Reviews and SPOILERS

http://gattoreels.wordpress.com/2010/02/11/fish-tank/

Fish Tank

Mia (Katie Jarvis) looks out the window at a decaying world in Andrea Arnold's relentless "Fish Tank."

(Andrea Arnold, 2010)

Writer/Director Andrea Arnold, who crafted the critically acclaimed small thriller titled Red Road, undeniably knows her way around a camera. Set in a housing project in Britain, Fish Tank is a harrowing, gritty, no-holds-bar coming-of-age indie that provocatively asks us to follow the life of a troubled teen. Although Arnold’s work on the surface recalls teen film triumphs like Thirteen, Fish Tank has a way about it that only a small handful of movies have in their arsenals; the ability to completely get under the skin of its protagonist. Last year a much underappreciated film by the name of Where the Wild Things Are came out, and the big splash it made in my mind had a lot to do with the way Spike Jonze went about studying the adventurous Max. Likewise to Wild Things, Fish Tank is more about character mood and less about plot. Although not as stylized or as dialectally provocative as the best picture nominee An Education, Andrea Arnold has crafted a film that really makes you wonder how mother’s across the nation can rant and rave about the generic and cliché “Lifetime” movies depicting teen girls and their adolescent issues with ill advised narrow strokes.

Right from the opening sequences you can tell 15 year old Mia, played wonderfully by Katie Jarvis, is troubled, hurt, confused, sympathetic, understanding, and caring. She walks about the projects and tries to free a chained up horse, numerous times. Despite knowing the consequences, she keeps trying. At the same time she yells and screams at her kid sister, who’s got quite the dirty mouth herself, and her mother Joanne, given life by Kierston Wareing in a performance that echoes Amy Ryan’s rough portrayal in the near masterful Gone Baby Gone. She shows very little care for her burdened daughter. Mia does not have many friends, as we see her head-butt a girl with her posse trying to practice some kind of dance routine. Dancing is Mia’s way out of reality, a self expression technique. She practices in an abandoned apartment of sorts, mostly to hip hop music. No, no, no this does not turn into some sort of mother reconciliation story like in Save the Last Dance; Arnold is a talented enough auteur to follow our leading lady with graceful strokes, much like the way Darren Aronofsky followed Randy “The Ram” in The Wrestler.

The film begins to carefully transition away from its slice-of-life and more towards a narrative when Connor, Joanne’s new boyfriend, starts popping up more and more. The family breaks from their routine shtick of nothingness when Connor offers to take the girls, along with Joanne, out to the pond to catch a fish. What Connor is up to we are at first unsure. It should be obvious but Arnold’s script builds the character with such loving care. Perhaps it is the loneliness of Mia that disguises this man for the moment. He shows her amusement when he dances in the parking lot, and shows her caring when trying to teach her how to catch a fish with just the bare hands. He lets her borrow his camera so that she could tape herself dancing and submit it for a job opportunity. However, a quick scene involving Joanne and an associate who wants to talk to Mia about some sort of boarding school overshadows much of what occurs during the 123 minutes we spend with this teenager. The aforementioned is very understandable.

Much of the dialogue here is limited. Rarely do we see large chunks of excessive conversation. Fish Tank is concerned about the tolls a society takes on the mind of an adolescent, and how that adolescent excruciatingly yearns for some sort of stable environment. Arnold takes various stills of birds flying in the sky, long pauses at a toy butterfly hovering over Mia’s bed. Are we forever a product of our society or do we all have free will, waiting to be lit by a heart wrenching fire we cannot stop from coming? As with Catherine Hardwicke’s debut feature Thirteen, Mia begins to sexually awaken, and explores her surrounding “prison”, if you will, with this kind of mentality. The familiar climax that occurs near the tail end of the second act is kind of predictable, but it is all the more emotionally crushing based upon Arnold’s ability to see the world through Mia’s eyes. On and on I kept asking myself, should I trust this guy? He has a good heart, is this going where I think it is? I wanted to follow my gut, but my brain is always more consistent. Mia learns this same lesson.

Arnold’s first film, Red Road, is described as a thriller, and Fish Tank tends to slightly go down this road in its third half. Mia begins to see the world more clearly, like Carrie Mulligan’s character in An Education, and rather than fall back onto a professional figure, because she does not have one, she lashes out on foolish revenge. The tension is built with superb adequacy. Arnold never forgets the structure hungry mind of Mia, as she sits in an ordinary family house, alone, wondering why God dealt her a bad hand. The bravado performance from first timer Katie Jarvis expresses the toughest of emotions with facial expressions that will give almost all of its audience nightmares. Additionally, the emotionally satisfying narrative that easily transitions to this partial thriller, fails to come alive without the subtle but complex performance from Michael Fassbender. You want to love him, but you know your going to hate him.

Even if Fish Tank is not covering any new ground most of the time, it still provides a powerful visceral punch when coming to its conclusion. Critics, who I believe, wrongfully blamed the calm concluding sequences in An Education will be given a treat here. At the end of the day Mia comes to realize the world is not always going to be a fair place, even when a glimmer of hope seems to be in the palm of your hand. Some kids are spoiled because their parents have money. Others have parents who show little care, as Mia’s mother says “Fuck off” at the film’s ending moments. However, in a poignant scene where we, for the first time, see the three members of the family in a harmonic activity together, Arnold’s message of resilience becomes rooted in the mind. Mia’s path remains ambiguous, never once betraying the authenticity it carried for its entire runtime.

http://stillsearching.wordpress.com/2010/02/11/fish-tank/

Fish Tank
February 11, 2010

Fish Tank is the first great film of 2010. Directed by Andrea Arnold, this British film (which won the Jury Prize at Cannes 2009) is a gritty—though stylishly realized—social realist film that adds a rich new entry to the impressive cinematic pantheon of explorations of the British underclass (refined by the likes of Ken Loach, Stephen Frears and Mike Leigh).

Arnold’s film—which centers upon the harrowing coming-of-age confusion of a teenage girl named Mia (Katie Jarvis) in a working class neighborhood—is full of shock and awe (and a little despair), but it’s also shockingly full of hope, beauty, and not a little absolute truth about the adolescent experience. And that’s what makes this film much more than just another grim expose.

In addition to its immediate situation within the aforementioned tradition of social realist filmmakers (Loach, et al), Fish Tank reminded me of two specific recent films: Shane Meadows’ This Is England (2006) and Lone Scherfig’s An Education (2009), a best-picture nominee in this year’s Academy Awards. As it turns out, the latter—though bearing little visual resemblance—has quite a bit in common with Fish Tank. Both are directed by women and focus on a teenage girl desperately trying to understand her emerging identity. Both feature uneasy relationships between the younger girls and men twice their age. Both are set in England, etc.

But whereas Education was a more literary, cerebral treatment of the “coming of age” idea, Fish Tank holds any sort of academic idea at arm’s length. It’s more of a visceral film–less interested in rigorous thematic consistency or psychological revelation than it is with simply showing what growing up and discovering the self (chaotic as this discovery may be) looks like.

There are a lot of memorable images in Fish Tank, and most of them reflect the tension within young Mia between feeling enclosed and isolated (to herself and to others) and desiring connection and freedom (to know and be known). There are some gorgeous recurring shots of Mia in an empty apartment, dancing alone with her headphones on. In these solitary moments—cut off from the world and in her own zone of freely expressed movement and rhythm—Mia seems to at least momentarily assuage the relentless contradictions and radioactive angst of her existence, which in most other cases manifests itself in the form of violence (head-butting a girl she doesn’t like), theft, drinking, or foul language (she loves the c-word).

When she is around people, Mia is much more unstable, angry, and (with good reason) defensive. People have always failed her (dad is completely absent, mom is an uncaring alcoholic), so of course she isn’t going to easily trust or love others. She feels closer to a horse she finds locked up in a vacant lot than she does to any other human in her life.

But in spite of her circumstance, Mia finds moments of connection where she lets herself be touched (sometimes for good and sometimes for ill) by another. The person who most ably finds a way “in” to Mia’s enclosed teenage fortress is Conner (Michael Fassbender, impressive again after great work in Inglourious Basterds and Hunger), her mother’s new boyfriend who is charming, handsome, financially stable and has cool taste in music. To Mia, Conner is the father/brother/boyfriend she never had, and the confusion that results as she tries to make sense of this trifecta of complex relational affections proves to be the film’s biggest conflict.

In the midst of the never-ceasing tension and anxiety in the film (expressed visually through quick-paced tracking shots, constant movement and jittery handheld camerawork), there are moments of intense beauty and serenity, such as a scene in a pond where Conner teaches Mia how to catch a fish bare-handed. A striking two-shot of the man and the girl, wading knee-deep in the water with the sunlight bearing down and reflecting around their shadows, embodying the tenuous disposition of wretched man amidst a nature so beautiful that it might cover all transgressions—seemed to me the quintessential shot of the film. A latter shot which also involves two characters amidst nature/water (in significantly more unnerving circumstances) compliments this shot, and ends with a physical embrace so real and elemental that it makes all else in the film seem suddenly trite.

