Fish tank is a 2009 social realist film. It was written and directed by Andrena Arnold. It is a kitchen sink movie as it tends to celebrate the mundane and failure of real life, which is within Film 4's ethos.
The budget was $3 Million and the box office was $2 Million. The movie made £100,000 in the U.K and $30,000 in the U.S which is expected of a Film 4 independent movie.
The audience for this movie is British niche A thing that is not really within Film 4's ethos is to use unknown cast, although Michael Fessbender is a well known actor. Katie Jarvis (Mia) had no previous acting expereicne, yet she still got the main role. This shows Film 4's ethos to use non trained actors.
The movie was distributed by IFC films and produced by BBC films, UK film council and Kassander Film company, which none of them are well known apart from BBC films which means they already have a small target audience.
Themes and Situations 1:
One of the main theme could be violence and aggression. A major stereotype is that a lot teenagers are aggressive and violence and moody, especially the youth of England in this era.
Representation 1:
Another thing would be that she could be stereotyped as a 'thug' or a 'gangster' due to the main protagonist - Mia dressing in hoodies and joggers all the time.
Mice-en-scene 1:
This point is also backed up by Mia's facial expressions. Throughout the entire movie she has looked sad or angry or aggressive towards someone or something. Again Mia and other characters wearing hoodies in the movie could spark the hoodies and teenage thugs debate. Also a lot of fighting is seen in the movie, for example the fight at the beginning between Mia and the other girls, the abuse Mia received from her mother and the fight with the boys picking on Mia. This could represent how the movie is a social realist film as this stuff actually does happen in England.
Music & Sound Effects 1:
A lot of Hip Hop and Grime songs are played in the movie such as Ja Rule. Again its shows how social realist the movie is a Grime and Hip Hop are the most listened to genre of music in England, so a lot of people can relate to Mia dancing to the familiar music. People stereotype Grime and Hip Hop to be band influences to teens as they promote violence and killing etc, which could link back to teen aggression.
Camera Work and Editing 1:
Not a lot of editing was used which could display the teenagers aggression apart from a few quick jump cuts when the argument and fight scenes occurred. Also handheld shot was used to show the Mia's confused state of mind.
Dialogue 1:
There were lots and lots of foul language used by almost every single character in the movie. The fact that Mia's younger sister - aged around 11 was swearing in almost every sentence could display the link to aggression and lack of care. For example, when Mia said 'Don't F****** Touch me you prick' and her sister said 'your a c***bag.' This happens in reality which displays how its a social realism movie.
Themes and Situations 2:
A situation would be breaking the law and having no respect for the law. This is a common situation to some people actually living in some parts of England today which displays how its close to reality as opposed to themes in Hollywood movies.
Representation 2:
A stereotype is that young teens have no respect for the law.
Mice-en-scene 2:
Mia's younger sister, Tyler is smoking which is illegal as she is about 11 years old. Also Mia was drinking which is breaking the law as she is under age. This happens a lot in England displaying its social realism. Also Connor having sex with Mia is breaking the law as she is under age.
Music & Sound Effects 2:
A lot of music that was played in the movie is rap. People could say that rap music promotes breaking the law which could influence young teens. A lot of people listen to this type of music which could represent how it s social realism.
Camera work and Editing 2:
Not a lot of camera shots included to represent this apart from when Tyler was smoking. A mid shot was taken of Tyler and her friend and was for a couple of seconds, which could emphasize the point as she shot seemed to be a bit longer then others.
Dialogue 2:
When Mia's says 'lets get smashed.' Another part is where Connor said 'but your only 15.' These to lines are really the only parts of dialogue which discusses breaking the law.
This screenshot expresses how the two girls are recklessly breaking the law by smoking and they are very, very young and the clear camera shot on the two emphasizing the scene.
Themes and Situations 3:
A theme and situation would be the struggles of some teenagers in England. She has a bad relationship with her family and has been kicked from school and doesn't really do anything productive apart from dancing.
Representation 3:
People tend to stereotype people who live in estates as chavs and lower class, which links to the struggles of being a teenager as Mia and her family hardly has any money.
Mice-en-scene 3:
A lot of time Mia is wearing cheap joggers and hoodies which represents the lack of money. Also, there are few scenes where you see gangs wearing cheep hoodies and vests with low jeans with their dogs and seen as 'chavs.' We can see this in the screen shot below.
Music & Sound Affects 3:
There was not really a lot of sound affect to represent this in the movie.
Camera Work and Editing:
There were many long shots of the estates and flats and gangs to emphasize the point.
Dialogue 3:
There was one scene where Mia' mother says 'careful that tracksuit was 20 quid.' This could represent the hardships and struggles of a teenager living in estates in England.
Here we see a screenshot of Mia on the balcony of her flat looking down onto the other houses in the estate. Even from the image we can get the type of feeling that it doesn't really seem like a good place to live with all the crowded houses in the background and also the houses seem to be smaller then regular ones which displays the working class people in that area contributing to the hardship of teenagers living in England. It is actually shot in England in Mardyke estate in Havering, which represents how its a social realist film as opposed to Hollywood movies which are usually shot in large, busy cities with all the expensive, glamorous houses etc.
There were a lot of eye line matches used in the movie. I really think it looked good and worked well with the movie and would like to include them in my movie when filming. I also think that the themes are typical to a British realist movie and I would like to include it when I am filming. I think the location used was also good for a social realism film as it sometimes showed the worst of Britain which is within Film 4's ethos.
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