Short Film Analysis - Wasp

Wasp is a short film, directed by Andrea Arnold, about a single, working class mother with 4 children. The viewer is made to feel sympathetic towards the mother, but at the same time, distain. She is represented as an irresponsible and selfish parent, who leaves her children outside while she goes to the pub for the night. This alone, would make the viewer feel hatred towards her, but as we see their living conditions, we feel a level of empathy for her. It is clear that she was probably forced into this situation, and didn't want to have kids in the first place.

            

The cinematography was good, and featured a wide range of shots and techniques. The vast majority of the movie was filmed with handheld, which helped position the viewer in the story with the mother and children. This was used most obviously in the beginning, when the mother was having a fight with another woman. At this point, the camera is all over the place, representing the current situation. The shaky camera, in my opinion, helped to make the film feel more natural and realistic.

            

Many of the shots feel like the camera was just put down in a random location and then they started to film. This seems to be a clever technique from Andrea Arnold to add to the realism of the film. It makes the film seem less forced and more natural, adding to the realism.

            

At one point in the film, whilst the mother is talking to the man in the car, we see a bull-terrier walk behind the children. This represents the danger that the mother has put the children in whilst she goes across the road to talk to someone. This could be foreshadowing what happens later on in the film when she leaves the children on their own for the second time.

In the next scene, there is a wasp trapped inside the house, on the window. You could say that at this point, the mum is like the wasp, trapped and helpless. Also, wasps are often seen as worthless and pointless, which is also how the mother is seen, shown by how she is called a 'baby-machine' at one point. The fact that the mum lets the wasp out, could show how she is desperately trying to escape the situation. It could also be seen as her trying to save her kids from danger, meaning she does actually care for/about them. Later in the film, the wasp is back and is a bigger risk, as it flies inside the baby's mouth, but the mother comes back to save them, once again. This is part of what makes us both like and dislike the character.

Zoe, the main character, does have some redeeming characters, such as the fact that she is trying to do the right thing, but often struggles. For example, when they are walking to the pub, she runs with the children and turns it into a game to keep them entertained. You could argue that there are more negatives with her parenting than positives, as she leaves the children, who are in danger, until very late at night, with only a pint of coke and two bags of crisps.