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''Fish Tank'' is a 2009 British
drama film
In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. Drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular super-g ...
written and directed by
Andrea Arnold
Andrea Arnold, OBE (born 5 April 1961) is an English filmmaker and former actor. She won an Academy Award for her short film ''Wasp'' in 2005. Her feature films include ''Red Road'' (2006), ''Fish Tank'' (2009), and ''American Honey'' (2016), ...
. The film is about Mia, a volatile and socially isolated 15-year-old, and her relationship with her mother's new boyfriend. ''Fish Tank'' was well-received and won the
Jury Prize
A jury is a sworn body of people (jurors) convened to hear evidence and render an impartial verdict (a finding of fact on a question) officially submitted to them by a court, or to set a penalty or judgment.
Juries developed in England durin ...
at the
2009 Cannes Film Festival
The 62nd Cannes Film Festival was held from 13 May to 24 May 2009. French actress Isabelle Huppert was the President of the Jury. Twenty films from thirteen countries were selected to compete for the Palme d'Or. The awards were announced on 23 M ...
.
It also won the 2010
BAFTA for Best British Film. It was included in the
BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC
Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...
...
's The 21st Century's 100 greatest films (compiled in 2016), ranking at no. 65 on the list.
The film was funded by
BBC Films
BBC Film (formerly BBC Films) is the feature film-making arm of the BBC. It was founded on 18 June 1990, and has produced or co-produced some of the most successful British films of recent years, including ''Truly, Madly, Deeply'', '' Alan Part ...
and the
UK Film Council
The UK Film Council (UKFC) was a non-departmental public body set up in 2000 to develop and promote the film industry in the UK. It was constituted as a private company limited by guarantee, owned by the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and ...
. It was theatrically released on 11 September 2009 by
Curzon Artificial Eye
Curzon Film (), formerly known as Artificial Eye or Curzon Artificial Eye, is a British film distributor, specialising in independent, foreign-language and art house films for cinema and home entertainment.
History
Artificial Eye was founded i ...
.
Plot
Mia Williams, a volatile and socially isolated 15-year-old, lives on an
East London
East or Orient is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from west and is the direction from which the Sun rises on the Earth.
Etymology
As in other languages, the word is formed from the f ...
council estate
Public housing in the United Kingdom, also known as council estates, council housing, or social housing, provided the majority of rented accommodation until 2011 when the number of households in private rental housing surpassed the number in so ...
with her single mother, Joanne, and younger sister, Tyler. Mia has just fallen out with her best friend, Keely. She doesn't get along with her precocious sister, nor with her verbally abusive mother. Mia provokes Keely's other friends with physical aggression. Mia regularly practices
hip-hop dance
Hip hop dance is a range of street dance styles primarily performed to hip hop music or that have evolved as part of hip hop culture. It is influenced by a wide range of styles that were created in the 1970s and made popular by dance crews in ...
alone in a deserted flat in her family's building, drinking alcoholic cider beforehand.
Later, Mia comes across a tethered horse in a
Traveller encampment. She tries to free it, only to be caught and chased by two young men, the horse's owners. Billy, the younger of the two, is less hostile to Mia.
Mia's mother Joanne's new boyfriend, Conor, is charming and handsome. He notices Mia's dance moves, and invites Mia and Tyler to come with him and Joanne on a day-trip to the countryside. He introduces them to his favourite song,
Bobby Womack
Robert Dwayne Womack (; March 4, 1944 – June 27, 2014) was an American singer, songwriter, musician, and record producer. Starting in the early 1950s as the lead singer of his family musical group the Valentinos and as Sam Cooke's backing guit ...
's version of "
California Dreamin'
"California Dreamin'" is a song written by John Phillips and Michelle Phillips and first recorded by Barry McGuire. The best-known version is by the Mamas & the Papas, who sang backup on the original version and released it as a single in 196 ...
, and shows Mia how to catch a fish using her bare hands. Although Mia is abrupt with Conor, she seeks his attention.
A social worker visits Joanne regarding Mia, offering a referral to a boarding unit for disengaged teens. Mia flees. At an
internet café
An Internet café, also known as a cybercafé, is a café (or a convenience store or a fully dedicated Internet access business) that provides the use of computers with high bandwidth Internet access on the payment of a fee. Usage is generally ...
, Mia takes a poster stuck up in the window by a club that is clearly advertising for erotic dancers. Friends of Keely enter the internet cafe and argue with and attack Mia. Later, Mia visits Conor at work where he is a security guard. Conor encourages her to apply for the dancing audition, lending her a video camera to record an audition on. Their interactions become increasingly flirtatious.
Conor later administers a flirtatious spanking to Mia when she returns, and Mia becomes jealous and angry when she overhears Conor and her mother having sex. After that, Mia assists Billy in stealing a car engine part from a junkyard, appearing to flirt.
