FISH TANK REVIEW

Robyn Matthews Film studies Review

Fish Tank 

The film Fish Tank was created in 2009, directed by; Andrea Arnold. This was a BBC Film in collaboration with the UK film council. The genre of this film is a Drama/social realism and the themes explored throughout this film are innocence, love, lust, jealousy, revenge. This film is centered around Mia, a 15 year old girl whom lives with her mother on an estate in Essex. When the film starts we immediately judge Mia’s character by the way she talks to her friends over the phone, we can also interpret  that she is quite immature and blind sighted as she doesn't possible know when to stop this opening scene is crucial in relation to the rest of the events throughout the duration of the film and plays a huge contribution to the role of for showing up coming events based on how Mia approaches one of her assumed closest friends.

The acting within the film i thought was at a high standard. The actors made the characters situations believable and realistic is made the viewer able to experience empathy for Mia even though she is portrayed as being a rebellious teenager. It was clearly displayed to the audience that Mia was the main protagonist, however, I feel Connor played by Michael Fassbender was another protagonist as without his presence in the film there wouldn't be a plot, his fatherly role serve as a huge milestone in the progression of Mia's character.

A variety of camera angles were used this catch the viewers attention as the subject of the shot was constantly changing. The mis en scene of the film was a huge contribution to the overall  image of the film. The Essex based scene was shot in Barking London so the crew and cast did a convincing job to create the Essex like atmosphere.

Music features prominently in the film, particularly connected with Mia's dancing. The song she uses at her audition is California dreaming. Dancing is commonly used as movement therapy which suggests Mia has experienced deep psycological issue that are taunting her and she feels this  is the best way to express her self. 

At the opening scene of the film we are shown objects presumably from Mia's childhood such as photographs and souvenirs, the director may have done this to present Mia's emotions on her place in life right this Minuit. It's not clear to us until after we have seen these that Mia is infact a young 15 year old.  Therefore we are given the message that she feels in herself that she is a lot more mature than she is seen to be, as older people often have childhood memories around their room to remind themselves of their youth.

The film constantly referenced the

I feel this film was called Fishtank to present Mia's restriction in society and how Mia had boundaries given by her mother and the government; being forced to go to school. This didn't allow her to have the freedom she felt she deserved which persuaded her to rebel against the high authorities. However, at the end of the film we see a balloon reaching higher into the sky this represents Mia's first taste of freedom as balloons, once let go ( as her mum did), have the ability to go wherever they take themselves.