Wasp (Andrea Arnold 2003)

Part 1

Part 2


This film represents a typical council estate lifestyle for some people. It tells the story of a mother who hasn't yet accepted her responsibilities of motherhood and still wants to meet men. At the beginning of the film, we meet the mother running down the stairs with her children shouting for them to follow her, it shows desperation and not a particularly laid back lifestyle. She runs through the street holding her half naked baby with her three scruffy looking children trundling behind her in her night gown with no shoes on. We have no idea where she has come from or where she is running from. The hand held camera throughout the whole film helps to emphasise the desperation and anguish felt by everyone this woman goes near.

There is very natural lighting throughout and seems to be little or no artificial lighting to add to the social realism of the whole situation. The way she violently bangs on the other woman's door and explicity swears and violently fights with her in the street all in front of her children shows a lack of parental responsibility, even though her heart is in the right place as she is defending her children. It is clear to see that the children do not have a positive role model in their life as they begin to get involved in the bad language, and at the end of it all the mother encourages them all to put their middle fingers up to her in almost a comic like style. All of the natural background noises are left in to add to the gritty lifestyle these people are living, car noises, the baby crying, none of these are peaceful sounds, it shows the audience what a stressful lifestyle this can be at times.
When Zoe gets talking to David in his car, she is quick to tell him that they are not her children, this really highlights the lack of materal instincts for these children as she is clearly not happy to have them. There is mention of a previous boyfriend which suggests that these children may not all have the same father, a very common sterotype for someone who lives in a council flat. We get an insight into the sort of men she see's by the car that David drives, a very old model that doesnt't start the first time. It suggests that she is desperate for a man to help her with her children and will take anyone that wants her, as for a first impression he seems a bit sleezy.

She seems to see her children as more like friends, the way she jokes about this potenial new boyfriend with them, particularly the oldest as she is the one she off loads the baby on to. The claustaphobia of where they live really sets in when it shows some views of the area, where it is very built up and over-looked by everyone, there are a lot of people crammed into one area, certainly not the sort of place you would want to bring up your children. It gives a suggestion as to her income which is obviously little or none. Their house is very compact, and yet we see Zoe as not very maternal, it is full of pictures that her children has drawn. They have mouldy bread in the cupboard so she ends up giving the children a bag of sugar to share. This again shows bad mothering, as she clearly does not know how to provide for these children properly. It is then the job of the eldest to share it out.

Our next view of her is when she is walking to the pub to meet David, she is now dressed up in very cheap looking clothes, that were not only cheap to buy but cheapen her as a person, her hairstyle is that of a low income, not very careful person, and her red top and short skirt gives the audience a clue to what she wants to get out of the night. Throughout the film she always shouts at her children everytime they talk about food that they want, because she cannot afford it, this obviously not only angers her but upsets her that she cannot afford to provide for her family. She seems to have almost a split personality as at one point she is shouting and swearing at the children then she is all playful with them and trying to make them happy by dancing and singing for them or running down the hill with them.

She then leaves her children outside the pub in a very grotty area while she goes inside to meet David. She has to squeeze past all the men looking at her provocatively because of what she is wearing, it belittles her as a woman as they are objectifying her. This is then emphasised again later when David won't leave the poole table to get her a drink she has to get it herself, and he uses to excuse that she is a "modern woman". Her embarressment of not being able to afford the drinks shows her to be a bit selfless, as it is her drink that she changes, her children still get a drink and some (even if only a little amount of) food and David still gets his drink. Deep down I think she really does care for her children but just isn't emotionally mature enough to know how to look after them. When the food is given to the children the eldest takes her motherly role straight away and takes the food to share out, while other others get a bit annoyed about it.

Worry for the children then sets in when they are running around in the road screaming while the sound of traffic is foregrounded, it half suggests that somehting bad will happen to one of them sooner or later due to their mother not being around. They are left in the dark and cold. The mention of bus tickets when Zoe is talking to David shows her lack of income as she obviously doesn't have a car. The scene then changes to the eldest daughter trying her hardest to keep the baby warm outside. It is almost like a role reveral as the mother is inside chatting up men, while the daughter is outside being an adult. Zoe then gets very angry when her daughter taps on the window for her mum's help. The baby is hungry, which also portrays a lack of responsibility for these children as she has let them go hungry. She then tells them to stay away from the door because of the sort of people hanging about, yet she has left them outside the whole time exposed to all sorts!

While the children are alone, the eldest notices some men dropping food on the floor, she then takes it upon herself to go and get it to provide for her siblings, more food than their mum has ever given them, even if it is off the floor, this soon makes the baby stop crying which the mother was never able to do. Although she is kissing David in the car, as soon as she hears her children screaming she straight away jumps out the car to make sure they are okay, this emphasises that she really does love them but just isn't sure how to look after children. She then gets very upset when she thinks the baby has been stung by a wasp and seeks refuge in David's car who provides the children with food, our preconceptions of him then change as well, as he suggests getting them home and he has bought them food, so he is actually a good man, even though the way he made me talk about her children at the beginning suggested to the audience that he wouldn't be interested if he knew she had children.

The ideological message in this film is to look after your children and to keep an eye on them at all times otherwise you may lose them, through injury or social services will take them away. It suggests that mothers should let go of their youth and understand their responsibilities, and to get their priorities right. This is very different from a Hollywood film as it has not been glamourised at all, it is an extreme case of social realism. It is clear by the camera work that it is also low budget. Although a popular short film, I doubt it has had the attention that a feature length film would have had so it is also unrecognised.

This film touches on two different theories of narrative. That of Roland Barthes, when he says that narratives follow the ideological dimension of myths (societies values), as society would look at this woman as an unfit mother who clearly does not care about her children, but it is clear to see from her house decor and her behavious at the end that she really does care for them but she doesn't know how to look after them, rather than not wanting to. It can also be argued that it follows Tsvetan Todorov's theory of equilibrium, (that all narratives start with an equilibrium that is disrupted and then is resolved with a new equilibrium), in this situationit would be the normal family life at the beginning with Zoe and her children, then the disruption when the baby is stung by a wasp, and the new equilibrium at the end when it alludes to a new life with David.

I am to use parts of this film very implicitly, it will have a hint of the social realism from this of a very extreme case of domestic violence, it will also have the contrast of two different stories being played at the same time, (Zoe's night out and the children being left outside).