Mia is invited by the club to perform in person after sending in her tape. With Joanne passed out drunk upstairs, and after Mia and Conor have also been drinking, Conor asks to see Mia's dance routine. She dances to "California Dreamin', and Conor initiates sex. Conor tells Mia to keep their liaison a secret. The following morning, Mia hears her mother crying as Conor has left. In her anger, Joanne tells Mia she planned to abort her whilst pregnant. Mia tracks Conor down to his middle-class home. He explains that he cannot see her anymore because of her age and drives her to a station. However, Mia returns to his house and sneaks in. She finds a video camera which reveals footage of Conor's partner and their young daughter, Keira. Mia angrily urinates on Conor's living room floor, and then sneaks out of the back door when the family return home.
Mia lingers by Conor's home and eventually leads Keira away from her family. Keira tries to escape Mia, who catches up with her, and in the struggle inadvertently pushes her into the river. Mia pulls Keira out and takes her home anonymously. Conor soon chases Mia down post Keira's return, chasing Mia across a field and forcefully slapping her.
Mia goes to her dance audition, soon realising its true nature. The other participants perform erotic auditions. Mia takes the stage, but as the music she had chosen (Bobby Womack's version of "California Dreamin'" from Conor's CD) starts, she dejectedly leaves the stage.
Mia heads to Billy's home, not finding the horse. Billy tells her that the horse had to be put down, to which Mia responds by breaking down in tears. Billy invites Mia to relocate with him to
Cardiff
Cardiff (; cy, Caerdydd ) is the capital and largest city of Wales. It forms a principal area, officially known as the City and County of Cardiff ( cy, Dinas a Sir Caerdydd, links=no), and the city is the eleventh-largest in the United Kingd ...
. Mia returns home to pack for the trip, and, despite their coldness, joins Joanne and her sister in synchronised dancing to
Nas
Nas (born 1973) is the stage name of American rapper Nasir Jones.
Nas, NaS, or NAS may also refer to:
Aviation
* Nasair, a low-cost airline carrier and subsidiary based in Eritrea
* National Air Services, an airline in Saudi Arabia
** Nas Air ( ...
' "
Life's a Bitch". Mia and Billy depart for
Wales
Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the Wales–England border, east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the ...
.
Cast
*
Katie Jarvis
Katie Jarvis (born 22 June 1991) is an English actress, known for her roles as Mia Williams in ''Fish Tank'' (2009) and Hayley Slater in the BBC soap opera '' EastEnders'' (2018–2019).
Career
Jarvis was seen by a casting agent working for dir ...
as Mia Williams
*
Kierston Wareing
Kierston Wareing (born 7 January 1976) is a British actress. Her first film role was the lead in Ken Loach's '' It's a Free World...'', followed by a supporting role in Andrea Arnold's ''Fish Tank'' – which won the BAFTA award for ‘Best Bri ...
as Joanne Williams
*
Michael Fassbender
Michael Fassbender (born 2 April 1977) is an Irish actor. He is the recipient of various accolades, including a Screen Actors Guild Award, a Critics' Choice Movie Award, and nominations for two Academy Awards, four British Academy Film Award ...
as Conor O'Reily
* Rebecca Griffiths as Tyler Williams
*
Harry Treadaway
Harry John Newman Treadaway''Births, Marriages & Deaths Index of England & Wales, 1916-2005.''; at ancestry.com (born 10 September 1984) is an English actor known for his performances as Victor Frankenstein in the horror-drama series ''Penny Dr ...
as Billy
* Sydney Mary Nash as Keira O'Reily
* Sarah Bayes as Keely
Production
Katie Jarvis
Katie Jarvis (born 22 June 1991) is an English actress, known for her roles as Mia Williams in ''Fish Tank'' (2009) and Hayley Slater in the BBC soap opera '' EastEnders'' (2018–2019).
Career
Jarvis was seen by a casting agent working for dir ...
, 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 ,
which is the railway station featured in the film.
Principal photography
Principal photography is the phase of producing a film or television show in which the bulk of shooting takes place, as distinct from the phases of pre-production and post-production.
Personnel
Besides the main film personnel, such as actor ...
began 28 July 2008 over the course of six weeks, and was filmed in chronological order. Actors were unaware of their characters' trajectories through the film due to only being provided relevant sections of the script at a time.
Location filming took place on the
Mardyke Estate in
Havering
The London Borough of Havering () in East London, England, forms part of Outer London. It has a population of 259,552 inhabitants; the principal town is Romford, while other communities are Hornchurch, Upminster, Collier Row and Rainham, London ...
, in the town of
Tilbury
Tilbury is a port town in the borough of Thurrock, Essex, England. The present town was established as separate settlement in the late 19th century, on land that was mainly part of Chadwell St Mary. It contains a 16th century fort and an ancie ...
