Political Drama Films

"Jimmy Pope: Dig six feet, find three bodies. But dig twelve feet, you find forty."

"Dean Whiting: [to Prince Meshal Al-Subaai] Are you a king? Can you tell me what you want?"

"[to his political followers] When a country has 5 percent of the world's population but spends 50 percent of the world's military spending, that country's persuasive power is in decline."

"[to his father, the emir, about his brother, Prince Meshal Al-Subaai] He's barely qualified to run a brothel, much less a country!"

"[to lawyer Bennett Holiday] Some trust fund prosecutor, got off-message at Yale, thinks he's gonna run this up the flagpole, make a name for himself, maybe get elected some two-bit, congressman from nowhere, with the result that Russia or China can suddenly start having, at our expense, all the advantages we enjoy here. No, I tell you. No, sir! Corruption charges! Corruption?!! Corruption is government intrusion into market efficiencies in the form of regulations. That's Milton Friedman. He got a goddamn Nobel Prize. We have laws against it precisely so we can get away with it. Corruption is our protection. Corruption keeps us safe and warm. Corruption is why you and I are prancing around in here instead of fighting over scraps of meat out in the streets. Corruption is why we win."

"[to Prince Nasir Al-Subaai] What are they thinking *hah*? What are they thinking? They're thinking that it's running out. It's running out, and 90% of what's left is in the Middle East. Look at the progression: Versailles, Suez, 1973, Gulf War 1, Gulf War 2. This is a fight to the death. So what are THEY thinking? Great! They're thinking keep playing, keep buying yourself new toys, keep spending $50,000 a night on your hotel room, but don't invest in your infrastructure... don't build a real economy. So that when you finally wake up, they will have sucked you dry, and you will have squandered the greatest natural resource in history."

"Great. How much for my other kid?"

"[to Prince Nasir Al-Subaai] But what do you need a financial advisor for? Twenty years ago you had the highest GNP in the world, now you're tied with Albania. So, good job. Your second largest export is secondhand goods, followed closely by dates for which you lose five cents a pound. You know what the business world thinks of you? They think a hundred years ago you were living in tents out here in the desert chopping each other's heads off and that's exactly where you'll be in another hundred years- so on behalf of my firm, yes, I accept your money."

"I want you to take him from his hotel, drug him, put him in the front of a car, and run a truck into it at 50 mph."

"The dark and stylized V for Vendetta is visually exhilarating, provocative and disturbing. Set in a slightly futuristic world (London in 2020), Vendetta is an action thriller that also stimulates thought... Despite its disparate influences, Vendetta feels captivatingly original. The multilayered film can be appreciated strictly as an action thriller or for its deeper message about personal responsibility, political oppression and revolutionary change. One powerful theme centers on the notion that ideas live forever, their power undiminished even as those who espouse them die."

"John Hurt – Chancellor Adam Sutler"

"Stephen Fry – Gordon Dietrich"

"Stephen Rea – Eric Finch"

"Hugo Weaving – V"

"Natalie Portman – Evey Hammond"

"Ideas are bulletproof."

"England prevails."

"Strength through unity, unity through faith!"

"FREEDOM! FOREVER!"

"Remember, remember the 5th of November."

"People should not be afraid of their governments. Governments should be afraid of their people."

"An uncompromising vision of the future from the creators of the Matrix trilogy."

"It seemed to me the two more absolute extremes were anarchy and fascism. This was one of the things I objected to in the recent film, where it seems to be, from the script that I read, sort of recasting it as current American neo-conservatism vs. current American liberalism. There wasn't a mention of anarchy as far as I could see. The fascism had been completely defanged. I mean, I think that any references to racial purity had been excised, whereas actually, fascists are quite big on racial purity."

"Brutal, audacious and very slippery, V for Vendetta is the ballsiest major studio release I've ever seen… Vendetta is as rousing, engaging and devious as only the best propaganda can be — a call to rebellion that dares to question our respect for authority and gives us a masked terrorist and his manipulated prodigy as our heroes. And unlike other political thrillers that seem content to simply wallow their dissatisfaction with the state of the world, Vendetta demands that we take personal responsibility for our actions and for the administrations that we allow to come into power... Vendetta is a thematic powderkeg... Straight up, this is as invigorating, challenging and moving a film as one can hope to expect, especially from a major studio (and the first). Don't miss the movie of the year."

