Being a teenager. Finding a place in the world for one’s self. Developing a sense of identity. Discovering that the world is not all peaches and cream. Growing up is an eye-opening experience and can prove to be a real bitch. 15-year old Mia Williams learns these lessons the hard way in the indie drama FISH TANK.
Writer and director Andrea Arnold (RED ROAD) takes the audience into the life of Mia Williams, a teenager living in lower class neighborhood of London with her single mother and little sister. FISH TANK is an intimate, often painfully realistic portrait of a girl trying to find her place in the world.
Mia (Katie Jarvis) is a skinny but tough teen with street smarts and a sharp tongue. She’s not a textbook teenage girl, part tomboy and part rebel. The other girls in the neighbor hood hang together, seething pop culture, but Mia keeps mostly to herself. She’s a loaner and a little bit of a hypocrite.
Even though Mia mocks and bashes the other girls for “trying” to dance, Mia secretly hones her own dance skills in private. She yearns to dance like the fly girls she sees on television in the R&B music videos, but she’s embarrassed by her interest and has low self-esteem about her own abilities.
Mia’s mother Sophie (Charlotte Collins) is a single mom, a bit of a fraternizing tramp that spends her time partying and passing out drunk. She’s a terrible mother, verbally abusing and neglecting her children that have picked up the habit. Not only does Mia have a filthy, smart mouth, her little sister Tyler (Rebecca Griffiths) does as well.
When Sophie brings home a new man named Connor, vaguely resembling the Matthew McConaughey type — played by Michael Fassbender (300, INGLOURIOUS BASTERDS) – Mia initially finds herself frustrated but curious about the man. Over time, she finds herself confused by her anger and curiosity. This relationship slowly builds an uncomfortable sexual tension, blurred somewhere between the lines of an adoptive father and an inappropriate flirtation, all outside of Sophie’s radar.
FISH TANK is a compelling tale of teenage angst, externalizing Mia’s internally withdrawn search for purpose. The story is solid, but the pace of the film unfortunately suffers a bit from the two-hour running time. Some of the scenes of Mia’s home life were longer than necessary, despite their individual effectiveness. Fortunately, the final quarter of the film evokes the most powerful reaction in place of an earlier ending.
The little details of FISH TANK are what make the movie stand out. Mia’s obsession with saving an ailing horse from a neighboring lot speaks volumes about her true nature, but her interactions with other people, even her family, speak volumes about her insecurity. As her enigmatic relationship with Connor develops, Mia learns a great deal about herself and the world, but at a devastating personal price.
Katie Jarvis gives an enjoyable, honest performance. Mia is a lit fuse — a teenager on the edge — but deep down, she’s a good kid. Her rebellious, righteous side emerges fully, if not recklessly, in the end as she uncovers some hard truths and realizations about the world, becoming the catalyst for the transition from teenager to the first step of becoming an adult.
The final shot of the film is simply and perfectly selected, serving as a metaphor for Mia’s giant step from being an ignorant child to that of being a woman on the road to adulthood. FISH TANK has some difficult subject matter, but it’s handled respectfully and intelligently.
Overall Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars
