List the pop cultural and/or historical references in the film "V for Vendetta"

While watching the film, there was a reference to the “Vault of Objectionable Materials.” I knew I had heard this before in another film or a book. It drove me nuts.

Hmm, not 1984, not Brave New World... Aha! I suddenly got it! In the 2002 film Equilibrium, when items were collected through raids, they were filed by entering them into a large database where they were either stored or destroyed. They refer to this as a “vault of obejctionable materials” among other things.

Also in Equilibruim, the Council eliminates war by forcibly surpressing emotions. Like in V for Vendetta, there is an undistorted (but incomplete) version of history. Only are the horrific acts attributable to emotions ever described by “Father” in detail, leading to additional conditioning by which the Librians obediently continue to take their shots and accept their society as the necessary sacrifice.

On a side note, I don’t think that The Chancellor’s role in V for Vendetta is not a direct reference to 1984’s Big Brother as much as it was to a dictatorship such as Hitler’s (as a few have already posted here).

This was such a powerful movie because of the historical references in pop culture.

Namely, the 1812 Overture. This work by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky was made to commemorate the unsuccessful French invasion into Russia and the subsequent devastating withdrawal of Napoleon’s Grande Armée. The actual composition has no connection with the War of 1812 between the United States and the United Kingdom but is commonly used as patriotic music in pop culture.

If I remember correctly, this 1812 event as the major turning point of the Napoleonic Wars.

I recall from my high school days learning that there the portion of the Overture we hear in the movie is the representing marching armies and the victories of the French army that is 15:00 minutes into the actual orchestral work. Noticably, the movie repeats this theme rather than the following diminuendo that represents a retreat. We hear the full orchestra’s cannon and the marching theme and if you listen, God Save the Tsar. This was edited out of a lot of the versions of the Overture due to political differences.

I have always enjoyed proper pop culture usage of this beautiful orchestral work. I recall firstly it’s usage in Risk 2 for the computer (HUGE Risk fan here). Caddyshack using it in the ending scene, Farscape’s John whistling it in a 4th season ep, John Keating whistling it in the Dead Poet’s Society (a personal favorite).

Needless to say, upon release, this DVD will hold a special spot on my shelf.