But Fish Tank is exactly this sort of film. It seems to be about one thing but then suddenly, jarringly will assert another sort of truth—something as simple as an extended shot of a skyline at dusk, or a spontaneous dance between mother and daughters—that offers both a respite from and a completion of the larger narrative. It’s a film full of surprising encounters, discordant emotions and unexpected epiphany, all couched in the wobbly tumult of an adolescent female point of view.

In its treatment of existence through the eyes of adolescence, Andrea Arnold’s Fish Tank is as elegantly pulsating as Sofia Coppola’s Virgin Suicides and as psychologically subtle as Gus Van Sant’s Paranoid Park. But make no mistake: Arnold has a vision all her own, unique and assured, and exciting in its promise.

http://www.reelviews.net/php_review_template.php?identifier=2014

February 09, 2010
Fish Tank

starstarstarhalf
A movie review by James Berardinelli
Fish Tank

DRAMA:

United Kingdom, 2009

U.S. Release Date:

2010-02-05

Running Length:

2:03

MPAA Classification:

R (Profanity, Sexual Content, Nudity)

Theatrical Aspect Ratio:

1.33:1

Cast:

Katie Jarvis, Michael Fassbender, Kierston Wareing, Rebecca Griffiths

Director:

Andrea Arnold

Screenplay:

Andrea Arnold

Cinematography:

Robbie Ryan

U.S. Distributor:

IFC Films

Subtitles:

none

Films like Fish Tank work because they are ruthlessly honest. They do not attempt to placate audiences with recycled clichés or endings pilfered from fairy tales . They seek for some truth and, although that truth may not be revolutionary, it is unvarnished. Writer/director Andrea Arnold has narrowed her focus and used simple filming techniques to follow the life and tribulations of a teenage girl wasting her life in a British housing estate. Her mother shows less maturity than she does and her little sister appears to be growing into a monster. The characters feel real. They talk like real people. And, most importantly, they do not seem to be acting to conform to the contortions of a script. Watching Fish Tank is, as the title implies, like gazing through the glass of an aquarium at the lives of those trapped within, whose only chance of escape would seem to be through death and the indignity of being flushed down a toilet.

The story is told through the eyes of 15-year old Mia (Katie Jarvis), who is a hellraiser and loner. She treats her mother, Joanne (Kierston Wareing), with undisguised contempt and regards her younger sister, Tyler (Rebecca Griffiths), as a brat. She spends hours in an abandoned room upstairs practicing amateurish dance routines copied from music videos. She has become obsessed with the idea of freeing a horse from its chain-link tether and persists at this even after being caught. School is non-existent and girls her age are an unpleasant afterthought. One day, her mother brings home Connor (Michael Fassbender), her latest bedmate. Mia is attracted to the older man, primarily because he shows interest in her and doesn't dismiss her as an unwanted nuisance. It may be that Connor has ulterior motives in showing kindness to Mia but, if that's the case, she doesn't notice them (and neither does Joanne). Once the inevitable happens, however, Mia's already unstable life spirals out of control.

In its unflinching portrayal of an angry, disaffected girl, Fish Tank recalls the likes of Thirteen and Girlfight, although without the Hollywood inflections. Arnold's style exhibits similarities to that of Ken Loach, whose films are often set in underprivileged areas and follow atypical protagonists. The approach uses simple techniques - long takes with fewer cuts, numerous hand-held shots, and a 1.33:1 aspect ratio (almost never used for productions with theatrical aspirations). Fish Tank arrives late in the United States, but comes riding the crest of a wave of positive buzz that started in Cannes 2009 (where it won the Jury Prize), continued through many 2009 film festivals, and culminated with a BAFTA nomination for Outstanding British Film.

Lead actress Katie Jarvis provides an eye-opening performance whose ferocity will not be easily forgotten by those who observe it. This is Jarvis' acting debut; she was discovered by Arnold when the director was scouring housing projects in search of a fresh talent. Jarvis' pre-acting life was enough like Mia's to enable her to connect with the character on a primal level. It remains to be seen whether this is a serendipitous occasion of a role being the perfect match for the performer or whether Jarvis has the range to match her passion and move on to a healthy career (she now has agents on both sides of the Atlantic). The supporting cast is equally effective, including Michael Fassbender, who has the biggest "name" among the actors. But this is Jarvis' movie and the compulsion of watching her makes Fish Tank impossible to turn from.

Hollywood adores coming-of-age stories, but rarely does it present them in such frank, uncompromising detail. The movie makes no attempt to romanticize Mia, even though it is told from her perspective. She comes across as petty, hostile, and unprincipled. It's a "warts-and-all" portrayal yet, even as the ugly layers of her character are revealed, we see how easily she is victimized by those around her. Toward the end of the movie, there's a sequence that illustrates how little she considers consequences. She sets up a bad situation and is uncertain how to disentangle herself from it. There's tension in this episode because Mia is so volatile that anything - including the worst - could happen. No scenes in Fish Tank are more telling than these.

Watching Fish Tank sets up viewers as voyeurs. The way in which the film was produced - everything from the acting to the camerawork to the screenplay - encourages this. It enhances the reality of the characters and the immediacy of their circumstances. Sometimes, a slice of real-seeming life can come across as dull or pedestrian when viewed on screen. This is not one of those occasions. Fish Tank is compelling drama and the numerous accolades it has earned during the nine months between its debut and its U.S. release are deserved. It's not comfortable but it is engrossing.

Discuss this topic in the ReelViews Forums.

http://www.chicagonow.com/blogs/metromix-blog/2010/02/new-movies-good-john-lukewarm-frozen-solid-fish-hilarious-team-and-more.html

'Fish Tank'
***1/2 (out of five)
Like a rougher, tougher "An Education," "Fish Tank" is a stark British drama about defiant 15-year-old Mia (Katie Jarvis) and the uneasy relationship that develops between her and her mom's boyfriend Connor (Michael Fassbender of "Inglourious Basterds"). Jarvis, a spitfire combo of Sarah Polley and Ellen Page, is perfect as Mia, who comes off as a violent, angry woman outside the house and a floundering kid inside it. She's got no boundaries or anyone to believe in her other than Connor, who encourages Mia's love of dancing, which is not so sweetly influenced by rap videos. Writer-director Andrea Arnold lets the film come apart just when we're most interested where it's going to go. Two-thirds of "Fish Tank" is such a well-acted character study it's a shame it succumbs to ultra-predictable indie clichés it at first seems far too assured to embrace.

http://thescorecardreview.com/review/film-reviews/2010/02/11/fish-tank/8243

Fish Tank

Directed by: Andrea Arnold
Cast: Katie Jarvis, Michael Fassbender,
Running Time: 2 hrs 2 min
Rating: R

COMPLETE COVERAGE – 33rd Portland International Film Festival
Country: Great Britain

PLOT: Mia (Jarvis) is a street tough fifteen-year-old living in an English slum. When Mia’s loose, drunkard mother brings home a new sexy man (Fassbender), Mia’s world starts to shift.

WHO’S IT FOR? Indie fans who aren’t too bothered by nebulous pretension.

EXPECTATIONS: I had no idea what it was about, but I’m always game for a good indie flick.

SCORECARD (0-10)

ACTORS:

Katie Jarvis as Mia: There is something fascinating about Katie Jarvis. Between her sylph-like body, her giant flower eyes and her jagged, tough-girl haircut, she looks like she stepped out of manga. I loved watching her. Jarvis doesn’t feel like an actor playing a part, so the film puts you in the icky position of unwilling voyeur. You want to snatch Mia out of that situation and give her a real chance at a stable life, but at the same time she’s reckless and frustrating. I would go out of my way to watch Jarvis in another film just to see if she can carry on the momentum.
Score: 9

Michael Fassbender as Conner: Conner is sexy and repulsive all wrapped into one confusing package, and Fassbender is an ideal choice. The first time you see him, he’s standing in a doorway, shirtless and leering. You can’t place him as either the good guy or the bad guy–he’s selfish and he’s realistic. We can’t even attach any comforting movie platitudes to him: he doesn’t learn his lesson, he doesn’t have a heart of gold, and he isn’t better for having made those mistakes. It’s easy to forget that Fassbender is an entirely separate human being from Conner, he’s that good.
Score: 9

TALKING: And here is where subtitles would have been really groovy. Everyone in this movie has such an immensely thick accent, it’s hard to understand what the hell is going on. It’s disorienting. One minute, everything is fine–While on an outing, Conner asks Mia to dance and she’s happily bustin’ a move, when drunkard mom staggers up and says something and then BOOM! The scene explodes into angry expletives and Mia storms off in a rage and it’s all very dramatic. “What just happened?” I asked my friend. He shrugged. None of us were that sure. So, maybe the writing was amazing and maybe it wasn’t. If I go strictly by what I picked up on, it was mostly teenage petulance and swearing. My favorite line was when Mia’s little sister calls after her, “Say hello to the rest of the world for me!”
Score: 5

SIGHTS: The plot is incomprehensible, but the movie is gorgeous. Katie Jarvis is phenomenal to watch and there are a goodly number of really inventive, beautiful scenes. When Mia dances for Conner, outlined by streetlights through a dark window, it is wonderfully sultry.
Score: 8

SOUNDS: Mia listens to a lot of hip-hop, so we get to hear it secondhand through her cheap stereo equipment. The rest of the movie is relatively silent and that’s for the best. There are a few extremely uncomfortable scenes made much more effective by the lack of a score. Whenever Mia is feeling something intense, the movie slows down a little and you can hear Mia’s heartbeat. It really works.
Score: 7

PLOT SPOILERS

BEST SCENE: There is a good ten minute stretch near the end of the movie where you will not be able to breathe. It involves Mia and Conner’s young daughter and man, it’s taut. I don’t think anyone in the theater moved the entire time.

