Fish Tank
Director: Andrea Arnold
Cert: 15
Time: 2hrs 3mins
Rarely does a day pass without some reference in the news to the underclass be it feckless ASBO seeking youths or teenage mums who breed simply to get a free home. We hear about it but have little experience of it an imbalance that Fish Tank makes an excellent attempt to rectify.
Mia, brilliantly played by debutant Katie Jarvis, is a volatile and gobby 15 year old, excluded from school and ostracized by her friends. Hardly surprising given the absence of love that she receives from an inadequate and promiscuous mother (Kierston Wareing). One summer’s evening she (the mother) brings home a new and mysterious boyfriend called Conor (Michael Fassbender) who is clearly different from previous beaus. For one thing he is quietly spoken, rarely swears and offers affection where none had previously existed. Yet he too has his own personal weaknesses and demons which, when given full reign, seek to destroy all the good that he brings to Mia’s dysfunctional family.
Like Red Road, Andrea Arnold’s previous outing, one never knows quite how things are going to turn out. All of which serves to maintain the interest over what is admittedly and unremittingly bleak couple of hours during which almost everything in Mia’s life turns sour. But never once does the tale drift into sentimentality and the end, when it finally arrives, offers a smidgen of hope. To describe Fish Tank as strictly “entertainment” is a moot point but it should be required viewing for all with government responsibility for law & order and social services.
Rating: 4/5
Patrons: 24
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