Remember, Remember...

Remember, remember,

The fifth of November.

The Gunpowder treason and plot,

I know of no reason,

Why the Gunpowder treason

Should ever be forgot!

Today is the fifth of November. Approximately 400 years ago, the House of Lords in England were tried to be blown up by men who didn't support the king back then, King James I. Guy Fawkes, responsible for planting the gunpowder beneath the House of Lords, just before the opening night of the Parliament, was caught, and his accomplices, hearing of his capture, ran away, so the Gunpowder Plot was never carried out.

Not that I have much interest in the event itself, but what really makes this day interesting for me is the way it was portrayed in the movie V for Vendetta, starring Hugo Weaving and Natalie Portman. One of my most favorite movies that I've watched over and over again, V for Vendetta takes place in a parallel future, in an England ruled by totalitarianism, and in which all of the arts are banned. V, aims to finish what Guy Fawkes started, and soon, Evey, a girl she rescues from the Fingermen, becomes involved in his plot as well.

One of the reasons I love the movie is how music is embedded in it. At the beginning of the movie, V claims to hear music, Tchaikovsky's 1812 Overture, when he is blowing up a church. The music also plays through the streets of London.

My favorite quote from the movie is; when Creedy (the "bad guy") and his men shoot V, and he is still standing, Creedy asks him why he still hasn't died. V's response to this question is: "Beneath this mask, Mr. Creedy, there is an idea. And ideas are bulletproof."