ENDING: Hopeful? Was that hopeful? Or was it just as big of a bummer as the rest of the movie? Is it hinting at the horrible bummers to come? Inscrutable.

QUESTIONS: What? Why did Mia just call that girl a effing c*nt and then head-butt her? Oh, you didn’t hear it either? Huh. That’s too bad–seemed pretty important.

REWATCHABILITY: I’d love to watch it again with subtitles, because I think I missed two-thirds of it. It’s bound to make more sense if I understand what everyone is saying.

OVERALL

Fish Tank isn’t intentionally bizarre, but it’s very secretive and hard to understand. Incongruous things happen all the time and they feel like they must have a lot of significance, but you can’t quite put your finger on what or why. When you know what’s going on, the movie can be extremely effective. Once I figured out that Mia’s mother was trying to send her off to some juvenile school it made sense, but until then I just wondered why Mia was so rude to the friendly lady visiting their apartment.

Fortunately the core of the story is constructed around the weird sexual tension between Mia and Conner and you don’t have to hear a word they’re saying to pick up on that. The chemistry between the characters is perfectly heavy and perfectly skeevy, and that is portrayed primarily through meaningful glances and body language. It’s sexy and it’s foul and it’s depressing and it’s beautifully filmed, but in the end, the “love story” is as guarded as the rest of the movie.

FINAL SCORE: 7/10

http://confessions123.blogspot.com/2010/02/portland-international-film-festival_11.html


Fish Tank (Great Britain, dir. Andrea Arnold)

It was only some time after I had finished watching Fish Tank that I started to realize that this movie is like a British version of Precious: Based on the Novel 'Push' by Sapphire. It didn't occur to me during the screening because the two movies couldn't be more stylistically different, nor could they be farther apart in terms of artistic success. Both films are about young women living in poverty who dream about doing something flashy with their lives, but who must battle a lack of education, an uncaring mother, and the inappropriate advances of older men before they'll ever get a chance. Where Precious is manipulative and aesthetically cheap, however, Fish Tank is smart, emotionally honest, and technically restrained.

Fish Tank is the second film of writer/director Andrea Arnold, who previously made the stark crime drama Red Road. For her sophomore outing, she employs a similar digital, Neorealist style. Shooting on location with no musical score, she follows her main character Mia, played by a wonderfully effective first-timer named Katie Jarvis, through her day-to-day routine in an Essex housing project. She gets in fights, practices her dance moves, and wanders aimless and alone through the streets. When her mother (Kierston Wareing) brings home a new boyfriend, Connor (Michael Fassbender), Mia is attracted to him sexually, but also touched by the kindness and interest he shows her. He'll encourage her to pursue Mia dancing and to open up, but when he moves into the apartment, Mia's attraction reaches a boil.

The final portion of the film is devoted to how Mia deals with this new attention and the fallout it causes. It's a strange, volatile ride. Her immaturity becomes more apparent with each irrational decision. Consequences don't seem to enter into the girl's mind before she does anything. Katie Jarvis is utterly convincing as the sullen teen whose rage seethes just below the surface. Fassbender is also very good, charming the audience into hoping he's not too good to be true. I really, really wanted to like him. He's a little like Peter Sarsgaard's character in An Education, except he's not Peter Sarsgaard, so it's not a foregone conclusion that he's creepy.

Most of Fish Tank is appropriately underplayed. Andrea Arnold doesn't rely on her characters to explain what is going on, she is far too intent on showing us through actions and reaction. (Something Lee Daniels, the director of Precious, is by all evidence incapable of.) Her camera practically stalks Mia, often having to run to keep up with her. Fish Tank is essentially a point of view film, Katie Jarvis is in every scene. The only time Arnold strains for a shelf she can't quite reach is when she tries to inject literary and visual metaphors into the movie. There is a thread involving a horse that was obvious enough before Arnold decided to put a finger right on its nose at the end. The final shot of the film is also a bit too "high school poetry" for my tastes.

Still, that's maybe four scenes in a two-hour movie. Not a bad ratio when you consider how much so many other directors get wrong in half the time.

Fish Tank plays on 2/19.

http://www.philly.com/philly/entertainment/movies/20100212_A_tough_tale_of_growing_up.html

Posted on Fri, Feb. 12, 2010


A tough tale of growing up

By Steven Rea

Inquirer Movie Columnist and Critic

On a continuum, with the brutally abused teenager of Precious at one end and the almost genteel (by comparison) coming-of-age story of An Education at the other, Andrea Arnold's extraordinarily tough Fish Tank sits somewhere in the middle - perhaps inching closer to Precious, given Arnold's unflinching examination of a troubled 15-year-old's hard slog toward adulthood.

Set in and around a stark public housing high-rise in Essex, east of London, Fish Tank stars the untrained, and unforgettable, newcomer Katie Jarvis as Mia Williams - a scowling, solitary soul who lives with her younger sister (Rebecca Griffiths) and their mother (Kierston Wareing) in a flat overlooking industrial parks, marshlands, and a giant wind turbine not far from the Thames estuary. It's a landscape of dramatic contrasts: big blue skies and thrumming highways, tidy suburban homes and derelict buildings, empty lots and idle kids up to no good. (Robbie Ryan's cinematography is spectacular.)

Mia, with her Discman and her hoop earrings, wants nothing to do with her peers - or with her mother or bratty sibling, for that matter. Mia and her best friend no longer talk (Mia greets her with a violent head-butt). Instead, Mia steals booze and shuts herself in her room, dancing to hip-hop, breaking and spinning in her own private world.

And then Joanne - Mum - brings home a new beau, a guy named Connor (Hunger's Michael Fassbender), and everything changes. Arnold, whose slow, tense Glasgow revenge thriller Red Road won the jury prize at the 2006 Cannes festival, suggests where things might go with an early scene: Connor and Joanne return from an evening of partying to find Mia laid out, apparently asleep. He picks the teenager up and takes her to her bed, removing her sneakers and her sweatpants before covering her with a blanket. Innocent enough?

Not really. We see Mia watching through half-open eyes. She breathes in her mother's lover as if he were her own.

It would be unfair to reveal much more of Fish Tank's plot, which tracks Mia as she moves from (perhaps) ingenuous flirtation, to friendship, to manipulation, to something else - and something potentially terrible and tragic. But like the best of the 1960s British New Wave - the kitchen-sink dramas by Lindsay Anderson, Ken Loach, and Tony Richardson that have clearly influenced Arnold - Fish Tank digs around in its protagonist's psyche, unafraid to explore.

It's oppressive and claustrophobic, confused and scary in there. But it's also compellingly real.


Fish Tank
Genre:
Drama
MPAA rating:
Unrated
Running time:
02:02
Release date:
2010
Rating:
Cast:
Katie Jarvis; Michael Fassbender; Harry Treadaway; Chelsea Chase; Kierston Wareing; Charlotte Collins; Jack Gordon; Jason Maza; Brooke Hobby
Directed by:
Andrea Arnold

http://www.corrieretandem.com/viewstory.php?storyid=9848

Feb14, 2010 - Feb21, 2010
Living alone in a Fish Tank
Award-winning Arnold tells tale of London teenage life
Kate Javis stars as Mia in Andrea Arnold‘s Fish Tank.

British writer/director Andrea Arnold breaks the sophomore jinx with Fish Tank, a kitchen sink drama about a teenager whose world is turned upside down when her mother brings home a new boyfriend. The film won the Jury Prize at the 2009 Cannes Film Festival, continuing Arnold’s award-winning streak that includes her debut feature Red Road (2006 Cannes Jury Prize winner), and Wasp (2005 Oscar winner for Best Short Film).

The story is set in the decaying housing estates on the outskirts of London. Fifteen year-old Mia (non-pro Katie Jarvis in a mesmerizing performance) lives there with her younger sister (also non-pro Rebecca Griffiths) and single mother (Kierston Wareing of It’s a Free World) with whom she’s always fighting. In this family, cussing and confrontation replace of any sort of civil conversation.

Excluded from school and ostracized by her friends, Mia spends her days alone, boozing and hip hopping. Then one hot summer day, her mother arrives home with a handsome guy named Connor (Michael Fassbender of Inglourious Basterds). As Connor begins spending more time with the family, he takes a special interest in Mia, even encouraging her to enter a dance audition. Is he a parental figure? Or a predator?

