Can I please get some feedback on an essay I have written?

In the visual text ‘V For Vendetta’ written by James McTeigue, the closing scene was very important in helping us to understand a few of the main ideas in the text and how they all linked together. In the closing scene Evey blows up the parliament building on behalf of V, which demonstrates and emphasises the effect V had on Evey manipulating and controlling her. Also, it emphasised when everyone was gathered outside the parliament building wearing V masks the idea that V is all of us and that ideas are revolutionary. It also emphasises the passion and love V has for music and art and how this links into the film.

This scene as the closing scene I believe was very effective in portraying the idea that V changed Evey’s mindset on the issue and almost made it like V was manipulating Evey. Throughout the film Evey was being manipulated into what is seen by some as quite a “monstrous” plan and by the end of the film in the ending scene is basically the one who makes the decision to pull the lever of the train with V’s body placed inside surrounded by roses. A close up shot of Evey showed her determination to follow through with the plan and pull the lever and showed to us that she had no fear in doing so. Earlier in the film Evey said “I wish I wasn’t afraid all the time, but I am” and this action showed to the viewers that Evey had lost all fear with V’s actions in torturing Evey earlier in the film. This had the effect on the audience to either choose to love or hate V for turning Evey or “manipulating” her in a sense.

Furthermore, another reason why the closing scene was a very good climax to finish the film off with is because of the emphasise it had on the idea mentioned earlier in the film that “v is all of us”. The reason for the closing scene emphasising this is to show that the end justifies the mean and that together we all have the power to change the world. A wide angle shot in the closing scene of everyone wearing the V masks transitioning into them all taking their masks off to reveal the people throughout the film and the “faces of the dead” such as the glasses girl, Valerie and Evey’s mum. This was to show that V is all of us and that his actions building up to this night was all worth it. Because in the end it thought us and emphasised the message and concept around, ideas being revolutionary and that that “ideas are bullet proof”, one small action is enough to change the world as cliché as that sounds.

Another reason why the closing scene was a very important part of the film is because it all tied in the main ideas of the film together in a nice way and it especially help to tie in V’s love for music and art. In the end of the film there was a spectacular fireworks performance and what is said to be “V’s music” with the technique of using the 1812 overture music playing in the background as the parliament building was being blown up. It also ended with a V being made in the fireworks and a voice over from Evey, this was really important to the film as V had quite a soft natured, romantic and loving personality that was often hidden to everyone throughout the film, but it helped to describe the way Evey loved this side to him and how it was quite an important aspect to V and to the film. V’s true personality was shown a lot in this ending scene which I think is one of the reasons it was quite a heart-warming scene to end the movie on.

To conclude, this ending scene was a very important touch to the film and tied many aspects of this text together so that people could understand the events of the film and get an emotional response to the film and to this scene which was well planned by the director. First it tied together the idea of how V was said to be manipulating Evey into his plan however in the end it was her choice to pull the lever. It also tied the idea of V being all of us into the film and how the end justifies the means with the ‘faces of the dead’ under the masks. Furthermore, it also tied in the emotional soft music and art loving side of V into the scene which created a well rounded and well thought out idea to end the film on.

Heya there I’m a student as well and I’ve noticed that you didn’t feature any visual language features in this essay, which is key as it is the evidence that backs up your statements. You’ve arranged it in a ‘written text’ format where the main evidence are quotes. In the intro, you should state your 3 points clearly and the visual language features that link with it (For the first point, you could use juxtaposition or dialogue between V and Evey, where with juxtaposition, you talk about her rebirth. For the second point, you can talk about clothing and how every character was wearing V’s clothing to show their unison; reflects back on the Norsefire’s slogan of ‘Strength through Unity, Unity through faith’, which is ironic since it’s used against them. For the last point, you could use diagetic sound or music since it’s linked as ‘V’s theme’ or signifies England’s liberation against the Norsefire’s totalitarianism form of governing). When creating paragraphs, use the T.E.X.A.S format, where in analysis, you analyse the visual language feature’s effect on the scene and you as an audience; linking it to society, literature and etc.

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Thank you for the feedback :slight_smile:

No problem. Fortunately, I’m doing the same film as well for my visual essay in Level 2 English.