Director Andrea Arnold gave her cast the pages of the script for “Fish Tank” as they went along in the filming — a risky move, perhaps, but it might explain the real sense of edginess that courses through this tough new British film.
The setting is a typically soulless housing development that lies somewhere on the outskirts of … well, just on the outskirts, a place that seems empty and unconnected to either urban or rural environment.
This is home to Mia, played by Katie Jarvis. Fifteen years old, full of energy and anger and confusion, Mia quarrels with her shiftless, partying mother and ignores her foul-mouthed younger sister.
The issues at loose in Mia’s life are not unusual for the genre of British kitchen-sink dramas, and when Mom brings home a new boyfriend named Connor (Michael Fassbender), it is easy to predict that Mia is going to develop a foolish and dangerous infatuation with this older man.
What distinguishes the film is Andrea Arnold’s eye for telling detail and the empathy she has for her belligerent young heroine. This empathy is not always easy: Almost the first thing we see Mia do is head-butt a classmate and leave the girl with a bloody nose.
Arnold’s previous feature, “Red Road,” was a more original (and even thornier) movie, but she doesn’t back away from the harder implications of her story here.
And she brings her actors into the gritty reality of the milieu. We might expect that from Michael Fassbender, who did impressive work in the very different worlds of “Hunger” and “Inglourious Basterds.” It takes nerve to play a weak but charming man who ought to know better, and Fassbender doesn’t distance himself from this guy.
The big revelation is Katie Jarvis, whose first film this is (she was discovered for the movie while having an argument with her boyfriend on a train-station platform, and had little previous acting experience). Mia’s sole ambition in life is dancing, and Katie Jarvis’ dedicated — but not notably gifted — performance of this ambition is heartbreaking to watch.
If Arnold’s tactic of keeping her actors in the dark about the outcome of the script had something to do with the electricity of the performances, than clearly this was more than a gimmick.
Last week “Fish Tank” won the Best British Film prize at the BAFTA awards, the British version of the Oscars, besting the better-known and more crowd-pleasing “An Education.”
That verdict looks like a good one from here.
“Fish Tank” H½
A 15-year-old girl (newcomer Katie Jarvis), adrift in the empty world of a British housing project, grows too attached to her mother’s new boyfriend (Michael Fassbender), a charming man who should know better. Andrea Arnold’s film is tough and edgy, keyed to the strong performances of the two leads.
Rated: Not rated; probably R for nudity, language, subject matter
Showing: Varsity
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