Movies

World history is rich with stories of struggles in power, both in the positive and negative sense of the word. Power can appear in a constructive way, as a means of productivity or development, but it could also be negative, like in the form of domination and coercion. The struggle for this power and authority is very evident especially in historical accounts of decolonization, which is a violent phenomenon that takes place with the meeting of two forces, opposed to each other by their very nature where one group intends to impose power and influence over the other while the latter fights to resist this imposition in order to keep its liberation (Fanon). In these events, the world becomes oriented with violent and transforming political acts participated by a colonizing group and a native group who commit acts of insurgencies, or the condition of revolting against the government, and counterinsurgencies, wherein government strikes back to eliminate the root causes and strengths of the insurgent groups.  Two films with plots that significantly represent the culture of decolonization are Braveheart (1995) and V for Vendetta (2006). The stories of these movies narrate the struggle for power and liberation of the natives against oppressive rulers that leads to violent acts of insurgencies and counterinsurgencies.

V for Vendetta is set on a suffering future version of Great Britain that is being ruled by the totalitarian government Chancellor Adam Sutler (John Hurt) and his fascist group known as the Norsefire. The film is about a character named V (Hugo Weaving), an extraordinary kind of hero who planned to liberate his nation from this corrupt and cruel government through his violent tactics and by encouraging the people to join him in the insurgency and rebellion. He wears a Guy Fawkes mask that serves as a tribute to the Catholic activist who planned to blow up the Parliament in 1605. He is also aided by an unlikely accomplice in the person of Evey (Natalie Portman) whom he rescued and later oriented on his ideology and plan of destroying the government that manipulates and destroys their lives. These main protagonists of the story are two unique characters that create the most impact in the film. The movie is violent and brutal cinematically, as the acts of V are most likely seen as terroristic tactics, but are not necessarily so. Vs intentions are clearly motivated and are not only done for terroristic purposes but he uses destructive attacks like merciless killing and bombing of buildings to get his message across.

On the other hand, the film Braveheart follows the adventure of a man named William Wallace (Mel Gibson) and how he began a rebellion against the cruel rule of the English in Scotland. He was a man who dreamed to live a simple life but experienced grave losses because of Englands cruel King Longshank (Patrick McGoohan). One of these losses is the death of his wife. As a result, he organized an army to fight for the liberation of Scotland. He initiated the rebellion and successfully persuaded Scotsmen to join him in the hope of freeing the Scotland from the English rule. The movie presents its message in an equal balance of violence and honesty that makes following Wallaces ideologies in the movie very easy.

Insurgencies in the two films are depicted as liberating efforts against cruel rules of their government. V and William Wallace are two warriors with the same goal of toppling down their current government and freeing the people who have greatly suffered. Yet, they are also both motivated by their own losses and the destruction of their lives. They chose to revenge through a war wherein they encouraged the people of their nation to fight for freedom together with them. Vs ideology is that people should not fear the government rather it is the government who should fear the people. Wallace, on the other hand, believes that they can never have the life they are dreaming of unless they experience real freedom. These are the motivations they used to encourage the people to rebel against the cruel governments. Wallace was fighting to remove the colonizing English from his land while V engaged on his mission to destroy the ruling government of Britain during his time. The difference of the two insurgent plans was that Wallaces attack happened in a real battlefield against the English while V relied on creating an ambiance of terror before engaging on his attacks. Another difference would be the characteristics that V and Wallace posses. V is a dark image, a troubled hero, a mysterious propagator of liberation who never showed his face in the whole film and never revealed explicitly why he is doing such actions. Wallace on the other hand is a very transparent character and has served as an inspiration to many because of his clear and honest intentions. Also, Counterinsurgencies were portrayed in the form of defensive attacks against the insurgents through military and political tactics. Both V and Wallace died in the end of their stories and their deaths were hard to miss. But their goals lived on and where successfully continued by those people they have influenced.

The explicit and implicit political message of V for Vendetta and Braveheart are indeed influential in making people think and reflect of the current political situation of the world. The presentation of the needed violence as a result for properly motivated insurgencies has a big and controversial impact on assessing the reality of todays politics. These powerful, well-directed films indeed represent the violent measures that are taken by natives that were oppressed and have greatly suffered in the hands of their colonizers in order to achieve liberation and freedom.