by the Evil Bishop. Children of Men also shows aspects of Nazi Germany, The police are allowed to kill anyone they feel is not acting in the correct way or is an illegal immigrant. All members of society are made to carry their passports and prove they are legally british, if they do not they are put into cages and made to stay until they get taken in a bus to a unit and either killed or put into another tightly packed and densely populated with immigrants, a lot like the ghettos that those of Nazi Germany were placed if they weren’t of the Aryan race. Both of these story lines scare the viewer as it makes us feel as though these future situations may come true and make us question whether we are already living in these conditions and just don’t realise it like those who are British citizens in V for Vendetta.

Both V for Vendetta and Children of Men have the same sort of character story. V saves Evey a vulnerable woman and makes her a stronger woman, but by doing in it in the wrong way. This explains the camera angles used in the scene where V saves Evey the first time from the police men, where they use a mid-close up of V in the arch way with darkness behind him and himself being put under a spotlight, this shows he’s is the good in the bad. This makes a little more sense later in the scene when to prove a point that the government is controlling everyone, he actually blows St Pauls Cathedral killing a number of people, he means good by doing bad things. He also later in the film makes Evey into a stronger woman but he does this by making her experience what it’s like to be arrested in V for Vendetta’s futuristic idea of prison for doing nothing wrong like V had to encounter, this makes Evey stronger and makes her realise why V is doing this and helps him after he has been killed to go on to blow up The Houses of Parliament killing a majority of the members of parliament as he had already killed the higher placed members of parliament. Children of men also have these sort of character roles, Theo tries to save a vulnerable woman, Kee who is pregnant after 18 years of worldwide infertility. Theo, like V, also has reasons as to why he wants to save Kee as he lost his own child Dylan and doesn’t want the same thing to happen to Kee.

You also notice in both films that both V and Theo kill to protect the vulnerable and the weak, V kills all the policemen and the bishop that try to rape Evey to protect her just as Theo kills a number of people that try to harm Kee and Baby Dylan. You can also recognise in V for Vendetta and Children of Men that as soon as both societies realise what’s happening everyone comes together to help save the country, for example the scene where Theo, Kee and Baby Dylan are walking through the war zone and destroyed flats, when everyone hears the baby crying, the soldiers put down their weapons until the baby is safely out of the way then carry on, but at one point everyone stopped fighting and helped to get the baby to safety, The same happens in V for Vendetta when the streets of London are filled with people dressed as V to help put a stop to them being ruled in a totalitarian state and to gain their own sense of independence again in support of V.

Both V for Vendetta and Children of Men have similarities and differences but are very similar in the way they show through camera and filming who is the main character, who is the good, who is the bad and showing the reasoning behind what the characters purpose is and why they are there.