"There are ideas in this film. The most pointed is V's belief: "People should not be afraid of their governments. Governments should be afraid of their people." I am not sure V has it right; surely in the ideal state governments and their people should exist happily together. Fear in either direction must lead to violence. But V has a totalitarian state to overthrow, and only a year to do it in, and we watch as he improvises a revolution."

"Conceal me what I am, and be my aid For such disguise as haply shall become The form of my intent."

"And thus I clothe my naked villainy With old odd ends, stol'n forth of holy writ; And seem a saint, when most I play the devil."

"I dare do all that may become a man; Who dares do more is none."

"We are oft to blame in this. 'Tis too much proved that with devotion's visage and pious action we do sugar o'er the devil himself.'"

"The multiplying villainies of nature do swarm upon him... [skipping four of the original lines] Disdaining fortune with his brandished steel, which smoked with bloody execution..."

"Remember, Remember or Please to remember The fifth of November, The gunpowder treason and plot. I know of no reason Why the gunpowder treason Should ever be forgot."

"My fellow Englishmen: tonight, our country, that which we stand for, and all we hold dear, faces a grave and terrible threat. This violent and unparalleled assault on our security will not go undefended. Or unpunished. Our enemy is an insidious one, seeking to divide us and destroy the very foundation of our great nation. Tonight, we must remain steadfast. We must remain determined. But most of all, we must remain united. Those caught tonight in violation of curfew will be considered in league with our enemy and prosecuted as a terrorist without leniency or exception. Tonight, I give you my most solemn vow: that justice will be swift, it will be righteous, and it will be without mercy!"

"This so-called "V" and his accomplice, Evey Hammond, neo-demagogues, spouting their message of hate. A delusional and aberrant voice, delivering a terrorist's ultimatum. An ultimatum that was met with swift and surgically precise justice. And the moral of this story, ladies and gentlemen, is: "GOOD GUYS WIN, BAD GUYS LOSE, AND AS ALWAYS, ENGLAND PREVAILS!""

"I'll tell you what I wish: I wish I'd been there. I wish I'd had the chance for a face-to-face. Just one chance, that's all I need."

"There will be no negotiation, Roger. When I arrive in the morning, the Paddy will be gone. I'm looking at the tape right now, and he has no idea how to light me. My nose looks like Big fucking Ben! Listen to me, you bleeding sod. England prevails because I say it does! And so does every lazy cunt on this show, and that includes you! Find another DOP, or find yourself another job!"

"I'll tell you what I know. I know this is not a man. A man does not wear a mask. A man does not threaten innocent civilians. He's what every gutless, freedom-hating terrorist is: a god-damn coward!"

"I'll tell you what I know, I'll tell you what I know, I'll tell you what I know, England prevails!"

"So I read that the former United States is so desperate for medical supplies that they have allegedly sent several containers filled with wheat and tobacco. A gesture, they said, of goodwill. You want to know what I think? Well, you're listening to my show, so I will assume you do. I think it's high time we let the colonies know what we really think of them. I think it's payback time for a little tea party they threw for us a few hundred years ago. I say we go down to those docks tonight and dump that crap where everything from the Ulcered Sphincter of Arse-erica belongs. Who's with me? Who's bloody with me? Did you like that? USA; Ulcered Sphincter of Arse-erica. I mean, what else can you say? Here was a country that had everything, absolutely everything, and now, 20 years later, is what? The world's biggest leper colony. Why? Godlessness. Let me say that again: Godlessness. It wasn't the war they started. It wasn't the plague they created. It was judgement. No-one escapes their past. No-one escapes judgement. You think He's not up there? You think He's not watching over this country? How else can you explain it? He tested us, but we came through. We did what we had to do. Islington, Enfield. I was there. I saw it all. Immigrants, Muslims, homosexuals, terrorists, disease-ridden degenerates. They had to go! Strength through unity, unity through faith! I'm a God-fearing Englishman and I am god-damn proud of it!"