Arnold not only prevented the cast from reading the script beforehand, but also shot the film in chronological order. So the story revealed itself to the actors as it unfolded – much like real life. Arnold also creates a woozy apprehension by using
ever-so-slight whispers and slo-mo whenever Mia and Connor become too close.

The film was shot on a housing estate in Essex, England, a community defined by steaming factories and empty car lots. The estate is bordered by a wasteland dotted with grasses, wildflowers and ponds – perhaps serving as a metaphor for hope.

Fish Tank opens Feb. 19 in Toronto.

http://scottnash.blogspot.com/2010/02/fish-tank-review-55.html

Sunday, February 7, 2010
Fish Tank Review 5/5

5/5

Fish Tank stars Katie Jarvis as Mia Williams, a 15-year-old girl who lives in Essex, England. The life she lives is a terrible one. People ridicule her constantly, the apartment she lives in is in a high poverty area, and her mom is never there to help her. Typically in movies, there’s always that person that helps lead these hopeless characters to a greater one and help the rise above the odds, well that doesn’t exist in this film.

Mia doesn’t have somebody look up to. Her father isn’t in her life, most likely either dead or divorced. Her mother, Joanne played by Kierston Wareing, lives the life of a woman in her 20’s. She doesn’t seem to care for her children. Some might think that she’s a bad mother but viewers need to take into consideration that they don’t know the mother’s past. For all we know, the mother was in an abusive relationship and that’s why she’s living life the way she is. Her actions seem more reasonable if you think sympathetically like that.

Mia’s mother ends up bringing a new boyfriend home day named Conner played by Michael Fassbender (Inglourious Basterds). The man encourages Mia to do things in her life like try out for a dance audition. A lot of people might misunderstand Conner as kind of a creeper but I wouldn’t say that. He’s just a bad person is what he is.

The real heart of this movie though is that Mia doesn’t need the help of some great and wise mentor. She learns to leave these things behind on her own. Learning through experiences is a lot more real to me than a character helping them. It’s just a lot more authentic and true to life. In reality, most people don’t have that person in their life and it’s up to them to learn and make their own choices.

Also, Katie Jarvis gives a standout job as far as acting goes at the young age of 18. This was actually her first acting role; she’d never acted before this film at all. A casting director spotted her in Essex getting into an argument with her boyfriend. Jarvis didn’t believe the casting agent that she wanted to have her audition, she actually refused to give her phone number away. The agent left a card with her number though. Jarvis grew up in the same kind of neighborhoods that her character did and even had a child at the young age of 16. This is her life and that’s why her performance is so raw and truthful.

The camera work in this film is also kind of interesting, it’s all done with handheld cameras and done quite well. The version I watched was in fullscreen, apparently it was film in widescreen but the financer’s wanted it released in fullscreen for some reason. The director said that he actually prefers it this way. I think it was a great move personally though, the actors are always the center of attention and I think it adds a certain aesthetic to it. Fullscreen, the new black and white.


Posted by Snash at 1:00 AM

http://www.wildsound-filmmaking-feedback-events.com/fish_tank.html

FISH TANK, 2009
Movie Review
FISH TANK MOVIE POSTERFISH TANK, 2009
Movie Reviews

Directed by: Andrea Arnold

Starring: Katie Jarvis, Michael Fassbender, Kierston Wareing, Rebecca Griffiths, Harry Treadaway
Review by Daniella Wills

SYNOPSIS:

Everything changes for 15yr old Mia when her mum brings home a new boyfriend.

REVIEW:

Almost immediately, the audience are confronted with the subtlety and beauty of 15year-old Mia (Katie Jarvis) street-dancing alone in an abandoned high-rise council flat, curtly contrasted with the wannabe-sexy dances of the girls on her estate. Here, Mia is established as a loner, wanting something more than the vulgarity that surrounds her – her ‘friends’ with whom she fights; the neighbours she insults; even her family – foul-mouthed younger sister Taylor (Rebecca Griffiths), and sluttish mother Joanne (Kierston Wareing).

We are introduced to Mia’s softer side when she breaks into a gypsy park to free a chained-up horse, soon disrupted by the gypsy lads who grab her and steal her beloved music-player and speakers before she runs free.

Whilst dancing along to the TV in the kitchen the next morning, she is walked in on by Connor (Michael Fassbender) – introducing himself as ‘a friend of [her] mum’s’ and complimenting her on her dancing. Not her usual mouthy self, Mia is shy. Intrigued as he walks back upstairs, she watches him before digging around in his wallet to find his ID, payslip and nicking a fiver whilst she’s at it.

Bringing a touch of warmth and class to the dysfunctional family, Mia develops a crush on Connor, not unnoticed by her mother, particularly on a family day out when Connor and Mia share a moment fishing, before Mia cuts her foot in the river and Connor carries her back to the car.

Meanwhile, Mia tries to progress with her dancing. She spots an ad requesting female dancers – Connor encouraging her to audition. She befriends the gypsy lad Billy (Harry Treadaway) much to Connor’s distaste, and continues practicing her audition piece along to California Dreamin’ – a song first played by Connor whilst on their family outing. On an evening when Joanne has passed out drunk, school-girl Mia performs the dance for her mum’s boyfriend Connor, culminating in an uncomfortable moment of sex on the sofa, and naturally unleashing a whole heap of trouble, twists and turns…

Fish Tank’s characters feel authentic, their relationships natural, and our feelings towards them divided between affection and aversion. We sympathise with Mia and her anger at her useless mother, and with Joanna as a young mum wanting to be free – “did I tell you I nearly had you aborted?” she reveals to Mia quite matter-of-factly. Yet we are frustrated and angered by the poor decisions these characters make, which ultimately lead to the breakdown of their family.

Location also serves as a character – summer in a concrete jungle. Andrea Arnold does well to juxtapose the grey of urban life with the yellow of the countryside in summer, and green of the murky English sea.

And an assorted yet perfectly-appropriate soundtrack – Bobby Womack’s version of California Dreamin’ as Mia hopes for something more, Nas’ Life’s A Bitch as she says goodbye to her mother in a poignant final scene.

Containing stark language throughout, Fish Tank is a realistic portrayal of inner-city life, with many so far away from their hopes and aspirations. A gloomy interpretation with a glint in its eye.

http://thoughtfulanimal.wordpress.com/2010/01/21/fish-tank-a-review/

Fish Tank: A Review

I saw a British independent film yesterday called Fish Tank, with Amelia.

Here’s the official description:

The most honored British film of the year is Academy Award winning filmmaker Andrea Arnold’s Cannes Jury Prize winner, Fish Tank. The film is an emotionally stunning coming-of-age story, electrified by the breakthrough performance of its young star Katie Jarvis. Fifteen-year-old Mia (Katie Jarvis) is in a constant state of war with her family and the world around her, without any creative outlet for her considerable energies save a secret love of hip-hop dance. When she meets her party-girl mother’s charming new boyfriend Connor (Michael Fassbender), she is amazed to find he returns her attention, and believes he might help her start to make sense of her life. A clear-eyed, potent portrait of teenage sexuality and vulnerability, Fish Tank confirms writer/director Arnold’s status as one of the leading figures of new British cinema.

Katie Jarvis was “Best Newcomer” for this role at the 2009 British Independent Film Awards. I can totally see why. What an amazing young actress – at exactly 6 years and 2 days younger than I, she is only 18 years old, playing a 15 year old girl. I was captivated watching her, and I’m not quite sure why. She’s not a trained actress (according to IMDb), Fish Tank starring Katie Jarvisand maybe that’s why her performance was so stunning. Maybe she had to reach inside herself and dig up real full-on emotions in order to play the part, instead of relying on some acting “bag of tricks.” (Which is, of course, not to say that there aren’t trained actors who display true emotion.) I’m still thinking about the film and what its message is. I’m not entirely convinced there *is* a message. This may be one of those films that just, sort of, ends. Because life doesn’t come with a message – things happen, without any real reason or purpose – and you deal with them.

I recommend that everyone see this film. Let me know what you think. Does it have a message? If so, what is it?

Also, I should say that while this film takes place in England, the sets and locations really really reminded me of Israel, and I’m not quite sure why.

Available On Demand beginning Wednesday, January 13th, 2010.
Opens in select theaters on Friday, January 29th, 2010.
To learn more about the film, click here.

http://www.phawker.com/2010/02/12/cinema-starling-in-the-slipstream/

CINEMA: Starling In The Slipstream

FISH TANK (2009, directed by Andrea Arnold, 123 minutes, U.K.)

BY DAN BUSKIRK FILM CRITIC

The metaphors in Andrea Arnold’s acclaimed coming-of-age story Fish Tank are so blatant they threaten to smother the film itself. The “fish tank” of the title is an ugly public housing complex that’s home to Mia, a fifteen year old brooding, feral teen who wanders around friendless, vulnerable and spitting profanities beneath overcast English skies. Arnold’s direction keeps the camera tightly on the first-time actress Katie Jarvis, who plays Mia, trapping her in the claustrophobically square frame. Often shot in the blue light of night, Mia appears to be every bit the bottled-up fish, sealed off and uncomprehending of the world outside her tank.

