"Remember, remember the 5th of November. The gunpowder, treason, and plot. I know of no reason why the gunpowder treason should ever be forgot." -- V in 'V for Vendetta'Alas, we are here, Nov. 5, and it is indeed Guy Fawkes Day / Night -- a full-fledged holiday in the U.K. Fawkes is known to today's movies fans as the face of a shadowy revolutionary character (played by Hugo Weaving) from the 2006 film starring Natalie Portman. The mask is of a real person: a British revolutionary from early 1600's who fought with the Spanish.
Fawkes -- distinctive in his look with the curly mustache and long face -- played a key role in 1605's Gunpowder Plot. He attempted to blow up the English Parliament building -- with the King and all the country's nobility inside -- as a statement against Protestant rule. The plot, which was seen as a response against poor treatment of English Catholics, fell through however. He was caught in the early morning hours of Nov. 5, 1605, and was tortured and executed Jan. 31, 1606.
Guy Fawkes Night has long been celebrated in the U.K. where people burn his likeness in effigy and light fireworks, as a day of national pride. Now, he is resuscitated as a 2000's movie anti-hero and Halloween mask.
We celebrate with our 10 favorite lines from 'V for Vendetta.'
"One thing is true of all governments – their most reliable records are tax records." -- Finch
"Fear became the ultimate tool of this government." -- V
"No, what you have are bullets, and the hope that when your guns are empty, I'm no longer standing, because if I am... you'll all be dead before you've reloaded." -- V
"If our own government was responsible for the deaths of almost a hundred thousand people... would you really want to know?" -- Finch
[On Guy Fawkes and his attempt to blow up Parliament] "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 want this country to realize that we stand on the edge of oblivion. I want everyone to remember why they need us!" -- Sutler
"There's no certainty – only opportunity." -- V
"There are no coincidences, Delia... only the illusion of coincidence." -- 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
"The only verdict is vengeance, a vendetta, held as a votive not in vain." -- V
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