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Fish Tank (2009)

Time Out rating

Average user rating

36 reviews

Synopsis

Arnold’s second film builds on her Oscar-winning short ‘Wasp’ and follows a girl whose mother brings home a stranger promising riches.

Movie review

From Time Out London

I can understand why some people might recoil at the thought of another British film set on a council estate. Is it worthy? Condescending? Grim? Is it more evidence of a young filmmaker awkwardly exercising their Mike Leigh/Ken Loach fetishes? Well, banish your fears: Andrea Arnold’s follow-up to ‘Red Road’ is a film that brilliantly and sensitively buzzes with life and offers its very own take on our world and our city. It delivers in spades attitude, humour, sadness, love, anger and hope – all wrapped up in a way of telling stories that is very much the director’s own. It’s realism, but it has an intimacy, an immediacy and a dash of poetry that offers a new spin on familiar territory.
Arnold has a keen eye for the border between danger and fulfilment when it comes to sexual feelings, and here she trains that eye on one vulnerable but strong adolescent teenage girl, Mia (Katie Jarvis), who you can’t help but feel for and understand – even after we watch her call a friend’s dad a ‘cunt’ and headbutt another girl so that the blood pours down her face. And that’s just the first five minutes.

Mia lives in a flat in Essex, near the Thames estuary, with her mum Joanne (Kierston Wareing) and her little sister Tyler (Rebecca Griffith). Mia calls her little sis ‘fuck face’ and little sis calls her ‘cunt face’ back. The TV blares out reality shows and makeover programmes. Outside, Arnold’s camera sucks up the territory on which she films; flats, busy roads, flyovers, scraps of land and suburban shop parades all lend a strong sense of place without any sense of gawking or romanticising. This is Mia’s world and there it is: it can sometimes look ugly, sometimes look beautiful. Arnold and DoP Robbie Ryan shoot in the unusual 1.33:1 aspect ratio, so the screen is almost square, but ‘Fish Tank’ feels more like a series of personal Polaroids than TV, the glare of the sun often dancing across the lens in the manner of home snapshots.

Nothing about all this feels miserable. It helps that Arnold tells her tale at the height of summer so that the sun is always shining. It also helps that Arnold’s way of presenting Mia to us is to stay close to her at all times, to show us her world from her point of view. Crucially, we’re there, alone with Mia, when she regularly decamps to an empty flat and practices her hip hop dance moves. We know there’s more to Mia than antagonism and kneejerk violence and we’re curious about what’s going on in this girl’s head.

We’re there, too, when her mum brings home a man, Connor (Michael Fassbender), who is soon living with them, doing the washing-up with his top off and taking them for a drive. Mia’s smiles show that she likes him, while he pays her more attention than anyone else in her life, praising her dance moves, giving her a piggyback, even tucking her up in bed when she pretends to be asleep. Their relationship takes unusual, even alarming turns, but always Arnold avoids obvious judgements, obvious explanations. Hers is an intimate drama of grey areas and all the better and more thoughtful – and thought-provoking – for it.

Author: Dave Calhoun

Time Out London

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User reviews of this film

Theresa said...

Posted on Jan 12 2012 22:48 This film totally blew me away with it's outstanding performances from the two leads. Newcomer Katie Jarvis in particular stole the show with Fassbender burning up the screen. Give me a film that's slow, sure, subtle and poetic over that tanked up turbo charged American twank that Hollywood insists on churning out, ANYDAY!!

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hamish said...

Posted on Oct 18 2011 23:51 The film is about a child being raped. I (obviously) found it troubling. I'm mystified by most of the other comments..

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Jodie of Perth, Australia said...

Posted on Oct 10 2011 05:10 Fantastic, definately one to watch. Was a bit dissapointed of the end though, would like to see a sequel.

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Nige said...

Posted on Sep 16 2011 00:54 so true and painful (I live a couple of miles from the mardyke estate) that I had to watch it in a few sittings - where the 2 sisters at the end hug each other and say they hate each other (while meaning they love each other) made me cry - still crying as I type this - what a film!

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laura said...

Posted on Aug 18 2011 00:59 Just watched this as it is up on bbc iplayer at the moment. I thought it was amazing but also very depressing. Katie Jarvis is perfect in this film. I didnt grow up on a council estate so I have no idea wether it is a good portrayal or not? however it felt very real and and is definitely worth a try. Similar in some ways to this is england.