However her spirit is like that pony she observes chained up in a nearby junkyard, a symbol of strength and beauty that is slowly dying in this forsaken place. Mia’s home offers no solace; her mom is around 30 and still drinking and carousing like she hasn’t a responsibility in the world. If Mia’s mom represents a future she’d like to avoid, her younger sister is a window into her past: at ten she is already drinking and swearing like a sailor. Mia finds unexpected empathy when her mother brings home a new boyfriend named Connor (Michael Fassbender), but just the way that he quietly watches Mia as she dances in her underwear gives us a clue that his sweet exterior is not to be trusted.

While Andrea Arnold’s second feature starts off looking like the latest in Britain’s long tradition of “Kitchen Sink” dramas, something deeper is at play. Arnold wants to do more than convince us that we’re looking at “reality,” with its non-professional acting, handheld camera and its stark post-industrial setting (shot in the dilapidated British county of Essex), Arnold wants us to see the world through Mia’s eyes. Here she is quite successful, constructing some rapturously beautiful compositions out of the detritus strewn among their shabby apartment and the barren landscape that Mia traverses. Connor makes the frequently fuming Mia crack her first smile a full fifty minutes into the film and when she’s revels in his attention the images slows almost imperceptibly, as if she clutching to the experience like a favored memory.

It seems like male directors would be more apt to whip the treacherous elements of Mia’s life into a tragic finale. Arnold takes a spooky turn to melodrama before the film is over but she has no interest in sadistically steering Mia over a cliff’s edge. Sure, this soul-killing landscape may claim many lives but because Fish Tank does not avert its eyes from the carnage, its somewhat upbeat finale feels quite earned.

http://yaleherald.com/arts/movie-reviews-2122010/

Fish Tank

Andrea Arnold

Four years ago, director Andrea Arnold made her feature-length debut with the entrancing, hard-nosed thriller Red Road. An uncompromising film about the life of a CCTV security operator, it nabbed the bronze at Cannes. Now Arnold is back—a second Jury Prize from Cannes in tow—with a gritty and powerful new work. Titled Fish Tank, it is a movie that daringly illustrates the wayward journey of a confined but barely-loved adolescent, and one through which Arnold shows her tremendous skill of conveying realism without falling prey to the overt sentimentalism that so often accompanies it.

The story centers around Mia (Katie Jarvis), a 15-year-old girl disenchanted with school and family. Mia lives in a shabby apartment complex in a slummy district of Essex, England, with a mom who could be her sister, in addition to an actual sister, an 11 year old with a face (and mouth) badly in need of soap. But Mia rarely spends time with them. She prefers the simultaneous openness and privacy of the street, where she can prop up her speakers and Walkman—no iPod for her birthday—and dance to hip hop without being eyeballed by the young men who attend her mom’s daytime parties. It is fitting, then, that Katie Jarvis, the teenage actress who plays Mia, was herself plucked from the street, so to speak: She won the role after a casting agent saw her arguing with her boyfriend at a train station.

This sudden thrust onto the silver screen may be what affords her the unrefined intensity so crucial to Mia’s emotional validity. Her character’s raw beauty and innate volatility come to the fore in her early interactions with Connor, her mom’s new hookup-turned-boyfriend. Connor (Michael Fassbender) projects a charming and unruffled character. To Mia, Connor is the replacement for the father figure we never see, and he must pass rocky trials of trust to connect with her.

As a storyteller, Arnold has grown since Red Road. Guiding with assured touch, she films with a handheld camera and employs only diegetic sound, which not only gives Fish Tank a distinctive authenticity, but also endows her characters—especially Mia—with a shaking lens that mirrors, and thus amplifies, their throes of emotion. The narrative flow is like a dance itself: With controlled unpredictability, it weaves overt and subtle, shouting and silence.

The movie’s strongest scene is one that combines all elements but the shouting. After a particularly long party, Connor finds Mia asleep on her mom’s bed. He lifts her gingerly and returns her to her room. Though Mia wakes, she feigns sleep, and as Connor sets her in his own bed, he starts untying her shoes. The half-minute that follows is masterfully executed, conjuring immense tension from actions that at one moment appear sexually charged, and the next like innocuous, tender care.

Fish Tank is taut and unflinching, and while hip hop dance as a means of escape may seem hackneyed, the movie serves itself well by having few actual dance scenes. Because dance is more an auxiliary to the story than the focus, Fish Tank doesn’t share the same disastrous fate as other films about undirected and impoverished teens that embrace a release with everything they have (Coach Carter, anyone?). Mia is not a character looking for a solitary means of escape so much as she is a girl looking for someone she can trust. From everything else, she wants to be untethered.

http://strangersobservations.blogspot.com/2010/02/movie-review-fish-tank.html

Friday, February 12, 2010
Movie Review: Fish Tank

"Fish Tank" has won several major awards in the UK and is noteworthy both for the performance of its lead, Kate Jarvis, a non-actor who was cast after being seen screaming at her boyfriend in a train station, and the bleak, soulless atmosphere of an Essex compound. Other reviewers have pointed out that Jarvis never acts during the film, but this is an ungenerous estimation. She is certainly an engaging, unique presence in the film and those who say she never acts have obviously never acted.

Mia is an angry, repressed 15 year old living with an abusive mother and a foul-mouthed little sister. Her life is confined to the concrete premises of her apartment complex and the ugly, barren landscapes surrounding it. Her only means of expression is street dancing, which she breaks into empty apartments to perform. She also steals alcohol and fights with a gang of girls. It's not until her mother's new boyfriend, Connor (played by Michael Fassbender), arrives that her life brightens, however dimly. He's kind-hearted and behaves fatherly towards the girls, but his gaze lingers on Mia for too long and the two begin to experience a strange chemistry.

It's an exceptionally-crafted film. With documentary-style camera work, long shots of the gritty surroundings, and realistic, colorful dialogue, "Fish Tank" certainly deserves its accolades. Mia's life is pitiful and the movie gives us some promise of hope, both in Connor and a dance audition Mia longs for, but these are not the trappings of Hollywood. Other reviewers question why the director never delivers Mia from her horrible reality, but the answer to that is simple. Sometimes, people DON'T make it. The film ends with Mia leaving her home for a different city, but even this feels hollow and empty. What is there ahead for Mia but struggle?

Kate Jarvis is natural and understated in her role. She did a magnificent job in her first acting job with absolutely no prior training or experience. Michael Fassbender brings the most humanity to the film and while it would be easy to peg his Connor as a sexual predator, taking advantage of an underage girl, you simply can't hold him at fault. Life is, as they say, complicated and people are subject to the laws of karma. Good people do less than stellar things, and he's no exception. He's also really sexy.

Posted by K at 7:56 AM

http://bpdreview.blogspot.com/2010/02/fish-tank.html

Friday, February 12, 2010
Fish Tank
February 12, 2010

Fish Tank (2010) ****1/2
Directed by Andrea Arnold

There's not a whole lot of originality in Fish Tank. It treads the same familiar ground as other recent neo-realism character studies such as Chop Shop and Wendy and Lucy. All three films deal with young people without any real support systems, though Chop Shop's main character is a boy younger than Fish Tank's Mia and Wendy and Lucy showcases a significantly older woman in her 20s. All three films involve naive hopes and dreams for better lives within a society that tries its damnedest to prevent ultimate happiness and fulfillment. All three films challenge upper-class American film-goers to spend time with people and situations we'd probably prefer never existed at all.

Yet, all three films are powerful and effective, leaving the viewer paradoxically uncomfortable yet satisfied. Real life dramas with fully-realized main and supporting characters play out completely and, with little exception, organically. The endings of all three are profoundly sad and utterly hopeful at the same time. The characters aren't given artificial Hollywood "happily ever after" escapes from their harsh worlds, but they all emerge after experiencing hell on earth wiser and stronger. Are we really able to believe that the characters of Ale from Chop Shop, Wendy from Wendy and Lucy, and Mia from Fish Tank are going to be fine once the film ends? As we've seen over and over again, the odds are unfairly stacked against them. They will all surely have countless obstacles in their futures to overcome. Maybe they won't find ultimate happiness, but one thing is for sure. All three have the temperaments to face challenges head on, and all three have a little bit of wisdom as well. Best of luck to all three... they're going to need it!

Though far from groundbreaking, Fish Tank is one of the more engaging and disturbing lower class tragedies that I've seen. It tells the story of 15 year-old Mia, played so devastatingly well by newcomer Katie Jarvis who was a real-life high school drop out before getting noticed for this film while arguing loudly with her boyfriend at a train station. Mia's useless mother acts more like a teenager than her daughter, throwing parties, getting drunk, passing out and bringing men into the same house Mia shares with her younger sister Tyler. One of these men is an American named Connor who shows Mia some kindness, which includes letting her borrow his camcorder to film an audition tape after she comes across a flier looking for female dancers. Similar to 2009's Best Picture Oscar nominee Precious, whose title character is also a teenage girl living a difficult life, Mia's dream is to make it big by performing in music videos. We see Mia practice her dancing in an abandoned apartment, and it's clear early on that, despite her good looks, she has no real talent as a legitimate dancer.

