Full Tank

p-stepien

Mia Williams (phenomenal coming out by Katie Jarvis) is a foul-mouthed street-bred 15 year old girl with an aspiration to become a dancer. However living in a decrepit neighbourhood with her alcoholic mother and badmouthing sister does not allow her to dream too extravagantly. Alienated from fellow mates she only finds solace in an abandoned house dancing away to beats from her CD player. Days pass with minor occurrences shaping the mundane paths of Mia. In search of a meaning to her life she attempts to rescue horses or enters a dance competition. But nothing seems to have as much impact as the unhealthy chemistry that forms between Mia and her mother's new boyfriend Connor (breakthrough performance by the man everyone loves to hate Michael Fassbender).

"Fish Tank" made by up-and-comer Andrea Arnold is probably my favourite Cannes movie in an unbelievably strong competition of 2009. Despite not being entirely refreshing and starting off slightly sophomoric ala "Kids" it quickly gets into gear strolling towards being a very emotional hard-hitting movie, which manages to present a strong story with never falling into typical dramatic traps. At times it has moments of pointless behaviour resulting from emotional trappings of the characters with one key nonsensical sequence standing out. Since the action of heroine was so pointless and idiotic it would be easy to falter and trap yourself, but the actions have such intense psychological meaning to them that I was immediately putting my hands together for a ostentatious clap.

As mentioned above the script tangles together the obvious with the surprising cooking up a well-made gourmet dish, which is bound to please both viewers as well as critics. The slight touches of ingenuity are especially pleasing, but at the same time the level of emotionality and character-building allows any viewer to suck into the squalor on screen. Thankfully also Arnold manages to escape any cop-outs during the movie, although several options chosen do pose slight questions about their reality and adequateness to the general plot.

Adding to that absolutely spot on acting by Fassbender and Jarvis, which actually allows the viewer to feel the growing sexual tension, but simultaneously grasps the awkwardness of this relationship, the movie is bound to be an instant classic. Absolutely perfect during most of the duration I did have a couple of minor issues with several scenes, which seemed to hit false notes here and again. This especially goes for the interaction with her mother and sister, that felt like scratching a chalkboard in the final scene. Thankfully however the movie was highlighted by two tremendous lead performances, hence any minor friction in the background goes relatively unnoticed.

score 9/10

p-stepien 22 January 2011

Reprint: https://www.imdb.com/review/rw2373474/