Analysing V For Vendetta

By Molly Cynfal-Wells

I will be discussing a scene in the famed 2005 politically centred thriller/action movie where the

titular character V takes over a media broadcasting building known as the BTN to spread his message to the brainwashed people of England.

This scene is a multifaceted action sequence and follows V as he takes out many diffe rent people so

that he can successfully get away from the crime he just committed. In the previous scene we see

him scare the people within the BTN into cooperating with the threat of being blown up. Since the

movie was released in 2005, i take into account that not everything is as polished as movies are

today, however still considering technical standpoints compared to what was available i can come to some of my own conclusions.

The scene starts with the technique often used in cinema being used by the character known as the

'Bait and Switch'. This technique is used to trick the viewers into thinking something is going to play

out one way, often surrounding an emotional crux or plot conclusion only for it to be revealed to be

the opposite. Here V uses it to trick the police officers so that he can get a good vantage point in

which to flank them, taking optimal chance for a clean getaway. The way he executes it is by gagging

someone in his costume so they can't speak and acting like a victim himself. He the n pretended to

be a fanatic victim and screamed that the bound man was in fact V himself. As the man could not

deny or confirm his identity he looked suspicious. This distracted the guards long enough for V to

prepare to startle them with an attack and have the upper hand. I think this was a really interesting

way to put something often used by writers into the mind of the character, it shows you that this

political vigilante is intelligent and gives you a subtle look into how he works things out as this was clearly planned ahead of time.

At the very beginning of the sequence details within the camera work actually play a part in

displaying the power and control within the actual world. At the start the guards are shown from a

level of low point, meaning were either level with the guards or looking up at them. This is an old

trick to show the power dynamic within a scene. The BTN guards and the audience think that they

are the ones in power which explains the upwards angle they're shown in. They have the weapons

and the control over the situation right up until it is discovered that the first man they suspected

isn't V. V himself and the others that are dressed in his image are looked down on by the camera.

They're hunched, crouching, cowering even under the gaze of their supposed superiors. Once they

realise the man who 'outed' the other for being the terrorist was indeed the terrorist, we see the

camera angle on the guard shift upwards so that we as an audience are now looking down on him.

The control has shifted visibly and its easy to see that V clearly has the upper hand. This use of

camera angles is a staple of cinematography when it comes to power dynamics in films and the use

within this scene is incredibly well done.

This scene has a few different components to it, different things happening within the time, the fight

with the guards, Evey's involvement with the detective and the diffusing of the bomb set to go off.

Throughout the fight scenes you can see a lot of uses of action cuts, the camera cutting when people

are taking actions as characters. A smooth shot i feel that is very well done is just after V using one

of the guards as a shield, he takes a knife and throws it at another guard. Within this cut, the camera

follows the fluid movement that V is displaying when he turns around and then goes to follow the

guard as he falls against the wall. The shot only runs for 2 seconds, however its a subtle nod to the

character of V's efficiency and grace; helping the audience understand him without them even realising it.

The use of sound within the scene is interesting and it shows that the sound technician and director

both know what kind of sound design helps put a scene together. For example, for most of the fight

scene between V and the guards, there is a dramatic ambient sound track; drums, strings, etc that

give it the 'heart pumping' effect on the audience. However, when he comes face to face with a

guard that he has just killed there is a break in the sound track. This is a good choice and it display s a

dramatic moment far better than if they had increased the tempo of the music or added an

additional sound effect. It helps show how quickly this man's life has ended and the quiet echo that

can be heard as the track is stopped is deliberate, showing us that this individual's death is still going

to take time and the echo's of his consciousness still chime within his own mind. Paired with a close

up head-shot of the two it compliments the sequence and adds a certain cruel intimacy that comes

with the taking of a life. This sequence however is followed by a comic relief moment, said moment

being the lazy guard from a previous scene fainting at the sight of another man's death. While the

concept itself isn't humorous, the comedic timing was well done and he lped bring the viewers back to the surface once again.

This sequence does however hold one of my pet peeves when it comes to dramatic tropes. After the

fight sequence with V, it cuts to one of the head's of the BTN attempting to disarm the bomb that V

has set up to explode. Within this section of the scene we see him actively decide to cut the green

wire yet at the last second he instead cuts the red one below it. This i believe is overused, the

gimmick attempts to create a false sense of tension within a scene that already has tension. When

we see the character do that in a film we as audience members automatically think 'Oh its not going to explode' because its a predictable manoeuvre.

In conclusion, i believe this scene as a whole is a well put together sequence. The shots are smooth,

the sound engineering fits and even though it does contain some quite questionably annoying tropes

i feel it still holds up as a memorable scene.