Fish Tank

Colour, 35 mm
United Kingdom, 2009, 124 min
Section: Open Eyes

Synopsis

The protagonists of Andrea Arnold’s film don’t live in Notting Hill but in a council estate in Essex. The plot of the movie could be a loose continuation of the director’s short film Wasp, but the central focus here isn’t the young single mother, but her 15-year-old daughter. Mia is no enchanting creature: she’s been kicked out of school, her friends avoid her, and she just wonders around the neighborhood. Her only interest is dance. It appears that a change for the better is coming when Mia’s mother meets the friendly, attractive, and slightly mysterious Connor. Director Arnold has a talent for finding and capturing the poetry of mirthless, everyday life, and Fish Tank honors the tradition of social realism à la Ken Loach and the Dardenne brothers. The filmmaker’s visually refined style emphasizes authenticity, and thanks to the sensitive, fluid camerawork, viewers may feel like participants in the story. The excellent performances by highly-appreciated actors stand out: Michael Fassbender and Kierston Wareing, as well as non-actor Katie Jarvis who lives rather than acts her on-screen persona, Mia.

About the director

Andrea Arnold is one of Britain’s most talented contemporary filmmakers. She earned a master’s degree in film and television from the American Film Institute in Los Angeles. Her short film Wasp, presented in the Focus on British Film at the 41st KVIFF in 2006, won an Oscar. Two award-winning shorts followed, Milk and Dog. Her feature debut, Red Road, was screened in the main competition at the Cannes festival in 2006, and won the Jury Prize; the film also took a BAFTA among many other awards. This year, her second feature Fish Tank competed at Cannes, again winning the Jury Prize, which Arnold shared with Korean director Park Chan-wook (Thirst).