Fish Tank: UK Film Analysis PDF

high rises still physically and symbolically overwhelm her. High ang...

high rises still physically and symbolically overwhelm her. High angle shots – high angle shots of Connor in low-key lighting, lusting after Mia emphasise his character as weak and predatory. Camera Cockney dialect, movement – [MISE-EN-SCENE] micro-gestures through the female gaze (Mia’s longing Motivated tracking shots – the camera tracks with Mia throughout the film with persistent camera [CHARACTERS] Key props – Internet café dance audition poster, Connor’s video alignment towards her perspective – track-left shots such as when she visits the trailer park in efforts to camera, cigarettes, bottles of free the horse conveys a sense of danger. cider, budget TVs, CD players, Colour schemes – cars, Muted calourpalette/aesthetic, silhouetted characters horse’s chains (hermeneutic in over-the shoulder/long shot, overcast environments Mia – Protagonist – 15 year old in East London glances objectifying Connor), Mia’s expression of forming shadows within the environment. prop/ character symbolism), council estate with volatile rapport with single freedom through hip kids’ toys, trollies, locked gates. mother, Joanne and younger sister, Tyler. Has fallen out with best friend Keely and practices Costumes – Mia’s grey hoodie hop choreography. [SOUND/EDITING] hip-hop dance. and hoop earrings (hermeneutic Diegetic sound – prop/ character symbolism), Diegetic sound dominates the film to maintain high levels of Connor - False Hero -Joanne’s new boyfriend is charming Connor’s loose-fit shirts, verisimilitude in line with ‘kitchen sink’ Social Realist and handsome, and Joanne’s boyfriend, but is secretly Joanne’s tight-fit yellow blouses and jeans with conventions – dialogue, foley sound, diegetic music, married with a daughter. Connor does not reject Mia’s concrete ambience all connote realism. attention and the two become embroiled. Connor becomes a strong mascara and make-up (traditional beauty ideals), Joanne’s Key characters have a soundtrack to their lives that represent replacement father figure for Mia, until psychosexual their class: undertones form (Electra Complex). dressing gown, Mia – Cassie (Me & U), JaRule & Ashanti (Down 4 U), Gang Keely’s low-cut tops and short skirts, Billy’s hoodie. Starr (Just to Get a Rep), Wiley (Baby Girl), Shy FX (Original Joanne – Princess- single mum in an East London/Essex Settings – Joanne’s council estate flat, tropical Nuttah) council estate - verbally and physically abusive to Mia and island wallpaper, Connor – Bobby Womack (California Dreamin’) Tyler – has sex with Connor within earshot at night of Mia and Tyler – her character arc reveals complexity. Connor’s middle-class home, Billy’s caravan park with a horse, [FISH TANK] Mia and Joanne (final scene) - Nas(Life’s a Bitch) Foley sound – the prolonged hum of distant motorway traffic as a constant reminder of the metropolitan landscape in the Tyler – Sidekick - Mia’s younger sister – foul-mouthed and abrasive but kind and playful, likes Connor, gets frustrated with her older sister and is neglected by her mother. Connor’s workplace as security guard, Connor’s car, [CINEMATOGRAPHY] distance of the East London council estate – example of concrete ambience. countryside, Non-diegetic sound – no non-diegetic sound features – film Billy – Helper – owner of the White Horse at the caravan riverside, the council estate (social realist employs high levels of verisimilitude in line with British park who is initially hostile to Mia. Saves Mia from his setting/ Social Realist conventions. Editing technique brothers who seem ready to rape her if he didn’t let his dog verisimilitudinous world), council estate Continuity editing – cause-and-effectis maintained Shot types – throughout the film with match on-action shots of Mia in of his leash. Mia ultimately moves to Cardiff with Billy at the stairways, stripclub. New Equilibrium stage of the narrative. Extreme close ups – intrusive handheld camera scenes of physical conflict (Keely’s friends, Joanne, Connor), Lighting – low-key, muted, naturalistic lighting for a shots highlight breaches of boundaries, such as Mia as well as shot-reverse over-the-shoulder shots when Keely – Sidekick - Mia’s best friend – Keely now ignores Mia documentary assaulting Keely’s friend, Connor’s statutory rape of conversing with Joanne and Connor. Elliptical editing – Mia after an argument and has made new friends – she dances realist aesthetic – often used to walks between the council estate, the trailer park, Connor’s Mia, and Billy’s brothers attempting to assault Mia. workplace and abandoned rooms for dancing, and cuts provocatively to R&B tunes at the local council estate park create a grim and melancholy Long shots – used to frame Mia within the reduce time between locations in the form of elliptical edits. until Mia confronts Keely’s