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William said...

Posted on Aug 15 2011 22:55 This is one of the best British films I have ever seen. You have to like gritty realism, and good acting, and this won't be everyone's cup of tea; giving it less than 4 stars is just idiocy. But I felt that this really captured the brutalities and disappointments of everyday council flat life in the UK better than anything else, and added humour, tragedy, and complex characters. Great film and highly recommended.

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Sebastian said...

Posted on Mar 23 2011 09:26 Reading some reviews of this film anger me. To call this film "pointless" and to compare it to such cheesy and fake movies like "Kidulthood" really, really irks me. I understand this film is not for everyone, but to say its "pointless", it makes me question if you've even seen the film. It's slow moving, quiet, understated, rough around the edges, but those are qualities I love in films and it tugged at my heartstrings tremendously and had a dark, gritty message about adolescence that is rarely shown in such an accurate way. The film's locale is important, yet just a backdrop for the main character to play off of and really adds to the overall mood and theme of the entire movie. Katie Jarvis's performance is absolutely haunting, sensitive, angry, and moving, and to discredit her because she's come from a similar background isn't fair, the way she balances the outer, angry shell of Mia and shows the soft, sensitive underlying is simply beautiful. Andrea Arnold is an absolutely amazing director and takes us through this story sometimes subtly, and sometimes harshly, but it all feels natural, and everything comes together seamlessly. The attention to details really set this apart from other films in this subgenre and all I know is I will remember "Fish Tank" for a very, very long time.

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ricky said...

Posted on Oct 23 2010 05:36 not seen the film altho a few of my friends played minor parts in the movie as it was filmed on the estate i was bought up on like too see it so does anyone no where to buy it

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tony montana said...

Posted on Sep 13 2010 18:02 i enjoyed the film however was left a little bit disappointed with the ending.

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alastair said...

Posted on Aug 22 2010 13:52 don't really understand the 1 star reviews here, and people saying it's too long and boring - i don't like having films built up for me but this really is a great film - incredibly beautiful, poetic and tense, and as the reviewer says avoiding obvious judgments and explanations - one of the best british films i've seen

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akhila said...

Posted on Aug 21 2010 23:30 A bit long and definately not everyonens cup of tea,but anyone who says it was boring should stick to eastenders I think.And jo,that is the most bizarre comment I have ever heard.Do you think Keira knightly would be any good in this film?doubt it somehow.

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sean said...

Posted on Apr 12 2010 14:48 I watched this with my partner and we both liked this film, I don't why anyone would call this boring or uneventful. True, it shows the grim side of Essex life and from a point of view that many may not identify with. As we watched we felt for the main character Mia and having both been brought up on 'tough' inner South London estates we knew what she was going through (albeit we are a few generations removed). It makes me laugh that people want to analyse this with a fine pin, take it for what it is, a good solid film that shows the shitty side of life, a theme most people want to ignore or stick their heads firmly up their middle class arses and hope it goes away. Cath is right in saying that council estates are good places for filmmaking because of the directness of characters who live there and Jo is way off the mark criticising Katie Jarvis for not being a complete actress who would struggle with period drama...there are plenty of actors/actresses twice, three times Katie's age who would struggle with period drama...and as for Lingdada, you need to get out in the real world and take a look at what's going on around you, but then again maybe driving daddy's bentley wouldn't go down well cruisin' the streets of Peckham or Walworth eh?

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Luke said...

Posted on Mar 07 2010 03:02 this was awful
the girl blatantly couldnt act
it was too long
too boring
hardly anything happened
i wouldnt recommend this at all

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Danni said...

Posted on Mar 07 2010 02:59 It was the slowest, most pointless film I have ever seen. Why on earth did they cast a girl who's playing someone who's passionate about dance, who hates dancing?
I rented this from blockbuster thinking it would be a great film to watch, almost like kidulthood, but it was slow, way too long, nothing really happened, and it was boring.
The only upside was that it was fairly realistic.
I regret choosing this film. It spoiled my night, I kept sitting there all of the way through waiting for something good to happen, and I was left disappointed.

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Bee said...

Posted on Feb 08 2010 18:13 Brilliant

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