Swimming In the "Fish Tank"

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Parent Category: Blogs

Category: James Van Maanen

Published on Friday, 12 February 2010 20:49

Written by James Van Maanen

Fish Tank
directed by Andrea Arnold
If her 2006 film Red Road put British filmmaker Andrea Arnold on the cinematic radar, her new film Fish Tank should keep her on track. Relying less on plot, surprise and coincidence than did her earlier endeavor, this one rests mainly on character, and on the very fine new actress Katie Jarvis who brings the film to life.

Onscreen for almost the movie's entirety, Jarvis, who had never acted professionally before, grows more interesting as the story progresses — even through the one major plot implausibility that writer-director Arnold throws at us near the end.

It has been over half a century since the the British gifted the world with what the media called "kitchen sink dramas," which often featured an archetypal angry young man. Times change: The sinks are more modern, and now the anger is radiating from a young woman of 15.

Mia, living in an Essex housing project, has much to be mad about, starting with her distant, slatternly mom (Kierston Wareing) and her bratty little sister (Rebecca Griffiths). Into an already fractured household, mom introduces her latest boyfriend, Connor, played by the immensely appealing and versatile Michael Fassbender. He shows her empathy and caring, but as a surrogate father or as a lover? The fire starts slowly but sparks fly.

Arnold is a naturalistic filmmaker: Her ambient sound is filled with distant cursing and her visuals are fairly bursting with working-class and on-the-dole life. You'll think of Mike Leigh and Ken Loach, among others. Dance figures into the scenario, as well, and Arnold makes excellent use of it, from her observations of a schoolgirl group to how dance draws Mia and Connor together, from the highly sexualized audition process to a final dance that becomes both telling and moving via its low-key circumstance and the director's smart refusal to dictate any emotional buttons.

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