Fish Tank (film)
Encyclopedia
Fish Tank is a 2009 British drama film
directed by Andrea Arnold
. The film won the Jury Prize
at the 2009 Cannes Film Festival
. It also won the 2010 BAFTA for Best British Film
. It was filmed in the Mardyke Estate
in Havering
, the town of Tilbury
, and the A13, and funded by BBC Films
and the UK Film Council
.
) is a volatile 15-year-old. She resides on an East London
council estate with her single mother, Joanne, and foul-mouthed younger sister, Tyler. Mia is a loner
and does not seem to have any close friends. Her only source of escape is hip-hop dance, which she practises alone in a deserted flat.
Near the estate, Mia comes across a malnourished, tethered horse in a traveller encampment. She attempts to free the horse, incurring the anger of two of its owners. The third owner, a young man named Billy, is more sympathetic. He explains the horse is ill, creating a friendship between them.
Joanne's boyfriend, Connor (Michael Fassbender
), is a charming and handsome Irishman. Connor, Joanne, Mia, and Tyler drive out to the countryside. Connor introduces Mia to his favorite song, Bobby Womack
's version of "California Dreamin'
", shows her how to catch a fish using noodling
, and asks her to show off her dance moves. Although Mia is abrupt with Connor, he intrigues her and she is keen to impress him. One night, she secretly watches him and her mother having sex, during the course of which, he notices her twice and carries on, seeming to enjoy the fact that she's peeking through the door. She then goes back to her room and slams the door several times.
A local club is seeking dancers and Connor encourages Mia to apply. He lends her a video camera to record an audition tape. Mia sends in her tape and is then asked to come by the club to perform in person. Late one night, after she and Connor have both been drinking, he asks to see her dance routine. She dances to "California Dreamin'." Connor then invites her to sit next to him. They have sex in the living room while Joanne is passed out drunk upstairs. He demands Mia keeps what happened a secret.
The following morning, Mia hears her mother crying. Tyler informs her Connor has left. Mia tracks him down at his home in Chadwell-St-Mary and confronts him. He explains he cannot see Joanne or Mia anymore. He drives her to the railway stationThe station is Tilbury Town railway station
, where Jarvis was recruited. and gives her money to get herself home, not before kissing her goodbye on the mouth. Defiant, Mia returns to Connor's house. No one is home so she sneaks in through a back window. When she sees a videotape showing Connor has a wife and a daughter, Keira, she becomes angry and urinates on the living room carpet.
When Connor and his family return, Mia slips out the back door and notices Keira playing outside. She persuades the child to go with her across the fields. They come to the River Thames
when Keira attempts to escape. Mia pushes Keira, who falls into the river. She nearly drowns but Mia saves her by holding out a branch. A remorseful Mia takes Keira back to her house and sneaks away. As Mia is walking home, Connor's car pulls up beside her. She runs away into the fields and Connor runs after her. He stops her, slaps her across the face, then turns around, and walks back to his car.
Mia attends the audition, only to discover they are looking for erotic dancers, not hip-hop dancers in baggy sweatpants. Mia tries to perform, but walks offstage just after the music starts. She goes to find Billy, and discovers the horse has died. She breaks down crying. Billy tells her he is about go to Cardiff
, and invites her to leave with him.
Mia agrees, and packs her bags. In the living room, Joanne is in an almost trance-like state, dancing to Mia's Nas
CD. Mia informs Joanne that she is leaving; Joanne barely reacts to the news and agrees she'd better go. Mia, Joanne, and Tyler dance to "Life's a Bitch." Outside, Mia hugs Tyler goodbye and gets into Billy's car; driven to her new life in Wales
.
, who plays Mia, had no prior acting experience. She was cast for the film after one of Arnold's casting assistants saw her arguing with her boyfriend in Tilbury Town railway station
, which is the station featured in the film.
Fish Tank was filmed in chronological order. At the end of each week the actors were given the scripts for the scenes that they would perform the following week, so that when they performed each scene they were largely unaware of what would happen to their characters later in the film.
