Fish Tank

Fish Tank

Directed by Andrea Arnold

123 minutes

Fish Tank (2009) directed by Andrea Arnold is one of the more refreshing narratives I have seen, no clichés or judgments, just honesty.

Fish Tank focuses on Mia (Katie Jervis), an angsty teenager who goes between home and the streets. Mia lives with her single mother Joanne (Kierston Wareing) and younger sister Tyler (Rebecca Griffiths). They drink and use the word, cunt a lot. Partly the joy here, and in particular British cinema is hearing cunt on a regular basis. Cunt may still be considered offensive but through repetition, cunt has become just another word like “fuck” stripping its power in a liberal sense, and bringing the connotation into different perspectives. For example, the Scottish use it as a friendly gesture, e.g., “You cunts want a drink”and would be great to hear more often in cinema. At the same time though, I’m skeptical when cinema, ups the ante on the swear factor, or moments that looked like a setting from a British reality show, showing a working class family about to have a much-needed makeover for the viewer to look down on the family and judge them. Fish Tank doesn’t do this, nor use dialogue in a gratuitous way. Visually it does have a slice of life, fly on the wall feel to it, but it is respectful not like a typical make over show. There are no socially awkward moments or close ups of cellulite, Arnold observes the family like they’re her own and equally characters she knows little about.

Fish Tank is a minimal but dark narrative. Joanne’s boyfriend Connor (Michael Fassbender) is a mixture of being younger than Joanne and too old for Mia. Fassbender is perfect, playing the role of the boyfriend and father figure, switching between these traits in the most creepy and desirable ways. But when Mia’s street friend Billy (Harry Treadaway) threatens Connors’ masculinity, Fish Tank goes into risqué territories. A boozy night turns into a sexual encounter between Connor and Mia. At first, this encounter comes across as blissful seeing Mia sexually fulfilled, but could also be interpreted as child abuse, but knowing this is a journey for Mia, Fish Tank conjures something cinema is limited in, female sexuality. If this were presented in mainstream cinema, the teenage girl would be vulnerable and it would be stripped of being equally, a perpetuator. Fish Tank, illustrates female sexuality exists, and should be taken serious.

For me, the most enjoyable moments were the street aspect. Dance and hip-hop is a way Mia aids her teenager and home life. Arnold isn’t interested in redemption or putting a positive spin to a poor community. This is not your, from rags to riches cliché, or a film designed for fortunate folk to get better understandings of the streets. Complimenting the vibe and attitude here, is its soundtrack. A touching moment Mia shares with Joanne through artist Nas (a poetic rapper) is a perfect example of the subtly and vision this film has.  Joanne dances to one of Mia’s cd, which happens to be “Life’s A Bitch” (Nas), stating, “It’s alright”. Joanne’s acceptance of the song can be compared early when mainstream rapper, Ja Rule is playing on Joanne’s TV, his music conjures a different attitude and perhaps some of the (gangsta) clichés in hip hop. “Life’s A Bitch” articulates the family’s struggles and habitual lifestyle. The use of hip hop, and in particular Nas demonstrates the positive understandings of the genre socially and politically, in the wrong hands any old song could have been used and given an entirely different perspective, but instead Joanne and Mia are able to communicate and show their love for each other.