Independent Films, Film Profiles

The Nest

The Nest (2002), also known as Nid de guêpes, is a French action/thriller movie, directed by Florent Emilio Siri. The literal translation of the French title is Wasp's nest.It's July 14, and people are enjoying the national holiday. A group prepare what is later shown to be a warehouse robbery. Meanwhile, Laborie, a special agent in the French special forces, and an international team are escorting the leader of the Albanian mafia, Abedin Nexhep. He is due to appear in a European court, charged with running an extensive prostitution network. Despite a considerable security presence, Nexhep's henchmen still try to intercept the armed escort. They set up an ambush, but the escort manages to escape.After a chase, the armed escort take refuge in a warehouse inside a massive industrial park. Upon arriving, they discover that the building is in the process of being robbed, by a group of people after some computer equipment. While facing off against the would-be thieves, Nexhep's men surround the warehouse.The three groups are then involved in a long firefight, and everyone involved struggles to survive. Who exactly lives or dies is unclear right until the very end of the film.Nid des Guêpes combines a director's love of the Western, especially the old films such as the original Fort Apache, with modern European fears about transnational crime and the modern cinema trope of the girl hero or female action hero.Reductionist approaches to cinema are nothing new in French cinema and neither is an element of the surreal.With the use of a technique where despite the action film violence and effects we see less of the villains an almost science fiction approach similar to that of such films as the original Alien movie builds suspense.The cinematography of the movie was highly influential in subsequent American cinema releases especially the most recent remake of Assault on Precinct 13. The film closely follows John Carpenter's original Assault on Precinct 13 even down to a similar last stand and a variant of the infamous "ice cream cone" scene.