new friends and assaults them. mood to inhospitable land of the imposing council estate, Jump cuts – during elliptical edits of Mia walking, continuity Keira – damsel-in-distress -Connor’s daughter – Mia reflect a context of working class alluding to a desolate landscape. Angles – is broken with jump cuts (breaking 30-degree line) which kidnaps Keira after Connor has had sex with her, and views destitution – use of ‘practicals’. Canted angles – during scenes of violence, the alludes to the conventions of French New Wave a tape of Keira (realising Connor has a daughter) when she Composition – asymmetrical composition from (Breathless) and British New Wave (A Taste of Honey) composition tilts to connote anxiety, tension and breaks and enters into his home. In a fit of rage, she throws tracking editing techniques. Long takes – prolonged takes of Mia terror. dancing or looking out at London skyline reinforce her sense Keira into the river, only to save her from drowning. shots with a ‘fly-on-the-wall’ verisimilitude. Low angle shots – Mia is portrayed as confident in of isolation and imprisonment, with high levels of Performance – Mia’s low-angle shots (when throwing stones at Keely’s verisimilitude. SFX – no SFX feature, in line with Social distinctive East London window) but the imposing stature of council estate Realist conventions that prioritise verisimilitude. LINEAR, CHRONOLOGICAL NARRATIVE [BRITISH CINEMA POST-1995] [NARRATIVE] Plot –Mia is a volatile, socially isolated working 15-year old growing up in an abusive home in an  [AUDIENCE RESPONSE] [IDEOLOGY] East London council estate who has become enamoured by a escapes to Cardiff at the end of the film. Social Realist British Film Traditions – often focused on narratives – polemics against social injustice are central to replacement father figure in the middle-class Connor (Joanne’s gender-based issues exploring shifting expectations of British social realist films, often as an extension of Alignment – The spectator is positioned from Mia’s POV and boyfriend). However, sexual tension develops between the two is are manipulated into an uncomfortable perspective of both women and men – This is England explores loss of victim-based narratives with overt political messages. leading the family dynamic down a disturbing path. alignment with a character who is acting in an unsympathetic traditional masculine identity in 1980s whilst 2009s Fish Narrative overview – Fish Tank has a linear narrative in line manner. The physical alignment to Mia provokes the spectator Tank explored the exploitation of underage working class with Social Realist conventions, with a focus on dialogue to with vicarious involvement with an initially alienating girls by middle-aged men - Dominant ideology -Fish Tank can be considered a provide psychological insight, privileging central characters protagonist. However, through stereotype transcoding, Non-professional actors – star power is rarely used in Feminist film with a female auteur, which is such as Mia with camera alignment as a complex quest spectators witness a complex character arc beyond alienating British realism – non-professional actors playing key roles counter-typical with the dominant ideology of a narrative of Mia’s triumph over adversity. traits. Camera alignment ensures that the narrative is told from provides greater authenticity, due to the similarity of their patriarchalhistory of cinema. The spectator is Themes – Working class life, dysfunctional families, paedophilia Mia’s POV. There is no voiceover or omniscient narration, real life experiences. Films become semi-autobiographical sutured into the narrative encouraging identification (hebephiliac), sexual exploitation, loneliness, lack of positive but Mia’s struggle for freedom conflicts with her environment for actors. with a seemingly problematic protagonist. Fish Tank male figures, nature and freedom, childhood/adulthood and circumstances. Her efforts to free the white horse from its Working class settings – British Social Realism documents challenges the dominant ideology of youths as Enigmas/foreshadowing – the white horse chained at Billy’s chains is symbolic of her desire for independence. The use of real people in marginalised communities – council estates difficult and deviant gradually steering spectators caravan park home acts as a narrative enigma for Mia’s sense wide shots of Mia looking outside council estate balconies in Fish Tank (East London) and Sweet Sixteen (Inverclyde) towards Mia’s POV with stereotype transcoding. of imprisonment in the council estate. Her efforts to break the reflects her longing for a different life. with raw and authentic portrayals of UK’s neglected Traditional beliefs – The film challenges traditional horse free parallel her own wish for liberation. The horse’s death Spectator POV -The spectator is positioned ‘in media res’ (in regions. Documentary