Things become problematic when Connor spends more time sleeping at Mia's apartment. He doesn't seem like a predator, but it's clear to him that Mia's sexually interested, which takes a turn for the worse one night after Mia's mother has passed out and Connor drunkenly asks Mia to dance for him. After that, things go spiraling out of control as Mia learns more about Connor and then shows up for a dance audition that's quite different from what she imagined. From here on in, Mia's onslaught of disappointment threatens to truly break her deep at her core.

As you can tell, Fish Tank is a grim and gritty look at a girl among many who lives in an environment that doesn't provide much hope for a comfortable, stable life. The idealism of youth naturally provokes the desire for a better life, and yet, naivety often dominates, which can be clearly seen when goals to success are so wildly unrealistic. We witness Mia realize the perils of her existence as Connor literally shatters her innocence. It's genuinely sad mostly because it's unquestionably real. Not once did I doubt whether or not Mia's life could go in the direction that it does. Yet, there's a stretch towards the end where director Arnold's penchant for the sensational comes off a bit distracting. Her 2006 thriller Red Road is one of the grittiest and most unpleasant films I've ever seen, yet it's dreadfully effective and observant. There are scenes in Red Road that will forever etch themselves in my mind whether I like it or not. Arnold revels in shocking her audience, and with a relatively pedestrian character study like Fish Tank, it would be proper to keep the sadism a bit more in check. Yes, Mia is dealing with extreme emotions when she commits these heinous acts, but it all goes just a little too far.

Like Ale Polanco in Chop Shop and Michelle Williams in Wendy and Lucy, Katie Jarvis is a wonder to behold as Mia. It's becoming a staple within neo-realist films to have lead performances that not only carry the entire film, but elevate the material to a level of truth that transcends what's written in the script. The great Michael Fassbender, who gives one of the most awe-inspiring performances of recent years in 2008's Hunger, plays Connor with charisma and charm. It could have been all to easy for Fassbender to emphasize his character's eventual villainy from the start, but he plays it straight, trusting the audience to deal with the conflicting emotions which result from our falling for Connor only to be betrayed, exactly like Mia.

It's good for those of us blessed with lives where hope can thrive to spend time within the sad worlds that entrench so many. Not only does it make us appreciative, but it also just might provoke us to do something to make dreams more attainable for people who run the risk of giving up on dreaming once they come to understand the plight within their circumstances. As such, I believe it best to substitute truthful storytelling for narrative originality in these neo-realistic character studies. It's familiar cinematic territory, but it ought not to be ignored.
Posted by Brian Dunn at 9:41 AM

http://www.edgenewyork.com/?100613

Fish Tank
by Kevin Taft
EDGE Contributor
Friday Feb 12, 2010

Katie Jarvis and Michael Fassbender in Fish Tank.

Fish Tank is that rare indie import. It takes a familiar volatile situation and makes it livable, unpredictable, and free of cliché.

Using a girl she found on a train station, Director Andrea Arnold makes a star of young Katie Jarvis who plays central character Mia. Having grown up in a single parent household run by a woman who would rather drink and screw than raise a daughter, Mia is a mess of confused emotions, hormones, and intentions.

Not getting along with any of the girls in the neighborhood, Mia’s only freedom is when she sneaks into an empty apartment, puts on some music, and dances. But no, this isn’t one of those dance movies where the girl breaks out of her stifled existence because all she wants to do is dance. The dancing is simply an expression of an unattainable dream. With mom threatening to send her to a boarding school, Mia is more desperate than ever to break out of the "fish tank" she finds herself in.

Wandering the streets in the same dirty pair of sweatpants and black hoodie, Mia becomes an aimless figure, trying to break free but being constantly drawn back home. When she runs into her mom’s new boyfriend as he wanders half naked through the apartment, Mia’s interest is peeked. Perhaps he is the hook that will swoop her out of the tank.

Played effortlessly by the sexy and warm Michael Fassbender (Inglorious Basterds), Connor is a fascinating character. Seemingly the only person who treats Mia with respect, Mia becomes attached. Maybe a bit too attached, and so does he. We want to love him throughout, but he too proves to not be the bastion of stability he attempts to portray.

Mia’s life is shown in short scenes that seem to be going nowhere but at the same time, they speed fast toward the film’s ultimate resolution. The gunk and grime of Mia’s home town is both gross and breathtaking as Arnold finds the beauty in moments like a sunset filtered through the cracks and dirt of an apartment window.

But it is Jarvis that is truly extraordinary. Plucked from obscurity with no acting experience, she is both natural and commanding. You can’t take your eyes off of her, and you shouldn’t, because she easily drives the film to it’s hopeful, yet guarded conclusion.

http://filmexperience.blogspot.com/2010/02/2009-is-so-last-year.html

Monday, February 08, 2010
2009 Is So Last Year
.

JA from MNPP here with a quick question: Have y'all seen the best film of 2010 yet? In the alternate universe that is my understanding of the world, Andrea Arnold's fantastic Fish Tank has unseated all the Avatars and Dear Johns and rules the box office with an iron fist. Michael Fassbender's droopy drawers for the win! If you're outside of the US this doesn't much make sense as the film's been out in other countries for a bit, but here in the US the film's been rolling out across the country here just in the past few weeks, and started playing on IFC On Demand on January 27th. So nobody's got any excuses at this point for not having seen it. Nobody! I've seen it three times now and find new things to love each time. Looking better and better each time is Kierston Wareing's performance as Mia's repellently self-involved mother, for one.


That film aside, though, what else have we seen lately?
What's been your favorite movie of the New Year so far?

http://thesicknesscinema.blogspot.com/2010/02/tanked.html

Saturday, February 13, 2010
Tanked

There is rarely a more satisfying experience for me as a reviewer then stepping into a theater with next to no knowledge about the film and walking out amazed. I went into Andrea Arnold's Fish Tank aware of only two things, one that the film contains some very difficult to watch moments and that it contains wonderful performances from Michael Fassbender and Katie Jarvis. While both statements are true, Fish Tank unspools to reveal a film of equal parts heartache and beauty.

The plot is simple. Mia, a young, poor girl grows up in a bad part of UK. Her mother is woefully negligent (in part because she's also too young to be a parent-let alone twice over) and Mia is a bit of a wild terror. She gets into fights, drinks, swears and is perpetually truant. She also has ambitions to dance and finds herself vexed by the appearance of an old horse being chained up in a neighbor's backyard. One solitary source of serenity and approval in this harsh world is Connor (Michael Fassbender), her mother's new boyfriend. Of course, this new positive presence in her life can't last because Mia's pull toward Connor smoothly, uncomfortably descends into a mutual, intensely sexual attraction. Of course when the inevitable happens it's only the first of a harsh spiral of truths that show seemingly-mature Mia is only now REALLY starting to grow-up.

As Mia, newcomer Katie Jarvis is convincingly tough and believable as a street-tough kid but at the same time shows the character's intense yearning and vulnerability. It can be startling to see the character go from one polarity to the other but it's effective as well. Equally adept is Fassbender as Connor who is 180 degrees away from his David Niven-esque soldier in Inglourious Basterds. His Connor is a man with great charm and charisma but it quickly becomes clear he's hiding something. When that revelation comes out (and I wouldn't dream of spoiling what it is) the tension that director Anders creates is palpable. It's rare I watch a film and have no idea what a character will do next and with a character like Mia who's emotions run so hot and cold her decisions create genuine suspense and discomfort.

Fish Tank is about the cycles of poverty, abuse and betrayal, but at the same time underlines the enormous reservoirs of personal strength young people can possess. Mia's tempestuous relationship with her family is capable of showing moments of enormous solemnity and beauty and these moments are incredibly moving. This is not to say the film is without flaws. When director/writer Arnold moves away from the naturalistic drama and moves toward the symbolic the filmmaking can be a bit obvious and didactic (the last shot of the film puts the Departed's scurrying rat to shame). However, the virtuosity of the performances and the powerful emotional conflicts on display will leave most viewers breathless.
Posted by El Gigante at 4:17 PM

http://www.34st.com/content/2010/feb/go-fish

Go Fish
By Tucker Johns
Posted on Saturday, February 13, 2010 at 2:54 pm

On the surface, Fish Tank seems like the white, British version of awards show-darling Precious. Both films feature teenage girls with big dreams in seemingly hopeless situations, living in poverty with negligent mothers and little guidance. Like Precious auteur Lee Daniels, writer-director Andrea Arnold refuses to sugarcoat her protagonist’s struggles. Instead, she highlights them in an unflinching character study.

First-time actress Katie Jarvis stars as Mia Williams, a fifteen-year-old in the British suburbs with an affinity for street dancing. She lives with her mother and younger sister in a small apartment and finds her only release in practicing dance. When her mother’s new boyfriend, Connor (Michael Fassbender) begins to hang around more, Mia finally finds someone to support and encourage her.

Jarvis’ performance is the film’s nucleus; she rarely leaves the screen, thus the picture’s success or failure falls squarely on her shoulders. She delivers, though, by capturing perfectly Mia’s tortured transition to adulthood. The supporting cast provides able backup, too. Fassbender is undeniably charming as Connor, and Kierston Wareing is pitch perfect as Mia’s boozy, selfish mother. At times, Arnold’s work feels more like a documentary than a drama, captivating audiences with a startling look into the harsh realities of Mia’s world.

