'Fish Tank' is a reminder of the days of gripping film drama that doesn't have to be fueled by action and spectacle. Andrea Arnold manages to tap human emotion and examine relationships so that she doesn't need anything else.
If cinema narrative is in a state of decline (which it may be this year more than any that have gone before) it is owing to the minimal attention given by filmmakers to characters and their relationships. This isn't only just true of American products such as 'Transformers' and 'Little Miss Sunshine' but plagues the British and Australian film industry and is creeping around the globe. The Australian industry is more interested in producing films that applies realism to terribly shallow characters (see: Somersault) or making carbon copies (see: The Magician, Chopper).
That is why it is refreshing to find a film like 'Fish Tank' that drives itself by the intimacies and tensions of a human relationship, much as Andrea Arnold achieved with 'Red Road' and her earlier short 'Wasp'. The key relationship of the film is between Mia, a 15-year-old girl pent up with energy and rage in the council flats of outer London, and Connor, the new boyfriend of Mia's mother. They are joined in their interactions by Mia's foul-mouthed sister, Mia's alcoholic and similarly rage-fueld mother, a boy closer to Mia's age, and the other girls in the council flats with whom Mia can't find friendship.
Characters may sound stereotypical of the 'working class' English film but it is something you never feel when watching the film. Andrea skethces all characters in great depth to the point where you find unexpected complexities in some of the minor supproting characters. Most admirably Arnold paints no one as a villian no matter what their actions. We sympathise with Connor despite the path that he is on and that draws a complex response when he undertakes some actions.
The relationship twists and turns so that even if you come in with assumptions, Arnold makes sure you never quite know where these two characters are taking each other. In doing so a simple conversation between them in a dark room, only lit by a television, can keep you on the edge of the seat. This undoubtedly owed as much to Arnold as it is to the excellent performances given by Katie Jarvis and Michael Fassbender. Two names you should hear a lot about come award season.
If Arnold hits the right notes most of the time, it must be said that there are one or two sequences where she hits the wrong note, but not so wrong to put one off the film. Simply finger slips rather mis steps. Consequently the film isn't quite as gripping as 'Red Road' and it feels like it should've been.
Andrea Arnold is only a young feature filmmaker with a lot skill. With the right kind of creative environment provided to her, one can't help but feel that 'Fish Tank' is a strong indication that her masterpiece(s) is/are just around the corner.