"Oh my God...what have I done?"

"November the 5th. It started last night, around midnight. The first explosions tore open the entire medical section. All my work, gone. I was trying to understand how it could've happened when I saw him. The man from room five. He looked at me. Not with eyes. There were no eyes. But I know he was looking at me because I felt it."

"September the 18th. There is one case that continues to give me hope. He exhibits none of the immune system pathologies the other subjects developed. I've discovered cellular anomalies in his blood that I've been unable to categorise. The mutations seem to have triggered the abnormal development of basic kinaesthesia and reflexes. The subject said he could no longer remember who he was or where he was from. Whoever he was, he is now the key to our dream and the hope that all of this will not have been in vain."

"August the 18th. Of the original four dozen, over 75 per cent are now deceased. No controllable pattern has yet emerged."

"June 2. I kept wondering if these people knew how they might be helping their country if they would act any differently. They're so weak and pathetic. They never look you in the eye. I find myself hating them."

"May 27. Commander Prothero toured the lab with a priest, Father Lilliman, who I was told is here to monitor for rules and rights violations. It made me nervous, but the commander assured me there wouldn't be a problem."

"May 23. My first batch of subjects arrived today, and I have to admit that I am very excited. This could be the dawn of a new age. Nuclear power is meaningless in a world where a virus can kill an entire population and leave its wealth intact..."

"I remember how the meaning of words began to change. How unfamiliar words like "collateral" and "rendition" became frightening, while things like Norsefire and the Articles of Allegiance became powerful. I remember how different became dangerous. I still don't understand it, why they hate us so much. They took Ruth while she was out buying food. I've never cried so hard in my life. It wasn't long till they came for me. It seems strange that my life should end in such a terrible place, but for three years, I had roses and apologised to no-one. I shall die here. Every inch of me will perish. Every inch but one. An inch … it is small, and it is fragile, but it is the only thing in the world worth having. We must never lose it or give it away. We must never let them take it from us. I hope that, whoever you are, you escape this place. I hope that the world turns and that things get better. But what I hope most of all is that you understand what I mean when I tell you that, even though I do not know you, and even though I may never meet you, laugh with you, cry with you, or kiss you, I love you. With all my heart, I love you. Valerie."

"I'd always known what I wanted to do with my life, and in 2015 I starred in my first film, The Salt Flats. It was the most important role in my life, not because of my career, but because that was how I met Ruth. The first time we kissed, I knew I never wanted to kiss any other lips but hers again. We moved to a small flat in London together. She grew scarlet carsons for me in our window box, and our place always smelled of roses. Those were the best years of my life. But America's war grew worse and worse … and eventually came to London. After that, there were no roses anymore. Not for anyone."

"I know there's no way I can convince you this is not one of their tricks, but I don't care; I am me. My name is Valerie. I don't think I'll live much longer, and I wanted to tell someone about my life. This is the only autobiography I'll ever write, and God - I'm writing it on toilet paper. I was born in Nottingham in 1985. I don't remember much of those early years, but I do remember the rain. My grandmother owned a farm in Tuttlebrook, and she used to tell me that God was in the rain. I passed my 11th lesson into girl's grammar. It was at school that I met my first girlfriend. Her name was Sara. It was her wrists. They were beautiful. I thought we would love each other forever. I remember our teacher telling us that it was an adolescent phase people outgrew. Sara did. I didn't. In 2002, I fell in love with a girl named Christina. That year I came out to my parents. I couldn't have done it without Chris holding my hand. My father wouldn't look at me; he told me to go and never come back. My mother said nothing. But I had only told them the truth. Was that so selfish? Our integrity sells for so little, but it is all we really have. It is the very last inch of us, but within that inch, we are free."

"I wish I believed that was possible. But every time I've seen this world change, it's always been for the worse."

"Artists use lies to tell the truth, while politicians use them to cover the truth up."