Director: Andrea Arnold

Starring: Katie Jarvis, Michael Fassbender

Rated R, 123 min.

http://www.csmonitor.com/The-Culture/Movies/2010/0215/Fish-Tank-movie-review

Fish Tank: movie review

Penned in by circumstance, a teenager finds ways to rebel in this bleak look at adolescence in 'Fish Tank.'

Katie Jarvis and Michael Fassbender portray Mia and Connor, an English teen and her mother’s boyfriend, in writer-director Andrea Arnold’s ‘Fish Tank.’

By Peter Rainer Film critic / February 15, 2010

Audio: Peter Rainer

Mia (Katie Jarvis), the 15-year-old heroine of writer-director Andrea Arnold's "Fish Tank," lives with her alcoholic mother and younger sister in a bleak housing project in Essex, east of London. She doesn't really attend school and has no close friends. Her only enjoyment, it seems, is dancing by herself. Wearing headphones and baggy sweats, she practices her hip hop moves in a boarded up apartment that looks out over the squalor she is attempting to dance away from.

Because Arnold hews the film so close to Mia's hurts, what might come across as a downer instead often has a startling immediacy. Only bad movies are depressing movies. "Fish Tank," for all its faults and vagaries, brings us up close to a fully realized human being, and that's revivifying.

Jarvis, who had no previous acting experience, was accidentally discovered by Arnold when she overhead the girl arguing with her boyfriend in a train station. Arnold was right to go with her instincts in casting an untrained unknown: Jarvis has an openness to the camera that a more accomplished performer might have lacked. Her acting has a moment-to-moment excitement because we can never tell what Mia will do.

Like most adolescents, only more so, Mia is a mass of contradictions. Her retort to a taunting girl from the projects is simple: She head butts her and breaks her nose. She also has a soft side. Eyeing a decrepit horse tethered to a vacant lot occupied by townies, she darts inside the property and attempts to set it free.

The symbolism of Mia unleashing a sick, corraled horse may be a bit thick, but it's not out of place here. Mia is penned in by the circumstances of her life. She revels in those moments when she breaks loose, not only in her dancing but also for the sheer love of speed when she suddenly sprints across the decaying landscape.

The sadness here is that, of course, Mia is mostly running away from things – from trouble. Her mother (Kierston Wareing), in her late 30s and already blowsy, cares so little for her that homelessness almost seems like a better option. When the mother brings home a handsome live-in boyfriend, Connor (Michael Fassbender), tensions tighten.

But something unexpected also happens. With his grinning easy-goingness, Connor soon becomes a father figure to the wary but needy Mia. (He tucks Mia into bed at night, innocently, and you get the impression this is the first time anybody ever did this for her.) Their evolving relationship is the most ambiguously powerful aspect of the movie. A more ham-fisted director would have villainized Connor for the ways he ultimately leads Mia on, but Arnold understands how people can be many things at once. The greyness that hangs over her neighborhood is symbolic, too: Nothing in this world is black and white.

The use of hand-held cameras to capture Mia's darting, frenetic temperament can be annoying. And Arnold overdoes the gloomy "rawness." She comes out of a neo-realist tradition of English filmmaking, best characterized by the films of Ken Loach, that equates grunge with truth. "Fish Tank" would be better if it wasn't so intent on serving up sordidness as social commentary.

But "Fish Tank," which won the 2009 Jury Prize in Cannes, has moments when Mia's tribulations really hit home. In one scene, she shows up for a dancing audition and soon realizes she is being judged for something sleazier. Mia was counting on this job to lift her out of her troubles, and the look on her face – the mix of bafflement and rage and resignation – is the emblem of her life and of this movie.

http://thereacharound.wordpress.com/2010/02/16/got-to-catch-them-flicks/

“Fish Tank”

Another one of my favorites, “Fish Tank” must be seen as it is intended to be on a beautiful 35mm print in the theater. I didn’t particularly care for director Andrea Arnold’s last feature “Red Road” which I actually rented post “Fish Tank”, but I feel that “Fish Tank” is a considerable departure for her. It is shot kind of guerrilla style with some shaky camera work, but it works well.

Side note, this same shaky camera style, which I first witnessed in the 96′ cheese ball-classic “Twister”, is the reason my dad can no longer go to action movies. Being the little brat that I was, I insisted on sitting in the front row. After the film, my dad went to the bathroom, threw up, and then said, “Thanks, Jesse. That just about does it for action flicks for life.” Sorry, dad.

The two leads in “Fish Tank” Michael Fassbender and newcomer Katie Jarvis kill it. Their relationship is frighteningly realistic, and although the audience’s relationship to both of them changes during the film, at no time does the story feel force fed. With a great supporting cast as well, I was emotionally invested in every character in the film. I also think that the kidnapping scene is probably the most gorgeously shot 15 minutes of any film I have seen in the last 6 months. I wouldn’t go as far as calling Andrea Arnold Britain’s next Ken Loach as some article I read did, but she is a damn good director and “Fish Tank” is an impressive film.

http://justanotherego.blogspot.com/2010/02/language.html

Tuesday, 16 February 2010
Language!
At the behest of an ex-colleague, who was on the jury that gave Andrea Arnold the Sutherland Trophy for it, I checked out Red Road a couple of years back at... I think it was the Brisbane International Film Festival (all of the festivals blur into one a couple of years after they happen...) and I quite enjoyed it. I thought it was a very solid film, interestingly told, well made, not brilliant but a very good debut. So I was quite looking forward to her follow up, Fish Tank, which came out last year and I kept missing in cinemas (that seems to be a theme for me and movies last year - here's hoping I can get my s$#! together this year.)

Fish Tank was great. It really was. Mia (Katie Jarvis) is a fifteen year old living on the estates of Essex. Being an Essex girl she has a mouth like a trooper, fights like a bitch and has no respect for anyone. (I apologise for the generalisation... but that's how I've been told Essex girls are. From an Essex girl. It's not quite racism, but it's close, though it also paints a very specific picture in a very short space of time. It's a useful cliche for one in a hurry.) She lives in a little apartment in a hideous highrise so prevalent on the outskirts of London with her mother, Joanne (who must have had Mia at about the age Mia is now... she's quite young - played by Kierston Wareing) and her younger sister Tyler (Rebecca Griffiths - whose mouth is just as foul.)

Mia wants to dance. That's pretty much all she enjoys and all she wants to do. She doesn't seem to have any friends, so takes her discman and speakers to an abandoned apartment and dances a crazy fusion of whatever seems to come into her head. And then Joanne brings home her new boyfriend, Connor (Michael Fassbender - be still my beating heart) and everything changes. Mia likes him instantly, though being a fifteen year old girl she isn't about to let on, instead insulting him as much as she insults everyone. Seeming to have heard it all before, it is water off a duck's back for Connor, who laughs it off as he selectively plays dad to Mia and Tyler, taking them to bed, taking them fishing, giving them lifts. Connor is the perfect predator, knowing exactly how to cultivate the attraction (not that it would be hard when you're Michael freaking Fassbender) without scaring anyone or giving anything away. He encourages Mia to record herself dancing to send off for an audition for a club looking for female dancers, and she does.

Soon, though, everything starts to fall apart. The relationship goes a step too far and it turns out that Connor has been lying about a lot. Mia uncovers it and confronts Connor, taking something dear to him before almost destroying it and then returning it. Connor turns on her, but being a victim of a sexual predator almost twice her age who she herself actively pursued, Mia is too scared to take revenge, instead shipping out with a boy she met when she tried to set his horse free earlier in the film.

Jarvis is exceptional in her debut role. She is the perfect sulking loner teenage girl in public, but in private or when not watched is craving those all-too-adult feelings of reciprocated attraction. Hovering on the edge of adulthood, she's not quite there yet, and seems unsure as to whether she should fight for inclusion, thereby demonstrating her immaturity, or sit back and wait for her entrance pass, which means she's going to miss out on so much she wants to be a part of. She's backed up very well by Wareing as her mother, trashy and uncaring, completely unaware of what her daughter is doing, let alone feeling, and with no ability to control either of her children. Speaking of children, Griffiths is possibly most frightening as the much younger sister displaying so many of her sister's character traits, because she is so young. Why does innocence not last? And Fassbender, as the only male influence on these women, proves not to be a particularly good one, playing the creepy older man and the overwhelmingly attractive heartthrob simultaneously with perfection. I won't talk about the fact that he does a lot of it only half dressed, because that would indeed be crass.

Arnold lifts from her strong debut to give us an excellent sophomore effort, something that many struggle with, and with Robbie Ryan managed to capture the stark nature of the world these people inhabit simply and with an austere beauty. Jarvis will emerge the star, hopefully managing to parlay this introduction into a career if she can show she has the chops, but the film as a whole is very strong. 4.5 stars.
Posted by R-Co at 10:39

http://vicksflicks.wordpress.com/2010/02/17/fish-tank/

Fish Tank

Fish Tank is the critically acclaimed film from Andrea Arnold and it takes an in-depth look at Mia, a teenage girl who lives in the slums and curses and fights, and has a mother who does not want to give up her partying ways. Fish Tank is a painful look at reality and the life this girl lives. However, this film lacks real connection and the story just goes in circles until you just don’t care anymore.

