Scene Analysis

The scene I chose to analyze is taken from James McTeigue’s V for Vendetta. This sequence, commonly referred to as the “Evey Reborn” scene, stars both protagonist of the film, Evey and V, played by Natalie Portman and Hugo Weaving respectively. To me, this sequence was one of the most powerful in the movie which is why I chose to analyze it.
The sound really helps to set the mood of the scene. Throughout the film we learn that the character V loves and enjoys anything classical. He enjoys such classics as the original The Count of Monte Cristo film, ballroom dancing, sword fighting, and above all, classical music. Like most of the movie, this scene uses classical, orchestral music. While Evey is the main focus, the use of this music, which is reminiscent of V’s character, shows how V has influenced and essentially rubbed off on Evey. He has become a part of her. The music starts off soft and only with a few instruments, as the scene unfolds and Evey breaks away from V to embrace the rain and essentially the change in herself, the music becomes stronger and louder and more complex with more instruments being added, creating many layers of sound. The scene ends with the music fading out a bit and the sound of thunder and rain become the prominent noises.
The organization of shots in this sequence also adds to the mood and theme of the scene. At one point there is a close up of Evey’s face as the rain is falling on her, she whispers “God is in the Rain,” and the next shot cuts to an over head looking down on her as if the audience is God themselves. This shot is my favorite in this sequence. We look down on Evey as the music crescendos and chimes can be heard, giving even more of an angelic feeling, the rain falls in slow motion and the camera zooms in following the rain, to get a close up looking down on Evey. The last few shots are also quite powerful. We see Evey as she embraces the rain, arms open and laughing at the sky, it then cuts to V, when he had his own rebirth, he stands amongst a burning building, surrounded by flames with his arms open yelling to the sky. There are several shots that cut from Evey’s rebirth then to V’s. The similarities and differences in those shots show the similarities and differences of the characters too. One is born of fire and anger while the other is born of water and relief/joy.