Obviously the Benny Hill connection is strong; they even use ‘Yakkety Sax’ for the chase scene. Another inclusion that I haven’t seen mentioned yet is “The Girl From Ipanema” which, if one wants to read into why that particular song was chosen, could be about V’s unrequited love for Evey.
The huge monitors that the Chancellor uses to communicate is very Orwellian, but in particular the framing (close-ups that only show his nose, mouth, and chin) are very reminiscient of 1984 (they particularly reminded me of Apple’s 1984 commercial).
Finally, while the idea of lighting different scenes/actors differently to foreshadow or invoke moods is nothing new, it feels very Matrix-like, with the detectives always shot in washed-out colors with the reds stripped (emulating flourescent lighting and its implications of sterile beauracracy?), and V and Evey very warmly lit. This technique can be seen in the Matrix with the Agents lit in cool, washed-out blues, the Nebucadnezzar lit in normal light, and some of the more important/desireable things within the Matrix lit very warmly and saturated in color (e.g., the woman in the dress). Again, this is nothing new; I’ve only been watching movies with a critical eye somewhat recently so Brazil is the only other outstanding example that comes to mind.
