Blu-Ray Review: Andrea Arnold’s Stunning ‘Fish Tank’ Demands Wider Audience

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CHICAGO – Andrea Arnold might be the best working filmmaker that you haven’t yet heard of. She won an Oscar for her short film “Wasp” and followed that up with the excellent “Red Road” and the even-better “Fish Tank,” a great drama now included in The Criterion Collection and available on Blu-ray and DVD.

HollywoodChicago.com Blu-Ray Rating: 4.5/5.0
Blu-Ray Rating: 4.5/5.0

It’s a sad fact that we live in a movie marketplace where films like “Fish Tank” struggle to find an audience. “Fish Tank” made $375,000 stateside and only about $2 million more internationally. (Then again, both those numbers are double “Red Road.”) “Little Fockers” made almost that much in just its 10th weekend in release. It can be disheartening if one really thinks about it.

Fish Tank was released on Blu-Ray and DVD on February 22nd, 2011
Fish Tank was released on Blu-Ray and DVD on February 22nd, 2011
Photo credit: Courtesy of the Criterion Collection

But that’s one of the things I love the most about The Criterion Collection. It puts a stamp of approval on films like “Fish Tank” and brings them to a wider audience than might have seen it without induction into the most prestigious series of DVDs and Blu-rays yet released. The deal that Criterion signed with IFC Films has raised a few eyebrows but I can’t quibble with most of the choices so far, especially when even the inclusion of lesser works brings one of my favorite films of 2010 to people who simply need to see it.

Fish Tank was released on Blu-Ray and DVD on February 22nd, 2011
Fish Tank was released on Blu-Ray and DVD on February 22nd, 2011
Photo credit: Courtesy of the Criterion Collection

Newcomer Katie Jarvis gives one of the best turns of 2010 (she would have been my #6 for Best Actress nominations in my best lead performances of the year piece) as Mia, a girl caught at a crossroads. She lives in the projects in Essex with her incredibly-young mother and her sister. At fifteen, she is beginning to explore her womanhood and hates the overly sexualized behavior of her friends. When a shirtless man literally drops into her kitchen, everything changes.

The man is her mother’s new boyfriend (the great Michael Fassbender of “Inglourious Basterds” and “Hunger”), someone who instantly creates a complex dynamic for Mia. She’s fascinated by him both as a man and as a missing father figure and Jarvis and Arnold brilliantly walk that fine line in which it’s unclear what role this man will play. As they go on family trips and he introduces Mia to a great version of “California Dreamin’,” the dynamic becomes clearer, and the final act is stunningly well-executed.

I can’t say enough good things about “Fish Tank,” a runner-up for my top ten in a very good year for film. Jarvis and Fassbender are spectacular. And Arnold finds that delicate balance between realism and art; character and drama. The arc of “Fish Tank” is never as obvious, manipulative, or melodramatic as it would have been in the hands of lesser filmmakers. Andrea Arnold is so adept at the balance of a piece like this that never allows it to become a soap opera or a cautionary tale. It is a character study, not a statement, and it is a brilliant one.

Shot in 1.33:1 full frame, the Criterion transfer of “Fish Tank” is a beauty, of course. It looks just right in full frame, adding a sense of realism in that much of the film looks like it was shot on handheld camera. It adds to the fly-on-the-wall quality of the film and the Blu-ray looks perfect.


The special features for “Fish Tank” could have been filler. It’s not a film with visual effects breakdowns or retrospective material. Instead, Criterion actually went the extra mile and include three of Arnold’s short films, including the Oscar-winning “Wasp” (the other two are “Dog” and “Milk”). Audition footage, interviews, stills — the only thing missing is a commentary track or some interview time with Jarvis, although “Fish Tank” truly speaks for itself.

Special Features:
o Director-Approved Digital Transfer with DTS-HD Master Audio
o Three Short Films by Director Andrea Arnold: Milk, Dog, and Wasp
o New Video Interview with Actor Kierston Wareing
o Audio Conversation with Actor Michael Fassbender
o Audition Footage
o Stills Gallrey by Set Photographer Holly Horner
o Original Theatrical Trailer
o Booklet Featuring an Essay by Film Scholar Ian Christie

“Fish Tank” stars Katie Jarvis, Michael Fassbender, Kierston Wareing, and Rebecca Griffiths. It was written and directed by Andrea Arnold. It was released on Blu-ray and DVD on February 22nd, 2011. It is not rated and runs 122 minutes.

HollywoodChicago.com content director Brian Tallerico

By BRIAN TALLERICO
Content Director
HollywoodChicago.com
brian@hollywoodchicago.com

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