TASK 2 Wasp (Short Film Analysis)

The short film Wasp by Andrea Arnold's is about a single mother trying to raise four children on her own while also wanting to have a social life, as she seems rather young. The film can be interpreted by the audience in a few ways. One of these could be shock and disgust from some viewers, maybe more upper class viewers, who would see the parent as a terrible mother, whereas other viewers my sympathise with her, understanding that times are tough for her and it is only unfortunate she doesn't understand what is best.

The very first shot we see is the mother, Zoe, who is running down concrete steps barefooted carrying her baby, followed by her other kids. The way it opens up by showing the bare feet set the world of the film well, we know this is a poor area, and that someone is in a rush to get somewhere, we don't know where yet.

This next major shot demonstrates the mothers children in a gathering sitting on the grass while the mother, Zoe is in the street. This is intense, as it demonstrates the mother on the possibly unsafe street, while the children are staying safe, and this could show that see tries to care for her children, but cannot in proper way. In the next shot they seemed grouped together while walking, almost like a pack of wolves or other wild animals, this could be used to shows an untamed nature about them, that they are outside of the social norms but still care for each other even though times are hard.

In the next major shot we see inside the cramped and messy looking flat apartment, which further shows how deprived these people are. We can see from the walls childlike pictures alongside a photograph of a man. It isn't exactly clear but it could be assumed the photograph is of David Beckham. This could be assumed because of how often he is mentioned. It would be seen as this that the people in this still have dreams for something better, that they are not satisfied with the life they have but somehow want to make it better. In this same sequence, we see a shot of a wasp trying to get out though the glass. This wasp could symbolise the mother, as the wasp is trying to escape from its confinements, so too is the mother. As well as this, when a wasp strings someone they die, so it could be as when she hurts her children, via bad parenting, it hurts her also, as she wants to take care of them the best she can, as she loves them. In this shot she lets the wasp out and this could hint that she is going to try to break from from this.


In the next shot we see more pack like attitudes, as when the mother leaves the children to fend for themselves outside of the pub them seem huddled together, they don't want to be there, they just have to accept that they have to be there, as their mother instructed. We can see from this that their innocence as children is still there, but worn, it would seem.