Fish Tank

The best part of this film was the acting. The characters all felt quite genuine. It is a good portrayal of a troubled life and has emotional depth.

As an American who used to be a fan of British "kitchen sink" drama I can say this film not only eclipsed those films, it eclipsed that whole genre, which was about poverty-stricken males who vented their rage against whoever crossed their path, usually females. "Fish Tank" turns all that inside out. This is "grrrrrl" kitchen sink.

Katie Jarvis cannot get enough kudos for her performance as a teenager called Mia. She's angry at the world. She fits in nowhere. Her mother is an advanced-age party animal who resents Mia for reminding her she's a mom.

Mia's poor. In the U.S., she would live in the projects. Here, it's called council flats.

The plot is fairly simple ... at first. Mia falls in love with her mother's studly boyfriend. He knows she lusts after him. She knows ... The movie is not really about the outcome of these lustful/familial issues as it is about how Mia will overcome/survive them. The movie goes in unpredictable directions.

One wonderful observation about this film is the economy of scenes. Every scene counts. An American version would have included at least one music video. Here, no BS. Every scene counts.

And the movie is about survival. Kids can survive bad backgrounds. We root for Mia all the way to the end.

Mike Leigh and Ken Loach, say hi to Andrea Arnold.

I left this movie stunned and stilled. Katie Jarvis' expressionless voyage through her 15th year soaked my entire attention into her character's being until I was her. A masterful performance of reserve and barely suppressed anger, frustration and awe permeate Jarvis' every move. While the character does unforgivable things at times, she is never who she seems to be on the surface. One can't help but pull for Mia and empathize with her inherent goodness, masquerading as it is under a steely, cold demeanour.

Jarvis' extraordinary performance wouldn't make a whit of impact without a director's equally reserved yet insightful work. Arnold never forces the issue, save for a little bit of symbolic overindulgence near the end, letting the characters play out the story.

Jarvis isn't alone in her excellence. Michael Fassbinder is a wonder, a smooth talking machismo machine who never over exerts but provides the right nuance at the right moment. Kierston Wareing is equally as effective, raw yet vulnerable, but like her daughters you would never know it by her words alone.

Arnold is one of the few modern directors who does not employ gimmicks. Music is one of the most offending of all directing crutches. This director avoids incidental music except when it actually occurs as part of the story. In one scene in particular, crossing fields all you can hear are the rustling of the leaves and the weeds, much like Antonioni did with "Blow-Up". Without distracting synthesisers or orchestras, the scene has all the terror of the moment.

This is a rare movie of substance and grit. It sinks under your skin and won't let you go. It never overplays its hand and keeps you involved. Arnold, Fassbender and Jarvis weave a hypnotic tale that in most cases would alienate and aggravate. It takes real artistry to transform such a gritty tale into a work of art of subtly and reserve. Fassbender is fast becoming a star. It won't take longer for Jarvis to follow, should she want it bad enough. As for Arnold, I'm looking forward to her next work more than any other.

"All my films have started with an image," says director Andrea Arnold. "It's usually quite a strong image and it seems to come from nowhere. I don't understand the image at first or what it means, but I want to know more about it so I start exploring it, try and understand it and what it means. This is how I always start writing." What does the image of a fish tank conjure up for you? On the inside longing to look out, is fifteen-year-old Mia. Trapped in a housing estate. Trapped in a single parent family. Trapped by people around her she can't respect. Trapped in herself. For being fifteen. She has her own inner world, fighting to manifest itself . Fortified by cigarettes and alcohol she can kick in the door of the empty nearby flat. A bare floor. Her CD player. Practice her moves. A better dancer than those kids on the block she just nutted.

Mia is quite content to carve out her own double life, f*ck you very much! Never mind she gets caught and nearly comes to grief trying to steal a horse. And social workers don't scare her. But mom's new boyfriend – that could be a pain! A real spanner in the works. Especially when he's so annoyingly nice.

Under Andrea Arnold's hand, life on this inner city concrete backwater is suddenly very alive. Banalities become beautiful. Like sunlight through cracked glass. Vibrant, gritty and riveting, but in a way that entertains powerfully. As pulsating and funny as Trainspotting but without the yuck factor. Its momentum is overpowering. We never know what is going to come out of Mia's mouth or where events will lead. Each jaw-dropping new scene surprises yet seems the result of inexorable momentum. As if that wasn't enough, the story mercifully avoids kitchen-sink drama, excessive violence, drugs, getting pregnant, grand larceny, car crashes and all the other cliché-ridden devices to which cinema-goers are usually subjected. Tightly controlled, Fish Tank attacks with a potent and thought-provoking arsenal of story-telling.

Andrea Arnold proved she could do hard-hitting realism with her award-winning debut, Red Road. Here she excels her earlier efforts but still imbibes many of the verité approaches and senses of discipline that have filtered down from the Dogme and Advance Party movements. Her 'strong initial image,' or lack of subservience to more traditional methodology, maybe reminds of the devotion to experimental, avant-garde cinema taken by artists-turned-filmmakers such as Steve McQueen (Hunger) or theme-over-story technicians such as Duane Hopkins (Better Things). Michael Fassbender, who took reality to new heights as Bobby Sands in Hunger, here plays the mystifying and warmly charismatic Connor (Mum's boyfriend).

Arnold didn't allow actors to read the script beforehand. They were given their scenes only a few days before filming. For the part of Mia, she chooses a complete unknown with zero experience. Arnold spotted Katie Jarvis at a train station after drawing a blank with casting agencies. "She was on one platform arguing with her boyfriend on another platform, giving him grief." However the performance is achieved, Jarvis is electrifying. If Arnold wanted a 'real' person for the role, this seventeen-year-old takes over the screen with raw adolescent power. Says Arnold, "I wanted a girl who would not have to act, could just be herself." Fish Tank will lift you out of your seat and on an unstoppable flight, ricocheting against confines of circumstance and imploding a dysfunctional family with its head of hormonal steam. Laugh, cry, hold on tight. You will need to. I could almost taste the vodka, as Mia goes through her Mum's dressing table drawers, bottle in hand. I wish all British films were this good.

Andrea Arnold's "Fish Tank" was a big hit in Britain and at Cannes and now tries its hand at America, who will probably nickname it "White Precious." Anchored by a star-making performance from Kate Jarvis, Arnold's film is more grit and zero melodrama, a step-up from the weepy style of "Precious." Jarvis plays Mia, a teenager living in the ghetto where kids expect to follow in the option-less footsteps of their parents. Her little sister (Rebecca Griffiths) is already smoking and emulating skanks on MTV and mom (Kierston Wareing) is a drunk throwing parties with very sketchy friends. Mia has a dream of becoming a dancer and she finds encouragement from mom's new boyfriend, Connor (Michael Fassbender), a hunky security guard who seems like a nice guy but is, at times, "too friendly." It's familiar other-side-of-the tracks territory but it doesn't spend time wallowing in misfortune. Arnold's film is harsh, and with its use of language (the C and F words are used a lot), dead-end scenery, breathless sexual and violent encounters, and Jarvis' award-worthy portrayal, it's nothing short of compelling. It's a brave performance, a rough-fighter exterior masking youthful vulnerabilities. Fassbender also impresses as a charming/shady character that you're never quite sure has a sexual or fatherly preference toward Mia. It all comes down to a predictable yet scary ending where neglect turns dangerous.