Borrowing from the 50’s/60’s kitchen sink films, borrowing the lead actress (Kierston Wareing) from Ken Loach‘s last picture and borrowing from the spirits and miserable life settings that afflicted her previous female characters in short film Wasp, and the voyeuristic Red Road, Andrea Arnold offers such a rich character portrayal featuring newbie actress Katie Jarvis who becomes the poster child for a maligned adolescence and just as difficult childhood. Though there is an overuse of metaphors and symbolism to re-confirm the obvious, this contains all the rich trimmings of a film that never lets up: I was often found myself comparing Fish Tank to the work of the Dardennes, specifically their visual and narrative treatment of Rosetta. Arnold is a filmmaker worth keeping tabs on – look for my full length review coming soon.
Cannes 2009 Day 3: Life’s a Bitch in Andrea Arnold’s Fish Tank
Date:
More like thisRelated
Ken Russell’s The Devils – 2010 Fantasia International Film Festival
Iconic director Ken Russell was in town to receive a lifetime achievement award from Fantasia for his 50-plus years in the business, a career that has spawned many genre classics including Altered States, Gothic, and The Lair of the White Worm. But it was the little-seen and hard to find The Devils from 1971 that proved to be Russell's most controversial work, and Fantasia managed to snag a copy to be screened on Russell's big night. In the video, Russell discusses the true story behind the film and receives his award with the grace befitting one of the great filmmakers of all time.
