Through using the cinematic techniques of symbolism and dialogue in two key scenes, director James McTeigue has been able to broadcast the idea of individual influence and the power of one in the highly acclaimed V for Vendetta. V, the films most central character, is a masked vigilante who has taken upon the role of upholding a fair and just England which for the moment has been overthrown by an oppressive, neo-fascist political party: Norsefire. He rejects conformity in every way possible and uses terrorist tactics to oppose the totalitarian regime as a part of his progressive urge to forge a just society. McTeigue conveys his ideas through the symbolism in V’s mask and in references to the chain effect in dominos and additionally uses dialogue between the characters in the film to clarify that the actions of one person can prompt a movement of change and that something small can have a big impact. 

The first of the two key scenes is significant as it establishes the understanding in the viewer that V’s masterplan to destroy Norsefire is working: he is rising above the regime while it starts to crumble beneath him. There is a shift in power and this is something that McTeigue intends to make clear. Dialogue is one of the foundational techniques applied to inaugurate this understanding within the viewer. The scene opens with a conversation between Chancellor Sutler and the head of the secret police, Mr Creedy:

Mr Creedy: Chancellor, we do not have the adequate force to––

Chancellor: ––We are being buried beneath the avalanche of your inadequacies Mr Creeedy!

Their conversation expresses stress in the fact that their political establishment is falling apart because of V, an idea successfully clarified through McTeigue’s use of dialogue. Assumed at the same time, McTeigue uses crosscutting to augment the idea of individual power in another conversation that is taking place in a different part of London. As detective Eric Finch and his assistant Dominic discuss the madness that V has set lose in London city, McTeigue starts to bring in key messages through quotes in their conversation. Their topic of discussion is masks – hundreds of thousands of them that V has sent out to the general public, identical replicas of his own. Through additional cuts, the viewer now sees that half of the city is wearing the iconic mask: from robbers to street performers, London’s citizens are now indistinguishable from V, making the detective’s search for him close to impossible. 

“This is exactly what he wants: chaos. The problem is that he knows us better than what we know ourselves. (…) I suddenly had this feeling that everything was connected. It was like I could see the whole thing, one long chain of events that stretched all the way back to Larkhill. (…) It was like a perfect pattern, laid out in front of me. And I realised that we were all part of it. And all trapped by it.” 

This quote by Finch draws strong parallels to dominos and during key parts of the quote McTeigue uses crosscutting once again to clarify this link to the viewers. As Finch says “one long chain of events” McTeigue crosses over to a close-up shot of V’s gloved hand adding one domino tile to a row. As Finch’s speech progresses, the viewers are exposed to more of what is going on with the dominos and the symbolism that McTeigue is intending to portray becomes clear. As Finch says “It was like a perfect pattern, laid out in front of me,” McTeigue layers Finch’s voiceover on top of shots of V’s domino structure coming together as a whole and. The metaphorical aspect of his quote is clarified. After the dialogue ends, the audience is shifted to another close-up shot of V’s index finger toppling the first domino tile in the arrangement. What follows is a tsunami of falling rows, cumulating to resemble a large V as the bricks fall. The tiles which fall into place to create the iconic V is furtherly symbolic V’s plan also falling into place and him getting “exactly what he wanted”  like Finch stated: chaos. Orchestrated chaos.  Moreover, the viewers can’t help but notice the similarity between the domino arrangement – a red V that protrudes the outside of a red circle – and the symbol for anarchy: which Britain is descending into. By comparing V’s individual power to dominos and the chain effect, McTeigue reinforces the idea of the power of one: that something small can have a big impact. The masks that are delivered to and worn by random civilians further develop the idea through symbolism and prove that V could be anyone; positioning the viewers to realise that anybody has the capability to make a change no matter who they are or how insignificant they might feel. In a world and in a political age where more and more people are feeling inclined to act, this message is timely. McTeigue’s message shows the viewers that we can no longer conform and allow the things we “cannot” change, we must rather take action, changing the things we cannot allow, just like V does. 

