Oliver Assayas' latest film The Wasp Network gives a new face to the conflicts of post-Soviet Cuba. The narrative follows a group of Cuban double agents who infiltrate anti-Castro operations in Miami. Focusing on the human cost, the film gives humanity to those on either side of this Cuban Conflict.
Although it follows an anonymous character, the "bomb planting" scene is among the most interesting of the film. We are quickly introduced to a nameless Central American boy who is roped into an anti-Castro scheme. He is sent to Cuba to plant a bag of homemade explosives in luxurious Havana hotels. His reward for these terrorist attacks? A bag of money.
Walking through the doors of the hotel, the boy is instantly uncomfortable. The ambient jazz music playing in the hotel lobby contrasts with his strong sense of anxiety. Clearly nervous, the boy grips onto the strap of his backpack, trying to keep the evidence of his attack to himself.
Soon, text appears on the screen saying "11:25 AM." This scene is treated like a documentary, giving it a distinct mood from the rest of the more traditional film. Labeling the names of the hotels and specific times of the character's movements give the actions a nonfiction quality. Stripping away the fictional qualities of the story forces the audience to take a more active role in worrying about the boy and the tourists.
The documentary film-making techniques become more obvious as the scene progresses. A handheld camera follows the subject, always filming from eye level. This simultaneously makes the footage seem more authentic and less cinematic. The camera is reacting to the subject, not the other way around. This style of camerawork is instantly recognizable to any viewer as what we see in news reports. Similar to what I mentioned in the previous paragraph, this forces the audience to worry about the boy and the tourists not only as movie characters, but also as real people.
As the character enters the bathroom to plant another bomb, the anxiety of the scene builds. A series of quick cuts in the tight space of the bathroom disorients the viewer. This sense of discomfort brings us into the boy's head, where he is feeling similar things in the unfamiliar spaces of the hotel.
For the first time, we see the character actually planting a bomb, making the sense of tension much more "real." This shift in tone is accompanied with a change in music. The smooth jazz of the hotel lobby becomes much more sinister and distorted, replaced by Hans Zimmer-esque horns.
There is a sense of temporary relief as the character exits the first hotel. Nobody has caught him, and there are no explosions yet.
However, this false sense of security is quickly shattered. In a hard cut, the film suddenly transitions to a new hotel. The boy speed walks in through the door, ignoring the crowds of tourists around him. He is on a mission, and can't afford to get distracted. Also, looking around means seeing faces who could become his victims.
This feeling of dread and isolation is cemented through the camerawork. Although still documentary-esque, the aperture of the camera has been opened up to blur the background of the frame. Typically news reports are known for very small apertures, but the cinematographer Denis Lenoir chooses to focus the camera on the boy, and not his victims.
The pace of the film quickly picks up. Within ten seconds, the boy is in and out of the bathroom. It is a nearly identical sequence of events as the prior bathroom scene, but shown in half the time. This editing choice contributes to the rising action, and a growing feeling of dread as the scene approaches its climax.
The sound of the hand-dryer also accents the anxiety of this scene. It is aggressively loud, again forcing us into the head of the character. The noise of the hand-dryer means another person, even if the boy is doing his best to avoid looking at them. This innocent tourist might be dead in the next few minutes.
The boy speeds out of the hotel. It may be a little heavy handed, but the film makes sure that the passing time contributes to the growing tension of the scene. A mix of the "11:45 am" text, the boy checking his watch, and the literal ticking time bomb in the bathroom make every second contribute to the rising action.
In the next shot, violent waves crash against the sea-wall of Havana. The spray from the waves nearly cover the frame, while the roar of their collisions with the wall dominates the soundtrack of the scene. This elemental conflict is loosely related to the plot of the scene, but nevertheless raises the tension.
Nearly every action or shot in this scene is a rising action. This prepares the audience for the impending climax, and has us all leaning forward in our seats and biting our nails.
As the boy plants the last bomb, we no longer hear the ambient music from the hotel lobby. The tense score is the only sound in the scene, even replacing the background chatter of the tourists.
The boy runs into a taxi, speaking his first words in the last three minutes. Whipping his head back and forth, his discomfort and anxiety are extremely evident. Barely a minute into the taxi ride, he is so coated in sweat that he has to take his shirt off.
As the audience, we feel this same anxiety. The rising action of the scene is done, and we know that the climax is coming. However, by delaying this cathartic moment, the film prolongs the growing sense of dread for both us and the character.
In another hard cut, the film introduces us to a group of Russian tourists. They smile and laugh as they greet each other, oblivious to the bombs that are set all around them. This feeling of suspense is nearly Hithcock-ian, and harkens back to the opening scene of Touch of Evil.
If the bomb exploded out of nowhere, we would be surprised. However, knowing that the bomb is about to explode gives us a much stronger feeling: suspense.
Finally, the bomb explodes. The last three minutes of the scene have led to this inevitable conclusion. However, what makes this scene effective isn't the explosion: it is everything that led up to it.
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