Fish Tank

[LZ5by5]

Fish Tank revolves around 15 year old Mia (Katie Jarvis) and her struggles to find contentment in her life. It's clear from the beginning that Mia is a social misfit around her hometown in London. She is on hostile and violent terms with her female peers and things aren't much better at home, where her mother Joanne treats her children as a mere nuisance to her social life. However once Connor (Michael Fassbender) arrives into Mia's life as her mother's new boyfriend, things look to be improving. Connor comes across as the complete opposite to Joanne; while she treats her children with contempt, he is warm and quite clearly fond of children. This however should ring alarm bells among the audience as it is difficult to understand what Connor could see in a woman that couldn't be more different from him. The plot from here on in explores the complexities of human relationships, and always keeps the audience guessing as to whether Connor is genuine in his care for Joanne's kids, or whether he has more sinister motives.

In Fish Tank we see the continuation of the recent trend of young actors and actresses putting in impressive performances. Katie Jarvis is solid as Mia, she manages to enthrall the audience with ease as she portrays what it is to be a teenager coming from a broken home with few or no life chances. However it's quite possible that Katie is outshone by her 12 year old co-star, Rebecca Griffiths (who plays Mia's sister Tyler). Griffiths manages to give a disturbing and effortless performance as Tyler. This pre-teen is the personification of the recent social concerns that young girls are shockingly eager to become women. She sunbathes. She watches MTV Cribs longing to become a WAG. She drinks alcohol and smokes. You could even say that she at times bullies her older sister. Most disturbing of all is that in spite of Joanne's horrible treatment of her kids, Tyler seems to aspire to become just like her mother (albeit a more well off version). It truly is an impressive performance. Michael Fassbender continues to stamp his authority on the big screen in his role as the mysterious Connor. With screen presence that cannot be taught and that oh so rare ability to be likeable irrespective of the role he is in, he is quickly becoming Ireland's hottest talent in the business. In a role that some actors might feel apprehensive about portraying, Fassbender seems to relish the opprtunity and is fully engrossed in his performance. Even in his more controversial and undoubtedly more uncomfortable scenes, he never loses his nerve. It is a compelling turn by this highly impressive actor.

The film is mostly directed with the use of a shaky hand held camera. However rather than being frustrating, the use of the hand held camera only enhances the gritty and disturbing story. Andrea Arnold manages to capture some beautiful scenes that perfectly present the direness of Mia's life. She must also be commended for the stellar performances she gets out of the cast, especially from Jarvis and Griffths, so it is truly a job well done in the director's chair.

Fish Tank makes for some compelling viewing and excluding the last 30 minutes the film is absolutely riveting. It possibly suffers from peaking too early as after one highly tense scene the film begins to buckle. The story becomes muddled and slightly messy, and we don't quite get the closure that one might hope for. However I guess that this mirrors real life, and that justice is something that fails so many people in the world. All in all, Fish Tank is more than worth a cinema visit and I cannot recommend it enough.

****/*****