Student question: "Why does the director choose a car bomb to kill Bannion?"

Why director choice car bomb to kill Bannion? There are many killing methods more better than bomb killing. Is it to make "wrong killing" that make Bannion to revange? Or director has other purpose?


First, it wasn't the director but the character (one of Lagana's men) who tried to kill Bannion.
Second, what better way to kill a person than with a bomb? It's fast, quick, easy to plant, allows little (or almost no) chance of the victim's survival, it involves minimal risk to the perp (perpetrator), and leaves no fingerprints.
True, the chemical materials can be traced with routine detective work, but a bomb is less risky than using a gun, or (worse) a knife. A knife leaves little chance for error and requires far more effort and individual strength (it took many dagger thrusts to kill Julius Caesar). Also, the victim can always struggle against a knife thrust or even a single knife wound and maybe turn the tables against the perp.
A handgun is less risky than a knife but not as efficient as a bomb. (Terrorists don't use guns, they use bombs.)
First, a gun makes noise while the perpetrator is still at the scene of the crime. A bomb makes a far louder noise but the perp is not around when the bomb goes off.
A machine gun was the preferred method of Prohibition Era gangland slayings, but, though more efficient than a handgun, even a machine gun involves a direct criminal act with risk of being caught or at least identified during or after the killing. A bomb can be planted in the early morning hours or at any convenient time when exposure is less likely.
The other victims were killed differently, but they were all easier targets, including four women and gangsters. Bannion was not an easy target. You saw what happened when an army friend held him at gunpoint; it led to a struggle that ended only when both parties realized they were mistaken.
Although it's good you've asked a question, I encourage you to think about issues related to content, character, theme, and cinematic style (acting, cinematography, writing, dialogue, editing, musical underscore, staging of the scene, etc.).
Why is the movie called The Big Heat? (Titles are often food for thought, though this title is explained in the movie.)
What kind of character is Bannion? Is he good, bad? (He has no friendships in the film.) Is there a difference between him and the criminals? He seems to live on the border between two worlds: cops and criminals, not fitting into either one.
There is also Bannion's bitterness that he must worry about money for his family while the criminals live in the finest homes; also, he cares about his duties while some of his co-workers just care about their pensions or are actually involved with the criminals they're supposed to arrest.
(Notice, Bannion keeps using the word "thieves," when these criminals are worse than thieves, they're murderers; but Bannion seems to think in terms of the money they have and he doesn't.)
Why does he put the gun down on the bed before he leaves Debby to protect his child, especially after he has planted the idea in Debby's head that he should have killed Mrs. Duncan? Does he expect (want) Debby to do his killing for him (which she does).
What does the collusion (cooperation, partnership) of the gangsters and some of the police say about the film's view of government corruption?
We know that Debby is a double personality within herself (hence the two sides of her face); but she's also a Double for Bannion. Mrs. Duncan and Debby are also Doubles ("underneath the mink"), as Debby herself points out.
Lagana himself may be a Double for Bannion: they both care about their domestic place (Lagana dotes on his daughter and has a picture of his mother in his home office; Lagana also gets angry when he hears smutty talk spoken by one of his hitmen). Lagana is in every way a respectable citizen, except he's a criminal. He does what he wants; but so does Bannion, who enters Lagana's home without invitation or warrant.
These are only some issues to think about. Others are mentioned in the Study Pictures.

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