It's nearing the time that movie lovers start thinking about which films will make up their top ten list for the year."Fish Tank"will certainly be on my list.This is a 'hard' drama set in modern day England in a grim,gritty working class neighbourhood.Fifteen year old Mia;a foul-mouthed,troubled teen;lives in a bleak housing project in a socially deprived area of Britain with her single-parent mother Joanne,and her little sister Tyler.Joanne is an alcoholic,a lush,a party animal,who most often seems more concerned with her appearance and her relationships with the opposite sex than she does with the best interests of her two daughters.Mia can't get along with her peers;is kicked out of school;and feels trapped in the dysfunctional family home.Filled with rage,loneliness and boredom she wanders aimlessly.She dreams of being a dancer and thinks this might be her escape if she can win a dance competition.She takes her hip-hop cds and ghetto blaster and kicks in the door of a deserted flat to practise her dance moves.
Mia strikes up a friendship with her mother's new boyfriend,Connor,a handsome Irishman.Mia needs a friend,someone to talk to;someone to pay some attention to her;to show some interest in the things that are important to her.She becomes infatuated with Connor.She's desperate to escape from the miserable circumstances of her life.Things get complicated.Although not exactly a 'coming-of-age'movie,this is a story about survival.
The director Andrea Arnold does a terrific job.She is a student of the'Dogme' film movement,and uses hand held cameras and natural lighting.She didn't give the cast the whole script;just their lines for the next days shoot.She didn't cast an experienced actress in the lead role Mia.She chose unknown Katie Jarvis,who had never acted before,after spotting her at a train station yelling and arguing with her boyfriend on the opposite platform.Katie delivers a very good performance.We begin to care about Mia and pull for her to find her way through and out of depression and the turmoil of teenage hormones and emotional confusion.Some movies make you laugh;some make you cry;some make you think;some let you walk in someone else's skin and feel their pain,confusion,loneliness and despair;and their hope and joy and salvation.Andrea Arnold takes us into a world we may not be aware of and lets us feel and think about the issues others have to deal with in order to grow and find themselves and their way in life.Thank you Andrea Arnold and Katie Jarvis for the journey.
I can also highly reccommend the movie "Red Road" which Andrea made in 2006.It is a very good drama,mystery and thriller set in a world of closed circuit surveillance cameras in a bleak working class Glasgow.
Mia strikes up a friendship with her mother's new boyfriend,Connor,a handsome Irishman.Mia needs a friend,someone to talk to;someone to pay some attention to her;to show some interest in the things that are important to her.She becomes infatuated with Connor.She's desperate to escape from the miserable circumstances of her life.Things get complicated.Although not exactly a 'coming-of-age'movie,this is a story about survival.
The director Andrea Arnold does a terrific job.She is a student of the'Dogme' film movement,and uses hand held cameras and natural lighting.She didn't give the cast the whole script;just their lines for the next days shoot.She didn't cast an experienced actress in the lead role Mia.She chose unknown Katie Jarvis,who had never acted before,after spotting her at a train station yelling and arguing with her boyfriend on the opposite platform.Katie delivers a very good performance.We begin to care about Mia and pull for her to find her way through and out of depression and the turmoil of teenage hormones and emotional confusion.Some movies make you laugh;some make you cry;some make you think;some let you walk in someone else's skin and feel their pain,confusion,loneliness and despair;and their hope and joy and salvation.Andrea Arnold takes us into a world we may not be aware of and lets us feel and think about the issues others have to deal with in order to grow and find themselves and their way in life.Thank you Andrea Arnold and Katie Jarvis for the journey.
I can also highly reccommend the movie "Red Road" which Andrea made in 2006.It is a very good drama,mystery and thriller set in a world of closed circuit surveillance cameras in a bleak working class Glasgow.
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