", as covered by Bobby Womack
(1968). The CD she borrows from Connor is The Best of Bobby Womack (2008), on which "California Dreamin'" appears on track 17, as Mia requests. Towards the beginning of the film the song "Me & U" by Cassie is also used.
Other songs include "Jah Rule (w/ Paul St. Hilaire)" by Rhythm & Sound
(Album: W/The Artists), "Life's a Bitch" by Nas
, "Just to Get a Rep" by Gang Starr
, "Cool Down the Pace" by Gregory Isaacs
, "Your house" by Steel pulse
, "Juice" by Eric B and Rakim, "Baby girl" by Wiley
, "Show Me Love" (Stonebridge Club Mix) by Robin S, "Get Up Offa That Thing
" by James Brown
, and "Original Nuttah" by Shy FX
& UK Apache.
based on 132 reviews. The New Yorkers David Denby
writes, "Fish Tank may begin as a patch of lower-class chaos, but it turns into a commanding, emotionally satisfying movie, comparable to such youth-in-trouble classics as The 400 Blows
".
and $1,612,034 elsewhere, bringing the worldwide total to $1,986,709.
Drama film
A drama film is a film genre that depends mostly on in-depth development of realistic characters dealing with emotional themes. Dramatic themes such as alcoholism, drug addiction, infidelity, moral dilemmas, racial prejudice, religious intolerance, poverty, class divisions, violence against women...
directed by Andrea Arnold
Andrea Arnold
Andrea Arnold OBE is a filmmaker and former actress from England, who made her feature film directorial debut in 2006 with Red Road.-Early TV work:...
. The film won the Jury Prize
Jury Prize (Cannes Film Festival)
The Jury Prize is an award presented at the Cannes Film Festival. It is chosen by the jury from the 'official section' of movies at the festival. It is considered the third most prestigious prize at the film festival, after the Palme d'Or and the Grand Prix....
at the 2009 Cannes Film Festival
2009 Cannes Film Festival
The 62nd annual Cannes Film Festival was held from May 13 to May 24, 2009. French actress Isabelle Huppert was the President of the Jury. It was announced on March 19, 2009, that Pixar's film Up would open the festival...
. It also won the 2010 BAFTA for Best British Film
BAFTA Award for Best Film
This page lists the winners and nominees for the BAFTA Award for Best Film, BAFTA Award for Best Film not in the English Language and Alexander Korda Award for Best British Film for each year, in addition to the retired earlier versions of those awards...
. It was filmed in the Mardyke Estate
Orchard Village
Orchard Village, formerly known as the Mardyke Estate, is a housing development in London, England.The site is currently undergoing a regeneration as part of the London Riverside part of the Thames Gateway. The estate was transferred from Havering London Borough Council to Old Ford Housing...
in Havering
London Borough of Havering
The London Borough of Havering is a London borough in North East London, England and forms part of Outer London. The principal town in Havering is Romford and the other main communities are Hornchurch, Upminster and Rainham. The borough is mainly characterised by suburban development with large...
, the town of Tilbury
Tilbury
Tilbury is a town in the borough of Thurrock, Essex, England. As a settlement it is of relatively recent existence, although it has important historical connections, being the location of a 16th century fort and an ancient cross-river ferry...
, and the A13, and funded by BBC Films
BBC Films
BBC Films is the feature film-making arm of the BBC. It has produced or co-produced some of the most successful British films of recent years, including An Education, StreetDance 3D, Fish Tank, Stage Beauty, A Cock and Bull Story, Nativity! and Match Point.It aims to make strong British films with...
and the UK Film Council
UK Film Council
The UK Film Council was set up in 2000 by the Labour Government as a non-departmental public body to develop and promote the film industry in the UK. It was constituted as a private company limited by guarantee governed by a board of 15 directors and was funded through sources including the...
.