aesthetic – handheld camerawork, patriarchal ideals with a narrative that focalises on alludes to her loss of innocence on Connor’s statutory rape of the middle of things) and not from an omniscient perspective. long takes used for docu-realist film style with natural female agency and independence and overcoming her. Tracking shots centre Mia, who seems like an alienating lighting, minimal score to convey working class reality. complex circumstances. The film challenges the Equilibrium (setting the scene)– Mia in a disruptive East character, into alignment. Stereotypes of the ‘chav’ are The commercialisation of British realism – British Social convention of a male protagonist’s POV, and London council estate. Disequilibrium (conflict / disruption)– established by her verbally and physically abusive behaviour Realism became mainstream in early 1990s with challenges traditional ideas of working-class girls and Connor is a catalyst in Joanne/ Mia/ Tyler’s life, and becomes a (which are progressively challenged throughout her character anti-Conservative polemic films that explored themes of women. The film transcodes stereotypes to develop father figure within the family, until his predatory misogyny is arc in the narrative). unemployment, depression and middle-class apathy – films complex character arcs with counter-typical traits. revealed (statutory rape of Mia, secretly married with a like The Full Monty (1997) and Billy Elliot (2004) managed to Director’s worldview -Arnold’s subversion of the daughter). create a more optimistic outlook on marginalised classes. stereotype of Mia to reveal a redemptive character New equilibrium (resolution) - Mia leaves to start a new life in Narration -The lack of voiceover and non-diegetic High verisimilitude and slow paced narratives – Social arc of a marginalised girl below the poverty line, Cardiff –Mia and Joanne’s final dance to Nas’ ‘Life’s a Bitch’ soundtrack creates a level of open-ended ambiguity in how Realism focuses on ‘kitchen sink’ working class life where and her polemic against predatory paedophilic highlights a sense of solidarity between them beyond hate. to resolve Mia’s character arc. action is sporadic and character isolation is emphasised. middle-class men is a moralistic statement about the Character arcs – Mia’s redemptive character arc highlights - British Social Realism (influenced by Italian neo-realism and Victim narratives – often, British realism places mistreatment of the working class. Fish Tank how a ‘chav’ stereotype is subverted within the film for French New Wave) has high levels of ‘slice of life’ flawed/victim-based characters in plots that often resolve explores how male scopophilia can often lead to ideological purposes. verisimilitude but uses handheld camerawork, naturalistic in tragic endings – characters depicted as outsiders in predatory action, with the cautionary tale of Connor Resolution of binary oppositions – the childhood/adulthood lighting, and semi improvised performances in an entirely communities with a series of events to reveal how they are exploiting Mia’s search for a father figure leading to binary opposition is resolved through Connor’s illicit breach of diegetic soundscape. overwhelmed by their environment. an Electra complex. Male positioning of women into sex with a minor, highlighting the extreme immaturity of adults, -The location shooting challenges traditional narrative Limited finance – Social Realist films require independent passive objectification is depicted with realism to whilst Mia’s arc transitions from childhood to adulthood as she set-ups but conforms to Social Realist film conventions. funding channels out of the mainstream. Polemical highlight escalations into illegal behaviour. class (unemployment, poverty breeds crime) identities with a message of MIA/KEELY/WHITE social injustice with victim-based narratives (Ken Loach, Mike Leigh, Lynne HORSE/JOANNE] Ramsey films). Social-political context – Fish Tank explores social issues of absent fathers, single parents, dysfunctional families riddled with domestic [CONTEXT] Budget – £3 million When the horse dies two days after Mia’s rape from Connor later in the narrative, that Mia is not merely constricted, abuse, council estate poverty and middle class apathy, Mia to be sent to but something within her has died, including her loss of innocence without her consent. Pupil Referral Unit (PRU school), alcoholism in order to deal with destitution. Box-office figures – £5 million Funding – BBC Films/ UK Production companies – BBC Film (presents), UK Film Council (presents), Film Council. [KEY SEQUENCE #1 – Limelight (presents), Cinatura, ContentFilm. Cinematography – Robbie OPENING SEQUENCE: Distribution company – Artificial Eye Writer-director – Andrea Arnold Ryan. Producers– Nick Laws, Film influences – British Social Realism exploring marginalised working KeesKasander. Rating – 15 for strong language, sexual Keely’s dad as uncouth. The low angle shot positions both Mia (who calls him a ‘cunt’) caravan home setting illustrates other characters below the poverty line. The variable references and mature themes. and Keely’s dad as intimidating. Mia is initially framed in the narrative as an rogue anti depth of field hero protagonist, that camera alignment positions the spectator to experience the is a distinctive stylistic feature of Arnold’s filmmaking style (Red Road, American [FEMINIST CRITIQUE] world from her POV. Exposition of the council estate environment is established with stereotype transcoding. Honey, Wasp), where handheld camera shots sporadically come in and out of focus, to gain a sense of verisimilitude akin to the documentary aesthetics of Cinema Verite films. The shot-reverse shot of Mia watching Keely’s dance troupe at The over-the-shoulder shotof Joanne confronting Mia at their the park with a sneering expression of contempt acts as a untidy and cluttered home for satire for the objectification of teenage girls which is assaulting Keely’s new friend at the park establishes the proliferated through pop culture. Mia’s disdain may relate to her Sexual violence and jealousy of Keely’s new friends. Spectators may have a acrimonious mother-daughter dynamic.. The shot-reverse shots include handheld camera extreme close toxic masculinity – Connor’s statutory rape of negotiated reading of Mia, aligning with her cynicism towards ups that illustrate a degree of The silhouette shallow focus mid-shot (wide angle) of Mia teenage female body spectacle, whilst becoming alienated by her aggression. Mia neglect and aggression. The naturalistic lighting depicts a generic council flat with the leaving an answer message on Keely’s mobile as she gazes at may be seen as counter-typical for a female protagonist due to her dominant character stereotype the East London landscape from a council estate high rise traits. This building of suspense foreshadows a sense of disequilibrium. of a fatherless broken home. This foreshadows Mia’s unconscious search for a father suggests that the city may be perceived as a land of The wide angle shot of teenage boys, two of whom are topless with tattoos figure. Absent opportunity. The low-key lighting of the claustrophobic council objectifying teenage girls dancing. Stereotypes of masculinity are reinforced by them: father contexts are explored as breeding grounds for abuse with Mia’s formation of an estate high rise reinforces Mia’s confined circumstances. Mia’s showing off his abs/pecs/biceps, Electra complex. life is like a ’fish tank’, symbolically confined. The opening shot illustrates Mia exhausted in a hoodie (urban dress code) after The handheld canted angle shot of Mia trying to break the lock The close-up shot of Mia with her friend Keely in a framed hip-hop dancing, the one way she can carve her own agency tying down a white horse in a private photograph next to an Eiffel Tower souvenir. and autonomy. Her third answer message to Keely, using the yard acts as a motif for Mia’s pursuit for freedom in the narrative. The framed photograph acts as a hermeneutic prop to depict term “bitch” with a Cockney accent, establishes her working Mia attempts to break the white horse’s Mia’s innocence, along with Love You class ‘chav’ stereotypes. The over-the-shoulder tracking chains as a signifierfor her own confinement. The extended snow globes. The spectator is sutured into Mia’s world through shot of Mia crossing paths with her younger sister outside metaphors of a ‘fish tank’ (film’s title) humanising portraits of her childhood. Keely’s house sunbathing on the grass with her friends and the horse in chains, all point to restrictions. Efforts to break the horse’s shackles at The disconnect between her aggressive actions at the equilibrium stage, and depictions introduces an absurd contrast. Amongst run-down apartment buildings and littered the equilibrium of a more streets Tyler suns herself as if on a luxury holiday. The binary opposition of dreams stage of the narrative fail, to reinforce the notion that she also has not broken free. Mia’s humane and kind Mia beyond stereotypes of a ‘chav’. Arnold invites the spectator versus reality is reinforced. The shot-reverse shot of Mia sneering at her younger nurturing of towards alignment sister highlights her cynicism towards this. Tyler’s bikini (whilst cussing and smoking) as the white horse highlights her caring side and subverts her rebellious stereotype. rather than alienation through stereotype transcoding with Mia’s complex character a pre-teen girl reflects the problematic sexualisation of girls in media, which The tracking over-the-shoulder shot that reveals the white arc. foreshadows Mia’s character arc. horse, horse owner and caravan The low angle shot of Mia giving to and receiving verbal abuse home of the horse owner as Mia