In the second scene, McTeigue puts emphasis on the symbolism of the mask to further support his message of individual power, and even more so on the strength of our individual intellect. V’s famous mask conceals his identity leaving the audience without any knowledge about what labels might define him in our judging society. The scene takes place at night time in a hidden courtyard during a meeting with Creedy and his armed men. V’s plan of destroying Norsefire has fallen into place and in exchange for Sutler’s execution, V has offered to surrender. “Now that it’s done with, it’s time to have a look at your face. Take off your mask.”  – Creedy. V refuses to remove his mask and this strengthens its symbolism: he won’t let the superficialities of his guise define him or allow them any relevance in the situation: an idea that is reinforced as the scene goes on. 

Creedy: “What are you going to do? We have swept this place, you have nothing but your bloody knives and your fancy karate gimmicks, we have guns.” 

V: “What you have are bullets and the hopes that when your guns are empty I am no longer standing because if I am, you will all be dead before you’ve reloaded.” 

Insisting that V’s statement is impossible, yet in a doubtful manner, Creedy and his men move to kill V with their firearms. Guns fire but V remains standing to their horror. V then launches into an explicit knife attack, killing all of Creedy’s men, displaying a level of skill that takes both his opponents and the viewers by surprise. “Die, die, why won’t you die?” 

– Desperately, Creedy continues to fire his gun, bust just as V has pre-empted, his bullets run out, leaving him defenceless. Just moments before V reneges on his promise and proceeds to kill Creedy, a final quote: “Beneath this mask, there is more than flesh. Beneath this mask, there is an idea Mr Creedy and ideas are bulletproof.”  Not knowing the face behind V’s mask really irks Creedy, and this is symbolic of how attached our superficial society is to values that are only skin deep and our continuous need to categorise people. We don’t know V’s age, race, religion or sexual orientation – all characteristics that we are quick to judge as a society. McTeigue recognises this societal issue in the scene through the dialogue between V and Creedy and in the symbolism of V’s mask to ultimately make the viewers realise that their superficialities are worthless in the face of their intellectual capacity. As an audience, we are positioned to reflect on the power of our ideas, understanding that we are more than our facades. The reality is that ideas are immortal, just like V says they are. Ideas are bulletproof and always survive; living on through others even if the original bearer of the idea does not survive. With this vision, McTeigue is again intending to emphasise the importance of our singular power, our ideas’ power and the importance of spreading our ideas as a way of acting. We must learn to have civil conversations about difficult topics to progress as a society, an approach that the viewers are enlightened to in this scene. We must use our ideas and act on them – this the exact realisation that McTeigue aims to formulate within the viewer. With more people aware of the power of their influence, more decisions that will improve society will be made.

James McTeigue has clearly established his intention with V for Vendetta as the director of the film in the two discussed scenes by using dialogue between characters and the symbolism in masks and dominos to show that everyone and anyone has the power to cultivate change and make progress. By promoting the power of one and encouraging us to act on our ideas, McTeigue is providing the realisation needed for the viewers to face the problems of the world today. As new leaders around the world are starting to make decisions that are affecting people in negative and unfair ways, this message becomes more important than ever. Although the governments today are not as oppressive as the one portrayed in V for Vendetta, the current trends in our political climate overseas have people fearing that we might be heading in the wrong direction. We must let our intellectual capabilities define us rather than the labels that we are given by others and we must resist conformity to the society around us and the leaders above us. By doing this, the pattern of injustice can be broken in the same way that V changed the political situation in V for Vendetta. The bottom line of the message that McTeigue intends to broadcast in these two key scenes is that a single individual’s ideas can spark a movement of change that impacts everyone. One idea, if shared with the world, can trigger an unstoppable chain of events that increase in strength and impact over time. Never underestimate the power of one.