Fish Tank

Fish Tank
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Andrea Arnold
Produced by	Nick Laws Kees Kasander Executive: Christine Langan David M. Thompson
Written by	Andrea Arnold
Starring	Katie Jarvis Kierston Wareing Michael Fassbender
Cinematography	Robbie Ryan
Editing by	Nicolas Chaudeurge
Studio	BBC Films UK Film Council Kasander Film Company
Distributed by	IFC Films
Release date(s)	14 May 2009 (2009-05-14) (Cannes) 11 September 2009 (2009-09-11)
Running time	124 minutes[1]
Country	United Kingdom ‹See Tfd› Netherlands
Language	English
Budget	$3 million[2]
Box office	$2,357,852[2]

Fish Tank is a 2009 British drama film written and directed by Andrea Arnold. The film won the Jury Prize at the 2009 Cannes Film Festival.^[1] It also won the 2010 BAFTA for Best British Film. It was filmed in the Mardyke Estate in Havering,^[3] the town of Tilbury, and the A13, and funded by BBC Films and the UK Film Council.

Plot

Mia Williams is a volatile 15-year-old. She lives on an East London council estate with her single mother, Joanne, and younger sister, Tyler. Mia is a loner, appearing to have had a falling out with her best friend Keely, and even tries provoking Keely's other friends as well as head butting the nose of one of them. Mia regularly practises hip-hop dance alone in a deserted flat.

Near the estate, Mia comes across a skinny, tethered horse in a traveller encampment. She tries to free it, only to be caught, taunted, and assaulted by two young men, the horse's owners. A third young man, Billy, brother of the other two, is more sympathetic. He explains that the horse is ill, and he befriends Mia.

Joanne's new boyfriend, Connor O'Reily, is a charming and handsome Irishman. He drives Joanne, Mia, and Tyler on a day-trip into the countryside, introduces Mia to his favorite song, Bobby Womack's version of "California Dreamin'", shows her how to catch a fish using noodling, and asks her to show off her dance moves. Although Mia is abrupt with Connor, she appears to be intrigued by him. One night, she secretly watches him and her mother having sex. She then goes back to her room and slams the door several times.

Mia finds a flyer for a club seeking dancers and Connor encourages Mia to apply. He lends her a video camera to record an audition tape. Mia sends in her tape and is invited by the club to perform in person. Late one night, after she and Connor have both been drinking, he asks to see her dance routine. She dances to "California Dreamin'". Connor then invites her to sit next to him, and the two end up having sex in the living room while Joanne is passed out drunk upstairs. Connor suggests that Mia has already had sex with Billy, and tells Mia to keep their liaison a secret.

The following morning, Mia hears her mother crying: Tyler tells her that Connor has left. Mia tracks him down to his home in Chadwell St Mary and confronts him. He explains he cannot see Joanne or Mia any more. He drives her to Tilbury Town railway station and gives her her fare home. Instead, Mia makes her way back to Connor's house. It is unoccupied, so Mia sneaks in through an unlocked back window. She finds Connor's camera in the living room and, watching his videos, discovers that he has a wife and young daughter, Keira. Shocked and upset, Mia urinates on the living room floor and then goes upstairs to wash her face. She hears Connor and his wife returning, and escapes by sneaking out of the back door.

Back in the road in front of the house, Mia sees Keira riding her scooter. On impulse, she pressures Keira to go with her under the claim that Keira's mother told Mia to take her for ice cream. They then go out into the fields and eventually reach the River Thames, where a suspicious Keira tries to escape. Mia catches her, but in the struggle Keira falls into the turbulent river water and disappears. She resurfaces after several seconds and Mia pulls her out, then takes her home as night falls. When they reach Connor's house, Mia sends Keira to her house then sneaks away, but as she is walking back towards the train station, Connor's car screeches to a halt beside her. Mia attempts to run away, but Connor chases her, catches up with her, and slaps her, knocking her to the ground. He then walks away and drives off without saying a word.

The next day, Mia goes to her audition. It is immediately obvious that it is for erotic dancers: the other participants are all grown women wearing heavy makeup and provocative clothing. Mia takes the stage, but as the music starts, and before she has begun dancing, she walks off.

Mia goes in search of Billy. When she arrives at his place, Billy tells her that the horse has died. Mia sinks to the ground, weeping. Billy says he is moving to Cardiff, Wales, and invites her to join him.

Mia returns home to pack. In the living room, Joanne is in an almost trance-like state, dancing to Mia's Nas CD. Mia tells Joanne that she is leaving. Before she goes, Mia, Joanne, and Tyler dance to "Life's a Bitch" from the album Illmatic. Outside, Mia hugs Tyler goodbye and gets into Billy's car, setting off for her new life in Wales.

Cast

• Katie Jarvis as Mia Williams
• Kierston Wareing as Joanne Williams
• Michael Fassbender as Connor O'Reily
• Rebecca Griffiths as Tyler Williams
• Harry Treadaway as Billy
• Sydney Mary Nash as Keira O'Reily
• Sarah Bayes as Keely

Production

Katie Jarvis, who plays Mia, had no prior acting experience. She was cast for the film after one of Arnold's casting assistants saw her arguing with her boyfriend in Tilbury Town railway station,^[4][5][6] which is the station featured in the film.

Principal photography began 28 July 2008^[7], and was filmed in chronological order. At the end of each week the actors were given the scripts for the scenes that they would perform the following week, so that when they performed each scene they were largely unaware of what would happen to their characters later in the film.^[8]

Music

Music features prominently in the film, particularly connected with Mia's dancing. The song she uses at her audition is "California Dreamin'", as covered by Bobby Womack (1968). The CD she borrows from Connor is The Best of Bobby Womack (2008), on which "California Dreamin'" appears on track 17, as Mia requests. Towards the beginning of the film, the song "Me & U" by Cassie is also used and the video for Down 4 U by Ja Rule and Ashanti is watched by Mia when she first meets Connor.

Other songs include "Jah Rule (w/ Paul St. Hilaire)" by Rhythm & Sound (Album: W/The Artists), "Life's a Bitch" by Nas, "Just to Get a Rep" by Gang Starr, "Cool Down the Pace" by Gregory Isaacs, "Your House" by Steel Pulse, "Juice" by Eric B and Rakim, "Baby girl" by Wiley, "Show Me Love" (Stonebridge Club Mix) by Robin S, "Get Up Offa That Thing" by James Brown, and "Original Nuttah" by Shy FX & UK Apache.

Release

Critical reception

The film currently holds a 90% "certified fresh" rating on Rotten Tomatoes based on 132 reviews.^[9] The New Yorker's David Denby writes, "Fish Tank may begin as a patch of lower-class chaos, but it turns into a commanding, emotionally satisfying movie, comparable to such youth-in-trouble classics as The 400 Blows".^[10]

Box office

Fish Tank was released domestically on 11 September 2009 taking £103,180 on its first weekend^[11] and a total of £332,488. As of 15 June 2010, the film earned $374,675 in the United States and $1,612,034 elsewhere, bringing the worldwide total to $1,986,709.^[2]

Home media

A digitally restored version of the film was released on DVD and Blu-ray by The Criterion Collection in February 2011. Extras will include three short films by director Andrea Arnold: Milk (1998), Dog (2001), and the Oscar-winning Wasp (2003).^[12]

References

External links

• Fish Tank at the Internet Movie Database
• Fish Tank at AllRovi
• Fish Tank at Box Office Mojo
• Fish Tank at Rotten Tomatoes
• Fish Tank at Metacritic
• Fish Tank press book
• Criterion Collection Essay by Ian Christie