Mia (Katie Jarvis) has a lot of anger issues. Almost at the beginning of the film, she head butts a girl. So Mia does not put up with much, but sometimes is just looking for a fight. Mia is no angel that is for sure. But the environment she has grown up in, you can almost understand where she gets her attitude. Her mother is a sorry excuse for a mom and Mia likes to drink just like her mother. And Mia has a younger sister who may be 10-12 years old and there is a scene where she is drinking and smoking. Unfortunately, this is Mia’s family. Her life.

But she uses dancing to escape her rough life. She dances alone and with her headphones on. She is insecure about dancing just like she is about everything she does. When her mother brings her new boyfriend Connor (Michael Fassbender) home, Mia connects with him on several levels. He is good to her mother and her sister and to her. And throughout the film, there is this sexual tension between Connor and Mia that is a bit uncomfortable, which I’m sure is what the filmmaker was going for.

Nothing is pretty about this film. This is no “Hollywood” film. It’s gritty, trashy, and a harsh look at a young girl’s life. At the beginning of this review, I put that this film was critically acclaimed. The critics love this film and I have no idea why. It is slow and boring for the most part. Mia goes around fighting and we know she likes trouble. I get that. But the film goes all over the place and nothing gets accomplished.

The story is focused on certain relationships, and the one between Connor and Mia is the most interesting and complex. Yet, their relationship is going in the direction that you know it’s going to go in. And just like everything else in Mia’s life, it is not going to end well. That is just the truth of the matter.

There is nothing that interesting about Fish Tank. We have all seen films that deal with the youth and their troubles. Precious was a great look at a young girl with problems and it has a great message. This film is about escapism as well, but there just is not much to hold an individual’s attention. The effort is there, but there is no payoff.

Katie Jarvis is not an actress, but she does a great job in the film. Michael Fassbender (Hunger, Inglourious Basterds) also does a fine job playing Connor. Whatever interesting parts the film has, it was because of Jarvis and Fassbender’s performances. But for the rest of Fish Tank, the film gets lost and boring and as a result I lose interest and become bored.

http://punchdrunkcritics.blogspot.com/2010/02/fish-tank.html

Wednesday, February 17, 2010
Fish Tank
Coming of age stories don't get much more piercing than this. We're introduced to the angry, aggressive Mia(Katie Jarvis) as she stares down a group of girls practicing their dance routine. Mia instigates an argument, then almost too casually headbutts one of the girls, nearly breaking her nose. Just another day in Essex for the 15 year old Mia, who's life seems to be in a perpetual death roll. She lives in a public housing alongside her mom, Joanne, who seems barely more than Mia's age. They could be sisters. Joanne is a hot mess. She doesn't seem to work. She parties too much and drinks all day. Mia has a younger sister, who's foul mouth and ill temper seems to be hereditary. Joanne seems to loathe the very existence of her children. It's clear she'd much rather be left on her own to do as she wished.

Mia seems to have almost nothing worth living for. She's out of school. She fights with the kids her age. The only thing she has is her dancing. She wants to become a professional B-Girl, idolizing the hip hop crews she sees on the TV. She practices on her own, listening to old school 90s rap(the best kind!!) and honing her moves. Life is little more than an endless series of arguments and fights.

That is until mom brings home a new boyfriend, Connor(Michael Fassbender). I can imagine that her mom brings home many guys, most of them scumbags. Mia eyes him suspiciously at first, but eventually sees him as a pretty good guy. He takes them on road trips, one to the lake. Joanne doesn't want the girls to go, but Connor genuinely seems to want to make a connection. He appears to be around for the long haul.

Without going into too much detail, let's just say that Connor goes a little too far with Mia while the mom is in a drunken stupor one night. Since the film basically only follows Mia's perspective, we're never really privy to Connor's backstory. We do find out some details about him, seen only through Mia's eyes, but we're left to fill in the blanks ourselves. Mia's actions after her encounter with Connor are shocking and indefensable. Here in the States she'd be locked away and the key thrown away.

I dig this approach. Usually, films tend to get into the habit of explaining every iota of detail rather than leaving something to the imagination. Writer/director Andrea Arnold focuses solely on the tailspin that is Mia's life, and the people surrounding her are like flak and debris caught in the wake. The star of the film, Katie Jarvis, brings one of those performances that you know comes from truth she has experienced herself. Arnold found her on the streets in the midst of a argument, probably much like the one that began the film. Jarvis has since gone on to be signed by talent agents for Britain and the United States. We'll be seeing a lot more of her I hope.

Arnold filmed each scene in chronological order, which is different but nothing all that special. What she also did was to not give the cast their scripts until the day of filming, so that each actor never knew where their character was headed. It's a brilliant technique, keeping the actors on their toes and the emotions raw and fresh.

Fish Tank isn't perfect. Not every scene works, but Katie Jarvis is a force of nature. Her anger seems almost too big and real for such a small indie film. It's that volatile emotion that steers and powers this brilliant, gritty coming of age tale.

http://foolishblatherings.wordpress.com/2010/02/17/fish-tank-2010/

Fish Tank (2010)

Posted by Branden on February 17, 2010

Fish Tank is a British independent film that I have only heard about when it was nominated for a couple of British Independent Film Award nominations and two for the writer/director, Andrea Arnold and a Newcomer Award for lead actress, Katie Jarvis. I wanted to see what this movie was about. I head that the movie was showing IFC On-Demand. Why not check it out? This movie for me was like a combination of Lolita, Fatal Attraction, Honey and Towelhead. I only like one of those films. Guess which one?

Mia Williams (Jarvis) is a fifteen-year-old delinquent living in a shabby flat in Essex, England. She is a loner that watches the world passes her by. She is always wearing a track suit with her ear buds pumping out Hip-Hop or R&B music so she could break dance in an empty flat that she breaks into. She is running wild, skipping school, drinking, and stealing money. She has a lot of internal anger towards her alcoholic mother, Joanne (Kierston Wareing) for not supervising her or her younger sister, Tyler (Rebecca Griffiths) that is heading down the same path.

One morning when she is making her morning tea, Mia meets her mom’s new boyfriend, Connor (Michael Fassbender) when she was shaking her ass to a Ja Rule/Ashanti video. She kinda fancies him as well. Who wouldn’t? He was topless her kitchen with his pants hanging low on his hips. They have a verbal sparring match. When Connor takes a cup of tea to her mother, she rifles through his wallet to learn more about the latest man that her mother is banging.

It is a recurring theme that when her mother was to get wasted with her friends that the children have to be out of sight. Being holed up in Mia’s room, the girls still have the time to sneak out a half-drunk bottle gin or have a carton of cigarette to puff away. Rifling through her mother’s room, Mia falls asleep while drinking gin and is carried into her room by Connor who thinks that she is asleep undresses her. She kinda likes that.

Connor wants to invite the girls on a family drive to a local marsh to catch a fish with his bare hands. Mia tries to help him and she is cut. Connor bandages her up. When they are back at the car, the mother wants to get more drinks when Connor asks Mia to do the dance she did earlier. She does a break dance routine. Her mother wants Mia to enroll at a special school. She is not having any of it. She runs away. Walking the streets, she sees a flyer for a club seeking young modern dancers. She tries to get inspiration from other break dancers on YouTube.

She walks around the town and bumps into Connor at his security job at a home improvement store. When he fixes up her wound with a first aid kit, when Mia hands him the piece of paper about the audition. He wants her to do it. When suddenly crashes at their place for a couple of days, he lends Mia his digital recorder to film her demo. When they are living under the same roof, things get complicated and Mia’s life goes into a tailspin.

I didn’t know what to take of this movie. I thought his was the female version of Billy Elliot for awhile, but it wasn’t. It was a coming-of-age of a girl that didn’t belong in this particular place. Some of the stuff that happened to Mia was understandable until at the very end of the movie that had me scratching my mind and made me wait to reach into the screen and choke Mia. I will discuss that in the spoiler section. The movie was about the out-of-control girl that had a talent of dance. I didn’t think she was the greatest dancer. It made the movie feel false.

Judgment: This is a tough pill to swallow.

Rating: **1/2

(SPOILER SECTION)

The moment where the movie lost me was after Mia had sex with Connor. He leaves suddenly. Mia tracks him down to Tillbury where she found out that he is married with a kid, Keira. She drinks a beer and pisses on the living room carpet. When they come home, Mia tries to kidnap Keira. Keira runs away to a seahorse where Mia wants to get her in line. Keira begin to kick and Mia throws her into the water. Mia gets her out and hugs her. They go back to his house later that night and releases her. Walking along the road, Connor drives by her and chases after her. When he catches up to her, he bitch slaps her and walks way. That’s it! I would kill that bitch! From that moment on, I didn’t care what happened to her. I checked out.