Andrea Arnold's "Fish Tank" was shot in Essex and several boroughs outside of London (IMDb lists Barking, Havering and Tower Hamlets among them) and these landscapes -- variously industrial, suburban, undeveloped -- look as chilly and otherworldly as anything in Antonioni. Only shabbier. It took me all year to get around to seeing "Fish Tank," but as an admirer of Arnold's nightmarish 2006 "Red Road," I'm not terribly surprised to discover that it's one of the most vividly directed US releases of the year. And I say that even though it consists almost entirely of hand-held camerawork (which is not a style I generally appreciate). Through Arnold's lens, this slice of soggy Britain takes on the surreal look of a dream, or science fiction.
The film follows (literally, much of the time) 15-year-old Mia (Kate Jarvis), who lives in a run-down apartment complex with her thirtysomething party-girl mum and bratty younger sister. Mia is headstrong, abrasive, foul-mouthed (did I mention she's 15?) and always seems to be storming off, exiting one situation and headed somewhere with a purpose in mind -- though we rarely know what it is until she gets there. Sometimes she's not so sure herself, even after she appears to get where she's going. Her refuge is an empty flat in one of the apartment towers where she surreptitiously practices hip-hop dance routines.
I'm not going to say much more about the story, except that I think "Fish Tank" would make a fine double-bill with "Winter's Bone," as they're both movies about teenage girls looking for their daddies, as it were. In Mia's case, though, it's not her father -- it's her mum's new Irish boyfriend (Michael "Hunger" Fassbender), and her desires are no more familial than his are parental.
The northern sunlight is devoid of warmth, and Arnold shoots with a shallow depth of field, giving the impression that, even in exteriors filmed in mid-afternoon, there isn't enough light to allow the foreground and the background to remain in focus at the same time. (Which is an appropriate technique for a movie that inhabits the myopic consciousness of a teenager.) "Fish Tank" joins the ranks of the most richly textured weather pictures of 2010 (including "Sweetgrass," "The Ghost Writer," "Winter's Bone," "True Grit," "Vincere," "Let Me In"...), an exceptionally wintery year at the movies.
Please look at these frame grabs, which aren't arranged in chronological order, as a kind of mini-photo essay on motifs from "Fish Tank." Once I got started I kept thinking of more striking, atmospheric images I wanted to capture, so there are quite a few. NOTE: If you haven't seen the movie, you might not want to scroll all the way down (stop at the fish) to avoid seeing some images of a dramatic development that won't mean anything to you until you do see it....
The Criterion Collection will be releasing "Fish Tank" on DVD and Blu-ray later in the month (February 22, 2011).
18 Comments
This is a fantastic movie. I'd like to read more of what you have to say about the directing style as well as the unexpected plot development. Her motives in those scenes are a bit ambiguous and frightening. I knew she was impulsive but I did not see this coming!
Jim-
I saw this film in early 2010 and share your admiration for it. I found it much more rewarding than Arnold's Red Road, which I thought was far too preoccupied with a big reveal to generate much staying power.
Fish Tank distinguishes itself by evoking a sense that it is actually happening...to you...to the characters...right now. I suppose it plays like a docudrama, but that makes it sound more affected than it is.
It may play well with Winter's Bone or even something like Precious, but the audience would need some anti-depressants with their popcorn. In the interest of fair disclosure, people that wish to avoid grim, depressing features, regardless of how well made, should proceed with caution here.
One of the things I'm trying to show with this post is that, even though the subject may be downbeat, the artistry of how it's depicted elevates it into an exhilarating experience.
This is what I never understand about people who claim to like films but then disdain the works of Antonioni, Tarkovsky, Bergman, Bresson and others because "they're too depressing." Only if you're only paying attention to the story, instead of the inspired way it's being told. What's truly depressing is the same old shabbily put together and completely predictable action movie. Give me a BENNY'S VIDEO any day of the week over Michael Bay's latest.
Jim, that's such an astute thing to notice. There are so many obvious things to notice about this film: Katie Jarvis' acting, the realism, the somewhat-controversial climax, etc. But it's cool that you noticed this film is really much more stylish than meets the eye, especially for a hand-held camera. My favorite scene is where Mia (Jarvis) is practicing her dance moves by herself in the apartment (about five minutes before the love-making scene), silhouetted against the window view of the city, a gorgeous gradation of blue hues. And it seems at times as if she is moving in slow motion underwater -- as if in a fish tank. So beautiful.
Yes! It's one of those moments in which the film almost imperceptibly slips into slow motion (like the ride Fassbender's character gives her in the image above), so that the hip hop moves turn into something more delicate and fluid, like ballet...
I cannot say I was much impressed with Fish Tank, a picture so devoid of subtlety that it gives you not one, not two, but three thuddingly obvious animal metaphors all of which are on display in your photo essay: the horse, the flock of birds, the fish gasping for air. Oh, and that lonely balloon at the end, just in case... *CLONK* Too bad, since this story which gets so bogged down in clichés would have used all the nuance it could get.