Plot summary
Mia (Katie JarvisKatie Jarvis
Katie Jarvis is an English actress, known for her role as Mia in the film Fish Tank. She was spotted by a casting agent, following an argument with her boyfriend at Tilbury Town railway station.-Acting career:...
) is a volatile 15-year-old. She resides on an East London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
council estate with her single mother, Joanne, and foul-mouthed younger sister, Tyler. Mia is a loner
Loner
A loner is a person who avoids or does not actively seek human interaction or prefers to be alone. There are many reasons for solitude, intentional or otherwise, and "loner" implies no specific cause. Intentional reasons include spiritual and religious considerations or personal philosophies...
and does not seem to have any close friends. Her only source of escape is hip-hop dance, which she practises alone in a deserted flat.
Near the estate, Mia comes across a malnourished, tethered horse in a traveller encampment. She attempts to free the horse, incurring the anger of two of its owners. The third owner, a young man named Billy, is more sympathetic. He explains the horse is ill, creating a friendship between them.
Joanne's boyfriend, Connor (Michael Fassbender
Michael Fassbender
Michael Fassbender is an Irish-German actor. He is best known for playing Lt. Archie Hicox in Quentin Tarantino's Inglourious Basterds and Magneto in the superhero blockbuster X-Men: First Class...
), is a charming and handsome Irishman. Connor, Joanne, Mia, and Tyler drive out to the countryside. Connor introduces Mia to his favorite song, Bobby Womack
Bobby Womack
Robert Dwayne "Bobby" Womack is an American singer-songwriter and musician. An active recording artist since the early 1960s where he started his career as the lead singer of his family musical group The Valentinos and as Sam Cooke's backing guitarist, Womack's career has spanned more than 40...
's version of "California Dreamin'
California Dreamin'
"California Dreamin is a popular song by The Mamas & the Papas, first released in 1965. The song is #89 in Rolling Stones list of The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time...
", shows her how to catch a fish using noodling
Noodling
Noodling is fishing for catfish using only bare hands, practiced primarily in the southern United States. The noodler places his hand inside a discovered catfish hole...
, and asks her to show off her dance moves. Although Mia is abrupt with Connor, he intrigues her and she is keen to impress him. One night, she secretly watches him and her mother having sex, during the course of which, he notices her twice and carries on, seeming to enjoy the fact that she's peeking through the door. She then goes back to her room and slams the door several times.
A local club is seeking dancers and Connor encourages Mia to apply. He lends her a video camera to record an audition tape. Mia sends in her tape and is then asked to come by the club to perform in person. Late one night, after she and Connor have both been drinking, he asks to see her dance routine. She dances to "California Dreamin'." Connor then invites her to sit next to him. They have sex in the living room while Joanne is passed out drunk upstairs. He demands Mia keeps what happened a secret.
The following morning, Mia hears her mother crying. Tyler informs her Connor has left. Mia tracks him down at his home in Chadwell-St-Mary and confronts him. He explains he cannot see Joanne or Mia anymore. He drives her to the railway stationThe station is Tilbury Town railway station
Tilbury Town railway station
Tilbury Town railway station is a railway station located in the town of Tilbury in the borough and unitary authority of Thurrock in the East of England....
, where Jarvis was recruited. and gives her money to get herself home, not before kissing her goodbye on the mouth. Defiant, Mia returns to Connor's house. No one is home so she sneaks in through a back window. When she sees a videotape showing Connor has a wife and a daughter, Keira, she becomes angry and urinates on the living room carpet.
When Connor and his family return, Mia slips out the back door and notices Keira playing outside. She persuades the child to go with her across the fields. They come to the River Thames
River Thames
The River Thames flows through southern England. It is the longest river entirely in England and the second longest in the United Kingdom. While it is best known because its lower reaches flow through central London, the river flows alongside several other towns and cities, including Oxford,...
when Keira attempts to escape. Mia pushes Keira, who falls into the river. She nearly drowns but Mia saves her by holding out a branch. A remorseful Mia takes Keira back to her house and sneaks away. As Mia is walking home, Connor's car pulls up beside her. She runs away into the fields and Connor runs after her. He stops her, slaps her across the face, then turns around, and walks back to his car.
