Hot Fuzz Scene Analysis: Kill the Messenger

Here is my analysis of the death of Tim Messenger in the film "Hot Fuzz".

Here is the link to the video I used: v=BavTQmiA9mchttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BavTQmiA9mc

WARNING: This clip contains a high amounts of gore.

This is Tim Messenger. He comes to Nickolas Angel (Simon Pegg) and tells him that he wants to talk about George Merchant: a character who died earlier in the film. The remains of his death were dismissed as an accident, but Nick suspects it to have been a murder. Tim's name referrers to his role as a messenger, and whatever message he was going to deliver (before his rude interruption at the end of the clip) would be useful for clearing up any doubt surrounding Georges death. He asks Nick to meet him at the church at 3. His hasty request and exit combined with his worried face hint that he fears that what he wants to tell Nick might put him in danger. The fact he wants to go to a place where no-one else is likely to be tells us that anyone other then Nick hearing his news would be a bad occurrence.

 Danny Butterman (Nick Frost) says "what you think he wants". This helps re-enforce that what Tim Messenger wanted to tell Nick would have been important (emphasis on "would have") The camera zooms in slightly and Nick turns his head towards the man in black in the background.

 The camera cuts to the officers reactions instead of the one who requested Nicks participation for the raffle. We see a little bit of irritation on Nickolas's face as he forcefully hands the monkey to Danny. Both of these signify that he would rather not be a part of this raffle, and that he has better things to do.

We are shown a close-up shot of a wooden copy of the church. This lets us know about the distinctive points on the top of the church without showing us directly. The points become important later on in the scene.

 Officer Nick seems fidgety and uncomfortable. This is likely because he knows that he could be elsewhere, gaining valuable information about someone he suspects to have been murdered. The camera does a close-up shot of him so the audience takes in his expression.

Nick looks up at the clock, and notices that the time is almost 3. The ticking noises and the jump cut to Messengers watch...

Like so, indicate that the countdown to 3 is important.

 We see tension in Tim Messengers face as he looks up from his watch, as if he knows hes in danger. The sound of the scene gives an ominous atmosphere and builds tension.

 We see multiple cuts between a fidgety Messenger and the raffle taking place, hammering in the nail that tells us that Nick needs to get to Tim, and potentially solve the mystery right there and then.

In the raffle, Simon Skinners name is called, but he isn't there. According to a woman in the crowd, he went to the toilet, but just after this absence is brought up...

 We cut to a black-cloaked figure barging into the church. This character is reoccurring in the story, and whenever he shows up in the cloak, someone dies.

 Next, there are multiple cuts between the killer running to the top of the building, and Tim Messenger waiting. Considering the role of the black-cloaked person, Tims death is foreshadowed by this.

The killer arrives at the top of the building, and the camera zooms out to include the spire, foreshadowing its importance in the scene.

 The demonic chanting begins, and the camera points at Messenger from a worms-eye angle. The chanting provides yet more tension to this already-tense scene.

We see the spire, we see the killer, and we see the victim down below. The audience now know exactly what the killers plan is.

 The scene then cuts between shots of Tim Messenger waiting, and...

 The killer pushing the spire off the church roof. Cutting between the weapon and the victim in rapid succession.

 In this shot, we get a better look at Tim Messenger at the bottom of the churchyard, right below the spire, in perfect place for what happens next.

 Now, we cut from the priest making a small joke about Tims absence to...

 The crowd laughing...

 To the spire falling, and back to the laughter, then back to the spire. This tells us how ignorant the crowd are of the danger Tim is in, and brings the tension up to gigantic levels, giving the audience white knuckles.

 It is now 3. Nick must suspect that Tim is in some sort of danger, so he runs to the church ground. The fact that he runs is an indicator that he believes that Tim is in danger.

 Tims face in this shot tells us that he has no idea that there's a spire about to kill him, so he just stands there, while the swooshing sound of the spire falling demonstrates the momentum of the giant object heading straight towards his oblivious skull.

 We get another shot of the spire right above him. Its now incredibly close to Tim. If the audience haven't chewed their nails off already, they would have by this point.

Tim casually nods his head and greets Officer Nick who has just arrived at the scene. It is clear that he never saw the spire coming.

How pleasant. The tension built up for this moment wonderfully builds up to this cheerful conclusion of Tims head exploding. What the scene built up to was not disappointing in the slightest.

In response to Tims death, Nick recoils and looks at the body in horror and disgust. Understandable. He just watched someones head explode in front of him.

With blood and gore everywhere, the sound helps enhance the horror of the scene by replacing the demonic chanting with a high-pitched sound akin to screaming, and an otherworldly sound to make the scene that much more horrible.

The headless corpse drops to his knees, and falls down, with loud booms happening with both, highlighting the falling, with Nickolas Angel looking down on the body with an expression of disgust for what just happened before him.

The whole Cornetto Trilogy is full of symbolism, foreshadowing, and is generally fun to analyse. This scene was no exception. In particular, this scene built up tension incredibly well on the way to the inevitable death of Tim Messenger, leading to a nail-biting finish.

Alex Harris 02/01/2017