, and on the
A13.
Music
Music features prominently in the film. The song Mia uses at her audition is "
California Dreamin'
"California Dreamin'" is a song written by John Phillips and Michelle Phillips and first recorded by Barry McGuire. The best-known version is by the Mamas & the Papas, who sang backup on the original version and released it as a single in 196 ...
", as covered by
Bobby Womack
Robert Dwayne Womack (; March 4, 1944 – June 27, 2014) was an American singer, songwriter, musician, and record producer. Starting in the early 1950s as the lead singer of his family musical group the Valentinos and as Sam Cooke's backing guit ...
(1968). Characters in the film dance to the song "
Me & U" by
Cassie
Cassie is a feminine given name and a short form of various other given names mostly used in English-speaking countries. It is more rarely a surname. People and fictional characters named Cassie include:
People with the name Given name or nickna ...
and the video for
Down 4 U
"Down 4 U" is the lead single from Murder Inc. Records' compilation album '' Irv Gotti Presents: The Inc.'', released through Def Jam Recordings and Irv Gotti's Murder Inc. Records. The song features rapped verses from Ja Rule, Charli Baltimore, ...
by
Ja Rule
Jeffrey Bruce Atkins (born February 29, 1976), better known by his stage name Ja Rule (), is an American rapper and actor. Born and raised in New York City, he debuted in 1999 with ''Venni Vetti Vecci'' and its lead single "Holla Holla". Durin ...
and
Ashanti is shown on screen. Other songs include "Jah Rule (w/ Paul St. Hilaire)" by
Rhythm & Sound
Basic Channel is a German music duo and record label, composed of Moritz von Oswald and Mark Ernestus, that originated in Berlin in 1993. The duo have also worked under other names, including Rhythm & Sound and Maurizio, and have founded offshoot ...
(Album: W/The Artists), "
Life's a Bitch" by
Nas
Nas (born 1973) is the stage name of American rapper Nasir Jones.
Nas, NaS, or NAS may also refer to:
Aviation
* Nasair, a low-cost airline carrier and subsidiary based in Eritrea
* National Air Services, an airline in Saudi Arabia
** Nas Air ( ...
, "Just to Get a Rep" by
Gang Starr
Gang Starr was an American hip hop duo, consisting of Texas record producer DJ Premier and Massachusetts rapper Guru. For the entirety of their association, they were based out of Brooklyn, New York. Gang Starr was at its height from 1989 to 20 ...
, "Cool Down the Pace" by
Gregory Isaacs
Gregory Anthony Isaacs OD (15 July 1951 – 25 October 2010)Thompson, p. 127. was a Jamaican reggae musician. Milo Miles, writing in ''The New York Times'', described Isaacs as "the most exquisite vocalist in reggae".Miles, Milo (1992),RECORDI ...
, "Your House" by Steel Pulse, "
Juice
Juice is a drink made from the extraction or Cold-pressed juice, pressing of the natural liquid contained in fruit and vegetables. It can also refer to liquids that are flavored with concentrate or other biological food sources, such as meat ...
" by
Eric B and Rakim, "Baby girl" by
Wiley
Wiley may refer to:
Locations
* Wiley, Colorado, a U.S. town
*Wiley, Pleasants County, West Virginia, U.S.
* Wiley-Kaserne, a district of the city of Neu-Ulm, Germany
People
* Wiley (musician), British grime MC, rapper, and producer
* Wiley Mill ...
, "Show Me Love" (Stonebridge Club Mix) by
Robin S
Robin Stone (born April 27, 1962) is an American singer and songwriter, who scored success in the 1990s with such house music singles as "Show Me Love (Robin S. song), Show Me Love" (which was her debut single) and "Luv 4 Luv". She has had th ...
, "
Get Up Offa That Thing
"Get Up Offa That Thing" is a song written and performed by James Brown. It was released in 1976 as a two-part single (the B-side, titled "Release the Pressure", is a continuation of the same song). It reached #4 on the R&B chart, briefly returnin ...
" by
James Brown
James Joseph Brown (May 3, 1933 – December 25, 2006) was an American singer, dancer, musician, record producer and bandleader. The central progenitor of funk music and a major figure of 20th century music, he is often referred to by the honor ...
, "In The Fading Light" by
New Device, and "
Original Nuttah
"Original Nuttah" is a 1994 jungle song that was produced by Shy FX with lyrics and vocals by UK Apache. The track's lyrics were written by UK Apache in the late 1980s and were dubbed over a Shy FX track titled "Gangsta Kid". After receiving ap ...
" by
Shy FX
Andre Williams, better known as Shy FX, is a British DJ and producer from London. He specialises in drum and bass and jungle music.
Biography
Shy FX's debut record was "Jungle Love", released in 1992 on the Permission to Dance label. Soon after ...
& UK Apache.