Mia attends the audition, only to discover they are looking for erotic dancers, not hip-hop dancers in baggy sweatpants. Mia tries to perform, but walks offstage just after the music starts. She goes to find Billy, and discovers the horse has died. She breaks down crying. Billy tells her he is about go to Cardiff
Cardiff
Cardiff is the capital, largest city and most populous county of Wales and the 10th largest city in the United Kingdom. The city is Wales' chief commercial centre, the base for most national cultural and sporting institutions, the Welsh national media, and the seat of the National Assembly for...
, and invites her to leave with him.
Mia agrees, and packs her bags. In the living room, Joanne is in an almost trance-like state, dancing to Mia's Nas
Nas
Nasir bin Olu Dara Jones, who performs under the name Nas , formerly Nasty Nas, is an American rapper and actor. He is regarded as one of the most important figures in hip hop and one of the most skilled and influential rappers of all-time...
CD. Mia informs Joanne that she is leaving; Joanne barely reacts to the news and agrees she'd better go. Mia, Joanne, and Tyler dance to "Life's a Bitch." Outside, Mia hugs Tyler goodbye and gets into Billy's car; driven to her new life in Wales
Wales
Wales is a country that is part of the United Kingdom and the island of Great Britain, bordered by England to its east and the Atlantic Ocean and Irish Sea to its west. It has a population of three million, and a total area of 20,779 km²...
.
Cast
- Katie JarvisKatie JarvisKatie Jarvis is an English actress, known for her role as Mia in the film Fish Tank. She was spotted by a casting agent, following an argument with her boyfriend at Tilbury Town railway station.-Acting career:...
as Mia Williams - Michael FassbenderMichael FassbenderMichael Fassbender is an Irish-German actor. He is best known for playing Lt. Archie Hicox in Quentin Tarantino's Inglourious Basterds and Magneto in the superhero blockbuster X-Men: First Class...
as Connor O'Reily - Kierston WareingKierston WareingKierston Wareing is an English actress. She starred in Ken Loach's film It's a Free World... as Angie. She has also played in Andrea Arnold's Fish Tank and Martina Cole's The Take. She has been nominated for one BAFTA award and two British Independent Film Awards...
as Joanne Williams - Rebecca Griffiths as Tyler Williams
- Harry TreadawayHarry Treadaway- Personal life :Treadaway was born in Devon, England, and brought up in Sandford, near Crediton, Devon, with his father, an architect, his mother, a primary school teacher and two brothers - his slightly older twin Luke and their older brother Sam, an artist...
as Billy - Sydney Mary Nash as Keira
- Sarah Bayes as Keely
Production
Katie JarvisKatie Jarvis
Katie Jarvis is an English actress, known for her role as Mia in the film Fish Tank. She was spotted by a casting agent, following an argument with her boyfriend at Tilbury Town railway station.-Acting career:...
, who plays Mia, had no prior acting experience. She was cast for the film after one of Arnold's casting assistants saw her arguing with her boyfriend in Tilbury Town railway station
Tilbury Town railway station
Tilbury Town railway station is a railway station located in the town of Tilbury in the borough and unitary authority of Thurrock in the East of England....
, which is the station featured in the film.
Fish Tank was filmed in chronological order. At the end of each week the actors were given the scripts for the scenes that they would perform the following week, so that when they performed each scene they were largely unaware of what would happen to their characters later in the film.
Music
Music features prominently in the film, particularly connected with Mia's dancing. The song she uses at her audition is "California Dreamin'California Dreamin'
"California Dreamin is a popular song by The Mamas & the Papas, first released in 1965. The song is #89 in Rolling Stones list of The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time...
", as covered by Bobby Womack
Bobby Womack
Robert Dwayne "Bobby" Womack is an American singer-songwriter and musician. An active recording artist since the early 1960s where he started his career as the lead singer of his family musical group The Valentinos and as Sam Cooke's backing guitarist, Womack's career has spanned more than 40...
