V For Vendetta

V for Vendetta Essay
Analyse how your first impression of a character or individual was later challenged in a visual or oral text. In the film V for Vendetta, directed by James McTeigue, the viewer’s first impression of Evey is that she is vulnerable, feminine and a scared character, who is trapped by her fear of the government. However, the viewer’s impression of Evey is challenged throughout the film through visual techniques such as costume, dialogue and editing. She becomes a much stronger, braver character. In the beginning of V for Vendetta, Evey is portrayed as a feminine character. However this is challenged as the film progresses-she becomes less feminine. This is shown through the technique of costume. For example at the start
of the film we see her putting on makeup, doing her hair and wearing a dress. At the end of the film though she wears jeans and a t-shirt, no makeup and no hair (due to V shaving it off, but she chooses to keep it this way). The director has done this to show the viewer the importance of development and to suggest that society should be less self centred and should focus on issues bigger than themselves. This issue is the fear of the government. Evey is being used as a representative of general society, because not only does Evey change but society changes to become less fearful of the government and to not let them control them. This is seen at the very end of the film when the people of London keep walking towards the armed squad, all wearing V’s mask and cape despite the warnings from the government that they will be shot if they wear the costume. This is also showing the use of costume in the film. Another visual technique which challenges the viewer’s first impression of Evey is through the use of dialogue.
At the beginning of the film we see Evey and V meet for the first time, in this conversation she says to him “Are you like a crazy person?” due to the fact that he isn’t fearful towards the finger men. This shows that Evey is in shock that he does not fear the finger men, which she believed everyone does, just like she does. She is afraid of them because the finger men often kill people. During the film Evey is imprisoned and tortured, and near the end of this imprisonment she is told that if she does not pass information about the whereabouts of V then she shall be killed. When she refuses the man the man asks why and she replies “I would rather die behind the chemical sheds.” This shows that during the film Evey has become a stronger and a lot more fearless person, as she is not longer fearful of what people can do to her, or even death itself. The director has done this to show that people shouldn’t be afraid of death, especially when you’re dying for a good cause. This is also shown when V dies so that the people of London can have a better future, with a government which is not led by dictators and controlled in their day to day lives, but rather a future where they can step forward and have freedom. V not only died fighting for Valerie and the justice she deserved, but also for freedom. Evey says “No one will forget that night and what it meant for this country.” Meaning he died for a greater
good. The last technique that is used in the film V for Vendetta, to challenge the viewer’s first impression of Evey is editing. At the start of the film, we see Evey getting ready to go out after curfew but we also see V getting ready to go out after curfew too due to the use of cross cutting. This first establishes a connection between the two characters. This is when Evey is scared to break curfew though, due to the government’s control, she may be in danger if she is caught. We see that Evey is afraid but not entirely obedient. We do not see how Evey and V have much in common though as it is clear that V is not afraid of the government and what they may do to him if he is caught after curfew. Although after Evey is released from her imprisonment we see her standing in the rain with her hands up in the air, as an act of freedom. At this moment we also see when V was released from Larkhill Detention Centre, when he is stood with his hands up in the air, also showing freedom. We see this through the use of cross cutting. This shows us that Evey and V have more in common than the beginning of the film, that they have both gained freedom, but also lost fear of being controlled by the government, making Evey a much stronger and fearless character. The director has used cross cutting in the film to show the connections between characters. The cross cutting is also almost relating to parts of history. Such as when we see the cross cutting of Larkhill, we begin to think about the holocaust during World War Two. The use of editing is make the viewer realise it not only connects characters, but it also connects the film to real life history. The viewer begins to get the full depth of the film such as Norsefire, the government party in power is linked to the Nazi party, and how they both controlled their people, and led them by fear. During the film we see a character named Evey develop as a person. At the beginning she is fearful, vein and scared. However, through the use of costume, dialogue and editing the viewer’s original impression of Evey is challenged as she becomes fearless, uncaring of materialistic items such as makeup, dresses or pretty hair and stands up for what he truly believes in, no matter what the cost-making her incredibly brave.