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.

Friendless and unloved Mia (Jarvis) dreams of becoming a dancer and when her mum's new boyfriend arrives on the scene, everything changes for the teenager.

Fish tank is an exceptional artistic creation, based on the purity of Andrea Arnold's script and appreciative direction whilst a debuting Katie Jarvis excels as the troubled isolated teenager, and what a feature this is.

British cinema is some of the most dramatic and flinching cinema in the world. From Trainspotting to This is England there are always issues of realism and points to convey and with this 2009 appraised release we see more hard drama.

The opening sequence follows Mia around the streets, slurring and shouting abuse at anyone in her radar and the coarse dialogue and minimal amount of sympathy is staggering. As if you had been slapped, this will instantly startle you into realizing the type of environment and lifestyle Mia is living in. The language will give Pulp Fiction a run for its money.

Added as an attempt to justify the rural scene of Britain, Arnold gets it spot on as everything flows with little adjustment required. Everything is as it should be because everything has been so carefully planned, in particular the character development which will have many shedding a tear or two.

Katie Jarvis' cold and unappreciative style is spot on for the protagonist and as the film goes through hard fights with families and spending time isolated in a deserted flat, we see the emotional desire of Mia. The ambition of becoming a dancer is exceptionally well produced, owing to the fact that the background is effectively established. The hard family life Mia is living inspires her to find a way out and her dancing is her motive to break free. This really does work up a treat with twists turns, ups and downs and a staggering climax that adds extra spice to the picture.

At only 15 the central character certainly has a controversial agenda set for her. From sleeping with random strangers to drinking anything dangerous, Mia seems unfazed. Seeing her younger sister drinking beer with her mother in the next room will have mouths dropping.

Thanks to this straight forward no messing attitude the plot can move forward and tell the audience of what real life entails and the cultural state we are living in at the moment.

Some British films go out of their way to preach, such as This is England and Brassed off and whilst that isn't a bad quality, the enriching style of this film makes it flow and add extra drama continuously.

The scene setting shots are exquisite, as if made from a Skins episode without the teen angst. The scene in the car is excellent and not to forget this film boasts an exceptional soundtrack that fits the mood as well as 2007's Hallam Foe.

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.

This is a great film. It starts off a bit slow but I believe it serves a purpose. The filmmaker did a great job of portraying the characters in the film but exposing just enough to make the second half of the film come together in a way that helps you see the characters more deeply. Katie Jarvis did a wonderful job in painting a picture of an angry 15 year old 'Mia'. Why is she so angry? You can take a look at Kierston Wareing's character of 'Joanna', the terrible excuse for a mother that puts the needs of her children second to her own needs of looking for love and acceptance in whoever will give it to her. The mother finds this acceptance in Fassbender's character, 'Connor', who seems to be a great and unlikely catch for her. He seems to be a ray of light for the family but turns out to be just the opposite. My opinion is that the story is not about the damage the family experiences in the interaction with Connor but rather the reality that this is just one example of a series of bad decisions made by the mother that propels the children into a world of emotional pain and disappointment. It's also a picture of the cycle of dysfunction that is taking place in a family and the poor decisions that continue to keep that dysfunction in place. There is a glimmer of hope with Mia (her desire to help an old horse) but it is such a faint glimmer that it doesn't leave the viewer thinking that much will change with this family. There are some very hard hitting scenes in the movie that leave you on the edge of your seat saying, "I CAN'T BELIEVE THIS IS HAPPENING!" and there are some scenes that really make you feel sorry for the characters and you can really see some of them as victims, especially the children. Overall, great movie and I highly, highly recommend it.