Autopsy Of A Scene — John Wick
Exploration of the artistic choices, writing, and visual storytelling behind the iconic reveal scene of John Wick. Directed by Chad Stahelski & David Leitch.
Written by Derek Kolstad.
Today we will explore the artistic choices, writing, and visual storytelling behind the iconic reveal scene of John Wick. For those who aren’t familiar with it, the reveal is a term used to describe the scene that exposes a character’strue identity or true face in most action movies.
It’s the moment in The Equalizer when Robert McCall, played by Denzel Washington, goes from a “Home Depot guy” to a commando who kills his enemies in seconds. It’s when Sharon goes from a trafficked little girl to a skilled assassin in Butterfly, written and directed by Ely Bams. And it’s when John Rambo went from a guide to a war commando in Rambo 4.
The reveal in John Wick was not only magnificent and original, but also beautifully done. The scene features the talented Keanu Reeves in the role of John Wick, Michael Nyqvist as Viggo Tarasov, Alfie Allen in the role of Iosef Tarasov, Dean Winters as Avi, and the skilled John Leguizamo in the role of Aurelio.
At this point in the story, John Wick is simply a dude who lost his wife, his dog was killed, and his 1969 Mustang was stolen.
In the movie, the reveal is triggered by the “big event” — the killing of the dog in the Mustang robbery. John’s true character is revealed through flashbacks and a back-and-forth technique. After his assault, John Wick wears a white shirt with a blood stain over the location of his heart, symbolizing the pain he feels because the Russians killed his dog, the last gift that he received from his lovely wife. He keeps the same bloody shirt during the entire reveal scene, even when he goes to Aurelio’s shop.
Then, the legend of the assassin John Wick is revealed through Viggo Tarasov’s dialogue with his son, beautifully intercut with a powerful sequence of John digging up his weapons and gold coins in his basement.
The digging scene in the basement emphasizes from how deep in his heart John resurrects his past assassin killing instinct.
Jonathan Sela, who photographed the film using ALEXA XT cameras combining anamorphic with spherical lenses, visually stuck to the basics: wideshots to illustrate John’s emotional emptiness, skyscrapers in the background to illustrate Viggo Tarasov’s power when introducing him, and top-down shots to imply the weakness of his son, Iosef Tarasov.
Feel free to watch John Wick and share your thoughts about this reveal scene in the comment section. Thanks for reading.
By Elsa Miller / July 19, 2019 — Autopsy of a Scene.
