Fish Tank Cinema Review

Hurray! “An excellent British movie” in the shape of Andrea Arnold’s Fish Tank.

The film takes us into the pretty grim and bleak way of life for many kids growing up in London council estates. This is an existence far away from the fantasy nonsense of The Hills rich kids and a tale of survival.

The main protagonist is 15-year-old Mira (Katie Jarvis). On the surface a rough and tough kid who gets into fights, skips school and generally swears like a lot. But Andrea’s Arnold’s rich screenplay produces an insightful and thoughtful take on how Mia could potentially be or deep down is a good kid just adapting to a difficult upbringing in a harsh environment.

Mira lives with her mother (Kierston Warening) and her younger sister Tyler (Rebecca Griffiths). When Mira’s mother’s new boyfriend Connor (Michael Fassbender) enters the picture the movie shifts subtly and takes some unexpected turns which keep the audience guessing.

Aside from producing a great screenplay Arnold’s handling of the film is highly commendable. The dialogue may in reality be pretty sparse but it’s hard to really notice as the camera seems to lend so much to the audiences perspective of what the characters are experiencing. An excellent script usually makes it easy for a cast to be competent as it was here with good all round performances.

Another fine aspect of the film is how out of the gloom there are plenty of little rays that subtly shift the mood from being downright depressing to much lighter at times without pandering to any unwarranted soppiness. This is typified with a rather bitter sweet ending.

Release date September 11th