observes from a distance acts [OTHER KEY SHOTS] from Keely’s dad in a turquoise designed council flat depicts as a foreshadowing event. Billy’s to patriarchal eschewed through their posturing, and highlights how scopophilia the verisimilitude of location shooting, handheld camera shots, Mia is depicted by Andrea Arnold as dominance – Arnold arguably develops a polemic against is normalised in adolescence. Arnold may be positioning the semi-improvised scripts, non-professional actors and scenes of a gratuitous long take where the spectator to be perturbed by a predatory subtext. council estate criminality. Mia’s assault on Keely’s friend highlights male figures who exploit their status. drunk Connor manipulates Mia into how poverty breeds crime, as an expression of marginalised Post-feminist discourse –#MeToo has been evident in a The wide angle shot of Keely and friends identities. One could suggest that the ideological agenda of sex, then tells her to keep it a secret before attacking her contemporary era of victims of sexual abuse seeking dancing to a pop track with sexualised Mia’s representation is ‘seeing the need beyond the behaviour’ when she attempts to kidnap Connor’s daughter as gesture codes centres the performance justice through exposing predators through social media which is evident in her redemptive character arc. revenge –Mia’s breaking ritual where the focalisation of female posts – allusions to Fourth Wave Feminism and aspects body spectacle is reinforced. Is this and-entering into Connor’s home before urinating in his of radical feminism are explored in ‘Fish Tank’ – to what The long take tracking shot follows Mia adolescent sex-positive empowerment living room could be interpreted as a radical feminist extent should vigilantism be a response to sexual or positioning young girls into a passive, submissive ‘to be looked leaving the group,positioning the statutory rape-revenge act of vigilantism. Mia’s does spectator towards Mia’s problematic abuse? at’ role? Arnold builds Social Realist exposition of a murky council not conform to damsel-in-distress stereotypes, finding POV (through camera alignment). Mia’s Objectification/voyeurism–ideals of the female gaze estate environment that acting out points to a character in crisis, agency in defying the exploitation and abuse of her, are explored through Mia’s objectification of Connor’s cultivates the conditions for sexual abuse. Social Realist films who is a social catalyst for conflict and disequilibrium. Physical including storming out of the strip-club that she assumed often identify a societal issue, and the convention is that body – the role reversal of voyeurismsubverts gendered alignment through tracking shots encourages the spectator to was for a music audition. protagonists have triumph over adversity. stereotypes emotionally connect with her. Long takes have high levels of Patriarchal norms – As a married middle-class male with bulldogs, a GTA t-shirt/baggy The handheld close-up shot of Mia verisimilitude using handheld camera tracking shots, and clear father, Connor’s exploitation of Joanne, as a working trousers, and baseball cap. They conform head-butting Keely’s new friend causing cause-and-effect. The influence of handheld camerawork for class single mother, then the statutory rape of Mia, to male gaze conventions in the ritual of her to bleed from the nose conforms to documentary style realism echoes French New Wave films such as female body spectacle. Sexual energy is British Social Realist conventions with Godard’s ‘Breathless’ (1960). highlights the notion of predatory misogyny as intrinsic  The long shot as Mia enters a middle class estate where Connor lives, positions her as miniscule amidst a daunting social context. Mia’s breach into an inhospitable land is emphasised. The extreme close up bathed in a dark red aesthetic has Mia pretending to be asleep as Connor unclothes her – the disturbing eroticism of the sequence reinforces the escalation. The POV mid-shot of Joanne and friends flirting with Connor at a house party as Mia observes with envy highlights the idea of Connor as a charming lothario. The intercutting of Mia performing her dance moves to Connor highlights how she makes herself vulnerable to him, foreshadowing her Electra complex and Connor’s entertainment of it. The intercutting of long shots and close-ups of Connor catching a fish with Mia has allusions to Connor as predatory and Mia as prey. The deep focus shot of Joanne entering Mia’s room with a tiger painted alludes to both of their empowerment. The POV close-up shot of Mia observing Keira on Connor’s video camera acts as the MacGuffin of the narrative. The wide angle shot of Mia dancing with Joanne to Nas’ ‘Life’s A Bitch’ is juxtaposed with a tropical wallpaper background to reinforce the disconnect between dreams and reality – their mother-daughter bond in one last poetic gesture.