(1968). The CD she borrows from Connor is The Best of Bobby Womack (2008), on which "California Dreamin'" appears on track 17, as Mia requests. Towards the beginning of the film the song "Me & U" by Cassie is also used.
Other songs include "Jah Rule (w/ Paul St. Hilaire)" by Rhythm & Sound
Basic Channel
Basic Channel is a production team and record label, composed of Moritz Von Oswald and Mark Ernestus, that originated in Berlin, Germany in 1993. The duo released a number of vinyl-only tracks under various aliases, each of which employed their signature brand of dissonant dub techno...
(Album: W/The Artists), "Life's a Bitch" by Nas
Nas
Nasir bin Olu Dara Jones, who performs under the name Nas , formerly Nasty Nas, is an American rapper and actor. He is regarded as one of the most important figures in hip hop and one of the most skilled and influential rappers of all-time...
, "Just to Get a Rep" by Gang Starr
Gang Starr
Gang Starr was an influential East Coast hip hop duo that consisted of the late MC Guru and DJ/producer DJ Premier. Their style combined elements of New York jazz and hip hop.-Background:...
, "Cool Down the Pace" by Gregory Isaacs
Gregory Isaacs
Gregory Anthony Isaacs was a Jamaican reggae musician. Milo Miles, writing in the New York Times, described Isaacs as "the most exquisite vocalist in reggae". His nicknames include Cool Ruler and Lonely Lover....
, "Your house" by Steel pulse
Steel Pulse
Steel Pulse is a roots reggae musical band. They originally formed at Handsworth Wood Boys School, in Birmingham, England, composed of David Hinds , Basil Gabbidon , and Ronald McQueen .-History:...
, "Juice" by Eric B and Rakim, "Baby girl" by Wiley
Wiley (rapper)
Richard Kylea Cowie , better known by his stage name Wiley is a prolific British music producer, MC and recording artist, and rapper with roots from Trinidad...
, "Show Me Love" (Stonebridge Club Mix) by Robin S, "Get Up Offa That Thing
Get Up Offa That Thing
"Get Up Offa That Thing", sometimes subtitled "'", is a song performed by James Brown. It was released as a two-part single in 1976 and also appeared on an album of the same name...
" by James Brown
James Brown
James Joseph Brown was an American singer, songwriter, musician, and recording artist. He is the originator of Funk and is recognized as a major figure in the 20th century popular music for both his vocals and dancing. He has been referred to as "The Godfather of Soul," "Mr...
, and "Original Nuttah" by Shy FX
Shy FX
Shy FX is the pseudonym of Andre Williams, an English DJ and Producer from London. He specializes in Drum and Bass and Jungle music.-Biography:...
& UK Apache.
Critical reception
The film currently holds a 89% "certified fresh" rating on Rotten TomatoesRotten Tomatoes
Rotten Tomatoes is a website devoted to reviews, information, and news of films—widely known as a film review aggregator. Its name derives from the cliché of audiences throwing tomatoes and other vegetables at a poor stage performance...
based on 132 reviews. The New Yorkers David Denby
David Denby (film critic)
David Denby is an American journalist, best known as a film critic for The New Yorker magazine.-Background and education:Denby grew up in New York City. He received a B.A...
writes, "Fish Tank may begin as a patch of lower-class chaos, but it turns into a commanding, emotionally satisfying movie, comparable to such youth-in-trouble classics as The 400 Blows
The 400 Blows
The 400 Blows is a 1959 French film directed by François Truffaut. One of the defining films of the French New Wave, it displays many of the characteristic traits of the movement. The story revolves around Antoine Doinel, an ordinary adolescent in Paris, who is thought by his parents and teachers...
".
Box office
As of June, 15, 2010, the film earned $374,675 in the United StatesUnited States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
and $1,612,034 elsewhere, bringing the worldwide total to $1,986,709.