V for Vendetta (2005) quotes
Director
James McTeigue.
Cast
Hugo Weaving.
Natalie Portman.
Rupert Graves.
In a future British tyranny, a shadowy freedom fighter, known only by the alias of “V”, plots to overthrow it with the help of a young woman.
People should not be afraid of their governments. Governments should be afraid of their people.
– V
…A 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.
– V
[Evey pulls out her mace] I can assure you I mean you no harm.
– V
Who are you?
– Evey Hammond
Who? Who is but the form following the function of what and what I am is a man in a mask.
– V
Well I can see that.
– Evey Hammond
Of course you can. I’m not questioning your powers of observation; I’m merely remarking upon the paradox of asking a masked man who he is.
– V
Oh. Right.
– Evey Hammond
But on this most auspicious of nights, permit me then, in lieu of the more commonplace sobriquet, to suggest the character of this dramatis persona.
– V
Voilà! 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 by-gone 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.
– V
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.
– V
Verily, this vichyssoise of verbiage veers most verbose, so let me simply add that it’s my very good honor to meet you and you may call me V.
– V
Are you, like, a crazy person?
– Evey Hammond
I am quite sure they will say so. But to whom, might I ask, am I speaking?
– V
I’m Evey.
– Evey Hammond
Evey? E-V. Of course you are.
– V
What does that mean?
– Evey Hammond
It means that I, like God, do not play with dice and do not believe in coincidence. Are you hurt?
– V
[voiceover] Remember, remember, the Fifth of November, the Gunpowder Treason and Plot. I know of no reason why the Gunpowder Treason should ever be forgot… But what of the man? I know his name was Guy Fawkes and I know, in 1605, he attempted to blow up the Houses of Parliament. But who was he really? What was he like? We are told to remember the idea, not the man, because a man can fail. He can be caught, he can be killed and forgotten, but 400 years later, an idea can still change the world. I’ve witnessed first hand the power of ideas, I’ve seen people kill in the name of them, and die defending them… but you cannot kiss an idea, cannot touch it, or hold it… ideas do not bleed, they do not feel pain, they do not love… And it is not an idea that I miss, it is a man… A man that made me remember the Fifth of November. A man that I will never forget.
– Evey Hammond
I told you, only truth. For 20 years, I sought only this day. Nothing else existed… until I saw you. Then everything changed. I fell in love with you Evey. And to think I no longer believed I could.
– V
But I don’t want you to die.
– Evey Hammond
That’s the most beautiful thing you could have ever given me.
– V
My father was a writer. You would’ve liked him. He used to say that artists use lies to tell the truth, while politicians use them to cover the truth up.
– Evey Hammond
A man after my own heart.
– V
You wear a mask for so long, you forget who you were beneath it.
– Gordon Deitrich
Would you… dance with me?
– V
Now? On the eve of your revolution?
– Evey Hammond
A revolution without dancing is a revolution not worth having!
– V
Defiant to the end, huh? You won’t cry like him, will you? You’re not afraid of death. You’re like me.
– Creedy
The only thing that you and I have in common, Mr. Creedy, is we’re both about to die.
– V
How do you imagine that’s gonna happen?
– Creedy
With my hands around your neck.
– V
Bollocks. Whatchya 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.
– Creedy
No, what you have are bullets, and the hope that when your guns are empty I’m no longer be standing, because if I am you’ll all be dead before you’ve reloaded.
– V
That’s impossible. Kill him.
– Creedy
[the fingermen open fire on V, but he still stands after their magazines are empty]
My turn.
– V
[V proceeds to kill all fingermen with his knives before they manage to reload]
[desperately shooting at the approaching V] Die! Die! Why won’t you die?… Why won’t you die?
– Creedy
Beneath this mask there is more than flesh. Beneath this mask there is an idea, Mr. Creedy. And ideas are bulletproof.
– V
No one will ever forget that night and what it meant for this country. But I will never forget the man and what he meant to me.
– Evey Hammond
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.
– V
There are no coincidences, Delia… only the illusion of coincidence.
– V
There’s no certainty – only opportunity.
– V
What do you think will happen?
– Dominic
What usually happens when people without guns stand up to people *with* guns.
– Finch