Scene #16: V's Dominoes Fall

I'm on the record for just despising lengthy scenes, usually toward the end of thrillers, that go through and explain every plot detail—the "how it all fits" scene. I think it's lazy, and typically, if a filmmaker needs to resort to that sort of tactic, he or she has lost control of his story.

The next scene on the countdown should be a template for writers and directors, showing them how to answer questions succinctly and without insulting their viewers intelligence. It also happens to come at a very important and tension-filled moment in one of 2006's best commercial efforts, V for Vendetta.

At this point in the film, Hugo Weaving's V has shown Britain that its dictatorial leadership is inept—and perhaps crueler than anyone ever imagined. As Stephen Rea's kindly detective says, V right on the cusp of his goal—total chaos. All he needs is one spark that will cause Britain's frustrated masses to rise up, and over Rea's monologue, we see that spark—the murder of a little girl. It's a powerful scene, intercut with images from the first two-thirds of the film that tie the film's loose threads together, as well as a massive dominoes construction by V that falls the very same moment his country's power structure falls.



Not the easiest scene to describe, as you can see, but I really think it's powerful and so important to the film. Tomorrow, a scene featuring one of my very favorite characters, played by one of my favorite actors, in a film directed by one of my favorite directors.