“A Fish Called Wanda” is a comedy film about a jewel heist and its actions. There are different actors who play different roles in ensuring the enhancement of the movie. Their roles lay out the actions set for the development of the storyline. Each actor has different scenes that play a momentous role towards the victory of the movie as an award winning motion picture. The protagonist, George Thomason and his right hand man, Pile Ken have plans for a jewel heist. They enlist the help of a con artist, Wanda Gershwitz, and a weapons specialist, Otto West. The heist is a success, but their getaway is ambushed by the presence of an eye witness who saw the thieves during their escape from the robbery. This dissertation is an analysis of a scene that enhanced the film and led to its success.
Part 1: Shot by Shot Breakdown of the Scene
The scene begins with Otto walking Archie out of the building into the runway with a waiting airplane while pointing a gun at him. Otto threatens to harm the latter if he does not cooperate. The latter beckons Archie to enter the barrel filled with oil. When he does not heed to this command, Otto shoots him in the right thigh. Upon entry into the barrel, Otto begins rambling about how he is the planet’s filth. While Otto is not keen on this development, Archie notices the bulldozer and a conversation ensues. Otto accuses Archie of disliking winners.
In a separate shot, Ken approaches Otto from the left side of the screen with a bandage on his eye. He declares his desire to have revenge against Otto, but the latter laughs it off mockingly. Otto diverts his attention back to Archie, but notices that the cement on the ground on which he is standing has dried off, thereby implanting him in the ground; he is immobile. With the bulldozer closing in on him, Otto begs Ken not to harm him. In the meantime, Archie has escaped from the oil filled barrel and is running to safety. Ken has some demands that Otto is not willing to fulfill. Desperate and seeing that Ken is still driving the bulldozer towards him; Otto belittles Ken’s confidence and preempts him. Ken runs Otto over into the smudge of cement underneath. Archie, observing this ordeal, scampers to safety in the airplane. Inside, he finds a distraught Wanda who welcomes him with affection.
Part 2: Scene Analysis
The vitality of this scene is evident because Ken has come to get his revenge on Otto for turning him in to the law enforcement agents. Ken and Otto had performed the heist together. It was a breach of trust for Otto to turn him in to the police. This scene is vital in the development of the movie and increasing the audience’s interests. Each use of cinematography enhances the scene by connecting the actions together and indicating the consequences of each actor’s actions in the film. When Ken ran Otto over, it was an indication of the consequences he faced for selling him out to the police.
This sends a strong message that each character has to be ready to bear the consequences of the choices they make during the movie production role. This scene fits into the movie’s bigger picture because it is an indication of the consequences that an individual faces based on their actions. The motif of the film is that there are consequences for all the choices that the actor’s make. Just like there were consequences for the diamond heist, there were consequences that Otto had to face when he chose to sell Ken out to police.
The director ensures that he has up-close shots of the scenes that have importance to the audience as well as those that will enhance the storyline. All the screen shots are used to put emphasis on the conversations between the characters. The use of conversation and retrospect gives the audience an in-depth understanding of the film. This scene is an enhancement and explanation of previous scenes in the movie. It is the connection between preceding and upcoming scenes in that it is an explanation of the events that took place earlier in the movie and the manner with which they affect the following scenes. The vitality of the three characters is emphasized in the conversation they have and the manner with which their actions affect the actions of the movie. Otto and Ken had planned a heist together, but Otto betrays this trust by reporting Ken to the police. This scene gives an explanation of how Ken had his revenge on Otto and how these actions affect any upcoming scenes.
It is evident that all actions have to be met with consequences. The above described scene is an indication of the consequences that one faces after making certain decisions. The lighting in a film, the camera action and character roles define a movie and aid in the delivery of the film’s message to the audience. Scenes are the bridge between individual actions from the protagonists and the main message that the movie hopes to pass across to the audience.