The film has no non-
diegetic
Diegesis (; from the Greek from , "to narrate") is a style of fiction storytelling that presents an interior view of a world in which:
# Details about the world itself and the experiences of its characters are revealed explicitly through narra ...
music; the entire soundtrack consists of songs and music played by characters within the narrative.
Release
Distribution
The film had its world premiere at the
Cannes Film Festival
The Cannes Festival (; french: link=no, Festival de Cannes), until 2003 called the International Film Festival (') and known in English as the Cannes Film Festival, is an annual film festival held in Cannes, France, which previews new films o ...
on 14 May 2009.
Curzon Artificial Eye
Curzon Film (), formerly known as Artificial Eye or Curzon Artificial Eye, is a British film distributor, specialising in independent, foreign-language and art house films for cinema and home entertainment.
History
Artificial Eye was founded i ...
and
IFC Films
IFC Films is an American film production and distribution company based in New York. It is an offshoot of IFC owned by AMC Networks. It distributes mainly independent films under its own name, select foreign films and documentaries under its S ...
acquired United Kingdom and United States distribution rights to the film respectively. The film went onto screen at the
Edinburgh International Film Festival
The Edinburgh International Film Festival (EIFF) is a film festival that runs for two weeks in June each year. Established in 1947, it is the world's oldest continually running film festival. EIFF presents both UK and international films (all ti ...
,
Karlovy Vary Film Festival
The Karlovy Vary International Film Festival ( cs, Mezinárodní filmový festival Karlovy Vary) is a film festival held annually in July in Karlovy Vary, Czech Republic. The Karlovy Vary Festival is one of the oldest in the world and has become ...
,
Telluride Film Festival
The Telluride Film Festival (TFF) is a film festival held annually in Telluride, Colorado during Labor Day weekend (the first Monday in September). The 49th edition took place on September 2 -6, 2022.
History
First held on 30 August 1974, th ...
, and the
Toronto International Film Festival
The Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF, often stylized as tiff) is one of the largest publicly attended film festivals in the world, attracting over 480,000 people annually. Since its founding in 1976, TIFF has grown to become a permane ...
. The film was released in the United Kingdom on 11 September 2009. It was then released in the United States on 15 January 2010.
Critical reception
Rotten Tomatoes
Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wang ...
reports that 91% of critics reviewed the film positively, based on a sample of 143 reviews, with an average rating of 7.6 out of 10. The consensus states "Cannes Jury Prize-winner ''Fish Tank'' is gritty British realism at its very best, with flawless performances from newcomer Kate Jarvis, and Michael Fassbender." The ''New Yorkers
David Denby
David Denby (born 1943) is an American journalist. He served as film critic for ''The New Yorker'' until December 2014.
Early life and education
Denby grew up in New York City. He received a B. A. from Columbia University in 1965, and a master' ...
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'' (french: Les Quatre Cents Coups) is a 1959 French coming-of-age drama film, and the directorial debut of François Truffaut. The film, shot in DyaliScope, stars Jean-Pierre Léaud, Albert Rémy, and Claire Maurier. One of ...
''".
Box office
''Fish Tank'' was released domestically on 11 September 2009 taking £103,180 on its first weekend and a total of £332,488. As of 15 June 2010, the film earned $374,675 in the United States and $1,612,034 elsewhere, bringing the worldwide total to $1,986,709.
Home media
A new high-definition digital transfer of the film was released on DVD and Blu-ray by
The Criterion Collection
The Criterion Collection, Inc. (or simply Criterion) is an American home-video distribution company that focuses on licensing, restoring and distributing "important classic and contemporary films." Criterion serves film and media scholars, cinep ...
in February 2011. Extras include three short films by director Andrea Arnold: ''Milk'' (1998), ''Dog'' (2001), and the Oscar-winning ''
Wasp
A wasp is any insect of the narrow-waisted suborder Apocrita of the order Hymenoptera which is neither a bee nor an ant; this excludes the broad-waisted sawflies (Symphyta), which look somewhat like wasps, but are in a separate suborder. Th ...
'' (2003).
References
External links
*
*
*
*
*
''Fish Tank: An England Story''an essay by
Ian Christie at the
Criterion Collection
The Criterion Collection, Inc. (or simply Criterion) is an American home-video distribution company that focuses on licensing, restoring and distributing "important classic and contemporary films." Criterion serves film and media scholars, cinep ...
{{DEFAULTSORT:Fish Tank
2009 films
2009 drama films
2000s coming-of-age drama films
2009 independent films
2000s dance films
Adultery in films
BBC Film films
Best British Film BAFTA Award winners
British coming-of-age films
British drama films
British independent films
British dance films
Films about dysfunctional families
Films directed by Andrea Arnold
Films set in Essex
Films set in London
Films shot in London
Juvenile sexuality in films
2000s English-language films
2000s British films