May 16, 2010

Fish Tank (2009).

Fish Tank is a British film by director Andrea Arnold that I watched last week. When I was seeing it all, I didn't feel comfortable, but at the end, it was rounded and my feelings changed. I'm not sure, but I think it is a great movie.

It is about a 15 year old Mia (Katie Harvis) living in Essex with his chaotic and struggled life. There is no parental figure to help her mature, as her mother seems to have as much problems as her daughters.

In this disregard situation, a man, Connor (Michael Fassbender) turns everything outside down, from the promising father-like position (being their mother's lover) to a certain feeling that he is as lost as Mia, her sister and her mother. I'm not going to spoil you the movie, but you must understand that everyone in this story is as fragile as the other one.

It is a real social drama (reading some critics, the Trifaud's 400 Blows was mentioned), so authentic that it gave no release. It is pure reality through the inquisitive crystal of fiction.

From the beginning one can see that this social lower-class background is hurting every character in this play. But they have so complex personalities that they could spawn their lives as much as the can. Some mistakes seems to be evident (trying to free a dying horse, doing an audition at a wrong place, and so on) but you keep moving along the story as you care for the characters.

[via La Butaca]

The movie did well at Cannes last year and at the BAFTA. And that was great. The movie deserve it.

What I'm not into it is the idea that having actors with no acting experience is good to give a fresh point of view to a film production. If the director trust in professionals in the technical part of the film, why is an inexperience actor a good option to any movie?

But in this case, Katie Jarvis is a good option. She is great, she is a natural and you care about her from minute one. I hope to see her in other movies, because she could grow into a capital actress. But it was a risky option by Andrea Arnold. She won this time, but it could be a fiasco. As I said, I don't agree with this vision of novel actors as the best possible choose.

As I said before, I don't know if I should recommend this film, but I think it is a good movie and you should give it a try if you can.