Fish Tank (2009)

Everything changes for 15-year-old Mia when her mum brings home a new boyfriend.

Director:

Andrea Arnold

Writer:

Andrea Arnold

Stars:

Katie Jarvis, Michael Fassbender, Kierston Wareing

21 wins & 29 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Katie Jarvis	...	Mia
Michael Fassbender	...	Conor
Kierston Wareing	...	Joanne
Rebecca Griffiths	...	Tyler
Harry Treadaway	...	Billy
Sydney Mary Nash	...	Keira
Carrie-Ann Savill	...	Tyler's Friend
Toyin Ogidi	...	Tyler's Friend
Grant Wild	...	Keeley's Dad
Sarah Bayes	...	Keeley
Charlotte Collins	...	Tall Dancing Girl
Kirsty Smith	...	Dancing Girl
Chelsea Chase	...	Dancing Girl
Brooke Hobby	...	Dancing Girl
Jason Maza	...	Billy's Brother

Storyline

Mia, an aggressive fifteen-year-old girl, lives on an Essex estate with her tarty mother, Joanne, and precocious little sister Tyler. She has been thrown out of school and is awaiting admission to a referrals unit and spends her days aimlessly. She begins an uneasy friendship with Joanne's slick boyfriend, Connor, who encourages her one interest, dancing.

---

Plot Keywords:

essex | dancing | suburb | 15 year old | little sister | 

---

Taglines:

Live, love and give as good as you get.

---

Genres:

Drama

---

Certificate:

Not Rated

Details

Official Sites:

Official site [France]

Country:

Netherlands UK

Language:

English

Release Date:

11 September 2009 (UK)

Also Known As:

Fish Tank

Filming Locations:

Mardyke Estate, Rainham, Essex, England, UK

Box Office

Opening Weekend:

£103,180 (United Kingdom), 13 September 2009, Limited Release

Opening Weekend USA:

$32,619, 17 January 2010, Limited Release

Gross USA:

$373,060, 9 May 2010

Company Credits

Production Co:

BBC Films, UK Film Council, Limelight Communication

Technical Specs

Runtime:

123 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Katie Jarvis, who plays Mia, had never acted before this film. A casting director spotted her having a fight with her boyfriend at a train station and offered her the role.

---

Goofs

As Mia is leaving the dance audition, she passes a mirrored wall and the cameraman and his equipment is clearly reflected.

---

Quotes

[first lines]
[Mia calls Keeley using a cellphone]
Keeley: [from an answering machine] Hey, it's Keeley. Leave me a message.
Mia: Keeley, it's me. What's going on? I've left like three messages. I said sorry, didn't I? You know what I'm like. I was pissed off. Ring me back, you bitch.

---

Connections

Featured in The Rotten Tomatoes Show: Daybreakers/Leap Year/Youth in Revolt (2010)

---

Soundtracks

Your House
Performed by Steel Pulse
Written by Alphonso Martin
Published by Blackchat Music
Courtesy of Elektra Entertainment Group
By arrangement with Warner Music Group Film & TV Licensing

User Reviews

Muted and monotonic

The recent riots in the U.K. have fostered much talk of feral youth, led astray by absent or uncaring parents, and this may seem to lend 'Fish Tank', a story of growing up on the wrong end of society, a renewed pertinence. But there's a monotone bleakness here that is mostly depressing without illuminating the issues it seeks to expose. Over 40 years ago, Ken Loach's 'Kes', like the fine novel on which it was based, explored not dissimilar territory; but that film also explored the idealism of its protagonist, the conformist and restrictive nature of our society at all levels, and how people, if not nurtured, will destroy the good in their own lives. 'Fish Tank' has none of this perceptiveness; and for all its hard bitten edge, it's utter blankness didn't ring true for me either, lacking the (often painful) emotion of the real world.