The direction follows that line of conduct: it's effective but terribly facile. The look of the film you describe as "shabby Antonioni" may just be plain old "suburban drabness" with patches of light and color standing for sudden bursts of happiness appearing through the gloom. And it's only when Arnold is playing with light, that Fish Tank truly... erm... shines (e.g. the scene where Connor carries little Mia to bed). But these moments where she allows the film to depart from a sensibility that is otherwise purely kitchen-sink are few and far between.
'Tis a pity, if she cared to tone it down a little, Andrea Arnold could be a pretty major talent.
I thought the movie was beautifully shot and extremely well acted as well, though i could not shake the sense that it was just Dardenne Brother's lite. There were one too many places where i felt that the director/writer pushing their characters into situations that felt too "scripty" (if that's a word haha). And for a movie that takes great pains to appear realistic it struck many a false note. I particularly thought that last scene where the two girls yell at each other before saying goodbye was too "scripty" as well. Why not let them just hug in silence without a word? Trying to counter act the maudlin nature of the scene with ironic "i hate you's" just took away from its natural power in my opinion. This particular breed of ending and indeed the overall arc of the story was much more effective in "Ghost World" and was nowhere near as sentimental too. Anyway, i think it's a flawed good movie with, as you've demonstrated, great photography.
Finally! I saw this early in 2010, catching the VERY last show before it left DC. Wish I'd seen it sooner, as I immediately wanted to watch it again.
I agree with your thoughts on the film's direction -- and I love that close-up of Mia's face. But when I see that shot, or think of this movie, I think of the sound of breathing in that scene. Hers? His? Theirs?
I hope that moment translates to the home theater on DVD, because it so wonderfully evoked that heightened sensation of nervous, anticipatory, hopeful arousal.
Wow, the shot with a storm over a city looks like a Rohtko painting, really beautiful.
Regarding 'Winter's Bone' and its depressive aspects, I had a hard time relating to the characters because I grew up in a world with similar aspects, although far less dramatic. The pathos of the film caused me to distance myself from the characters and story which may have made the film as a whole less immersive, but it made my appreciation for the craft greater. Somewhere, Brecht is smiling.
=================================================
There is a scene at the end when the mother and daughters dance to a rap song that says something like - Life is a bitch and then you die.
That's when I realized I just wasted 2 hours of my life.
=================================================
That's too bad Sam, as it was the famous track "Life's A Bitch" from Nas' album Illmatic, still widely regarded as one of the greatest Hip Hop albums of all time and is pretty much thematically perfect for the scene and the film in general.
If you listen to the lyrics, (and really, Nas is ALL about the lyrics), you'd hear that Nas is actually strongly arguing against the shallow nihilism of the chorus and first verse, (sung by AZ). The entire track is a debate between coal-black cynicism and urgent hope.
The core of the entire track lies in the line; "I switched my motto, instead of saying fuck tommorow, that buck that bought the bottle could have struck the lotto."
I really enjoyed "Fish Tank" and agree with Jim that it possesses a striking colour palette and surreal, but not unsympathetic compositions, but I also think the film is compromised by the heavy-handed symbolism of the horse and that goddamn shot of the balloon at the end. I nearly gagged when I heard the line about the horse being 16 years old and it being 'her time to go'. Give the audience some credit!
I'm glad you highlighted Arnold's film. There is a lot to admire about it, including her decision to use a 1:33 aspect ratio. I have to say I was a bit cold on the final shot, finding it a bit too obvious, but that's a minor issue with a mostly standout effort.
I could do without that last shot, too -- mainly because it's so obviously a stereotypical final shot. (Think of the opening shot of Mia, which catches you off-guard.)
Glad to see you enjoyed Fish Tank as much as I did. The visuals are indeed pretty exhilarating, and that shot of Mia's eyeliner running down her face really hits hard. There was another that had a similar impact on me, in the scrap yard there's a car that has what appears to be human hair lodged in the cracked windshield. Yikes!
There are plenty of other rich details, like the soundtrack, which consists largely of low-rent hip-hop and reggaeton, which is exactly right.
==================================================
Timothy,
Somebody made a decision to put that song in the movie and as you said, it "is pretty much thematically perfect for the scene and the film in general". And that is exactly why I came away thinking that the movie was a load of bullshit.
But if it didn't spoil your enjoyment of the film, good for you. I would have preferred to see a 2-hour documentary on the real Katie Jarvis.
==================================================
I agree with that approach, Jim, though I don't know if this particular film distinguishes itself through an aesthetic. We've seen handheld used to similar effect before and the visual metaphors involving animals are a bit crass here.
What I responded to most were character and location. It minimized some of the structural obviousness and the heaviness inherent in a few compositions, some of which you captured above.
More importantly, it has an immediacy and rawness that assaults the viewer. Kate Jarvis is particularly good at immersing you in her drab surroundings. This one is more emotional than visceral, but I don't dispute your point of it being vividly directed. Fish Tank does feel guided by someone with a sure hand. It could have been exploitative or maudlin with a lesser talent.
Leave a comment