[Lee Jong-gil's Autumn Return] The Mask of Eerie Laughter, Behind It Freedom and Conviction

Alan Moore & David Lloyd 'V for Vendetta 30th Anniversary Deluxe Edition'

Evey Hammond (Natalie Portman) awaiting execution by firing squad. She crouches in the middle of a solitary cell, waiting for death. Soon, the cold iron door opens. A man in a suit enters and speaks. "It's time." "I'm ready." "The higher-ups just want a bit of information. Give them anything." Hammond does not move a muscle. "Thanks for the offer, but I'll die behind the warehouse." "Fear is gone, huh? You are free."

The man leaves, leaving the iron door open. Hammond sneaks out into the corridor. She cautiously pushes open a door that appears to be an exit. She looks around in disbelief. It is a familiar place. The mansion of V (Hugo Weaving), who endured countless hardships but kept his whereabouts secret. "Welcome back, Evey." "You did this. You shaved my head and tortured me. You tortured me! Why?" "You said you wanted to live without fear. That was the only way."

This is the moment in the film V for Vendetta (2005) when Hammond sheds her fear and is reborn. The tone of the scene suddenly shifts, but the ensuing dialogue is presented calmly. The focus is on V persuading Hammond. The scene mainly uses bust shots and waist shots, with soft and warm interior lighting. It gives a simplified impression of Hammond's psychological transformation. Considering that her transformation parallels V's past, the direction feels somewhat lacking.

The original comic of the same name, written by Alan Moore and illustrated by David Lloyd, effectively portrays Hammond's complex psychology through contrasts of light and shadow. Scenes where Hammond becomes angry are shown from various angles, especially from the moment her past is mentioned, where V is depicted as an inseparable shadow.

In the scene where Hammond says, "I feel like I've become an angel" while embraced by V, spotlights are also used. V appears like a ray of light rising from the dark abyss of consciousness. The entire room is filled with a sense of empathy and comradeship born of shared suffering. "Our door has opened, Evey. What you feel now is the wind blowing from outside. Do not be afraid."

The core theme of V for Vendetta is the hidden side. It simultaneously illuminates the totalitarian government controlling British society after a nuclear war and the romantic yet strong anarchist V. Moore initially envisioned V's face as a white-painted mask. Lloyd struggled with how to depict it until he suddenly thought of Guy Fawkes. Fawkes was the mastermind behind the Gunpowder Plot on November 5, 1605, which attempted to blow up the English Parliament and kill the king and his ministers all at once. Lloyd sent Moore a letter with the following suggestion.

"How about putting a paper-m?ch? mask on the protagonist, adding a cape and a conical hat to make him look like the reincarnation of Guy Fawkes? It would look truly bizarre, but Fawkes should have that kind of image. Every November 5th, instead of burning his effigy, we should commemorate the man who tried to blow up Parliament!"

Fawkes's smiling face was not originally a 'smile of revolution.' It was more a mockery of a terrorist. However, as this comic gained great popularity, protesters worldwide began to identify as V and wear Guy Fawkes masks.

The beginning of revolution is awakening. One must endure extreme pain and liberate oneself from the chains of oppression. V insists that even if the result is chaos, history has already shown what tragedies befall a society that loses freedom and conforms to the whole.

The protesting face is hidden behind a grotesque smiling mask. What expression did V wear? The answer can be found in Hammond, who awakened after enduring pain similar to V's. Hammond also constantly questions what freedom, belief, resistance, and liberation truly mean. V tells his other self, "The being inside this cloak is not made of flesh and blood. There is only belief."