Fish Tank

(I Actually Can’t Think of a Good Review Title to Properly Describe How Much I Love Fish Tank)

By Kristin Battestella

I’ve been struggling for the past few weeks on exactly how to approach my review of the 2009 Andrea Arnold Jury Prize winner Fish Tank.  Can I abstractly discuss the philosophies of Brit despair and downtrodden lost youth herein and properly capture the exceptional gist of the film? Or, can I write in all the finite spoiler examination glory that I’m just itching to investigate and talk about with the twisted twists and twisted turns burning up the screen?  Sugar foot, I just can’t help myself with this film!  We’ll do the pleasantries first, with the juicy bits hidden beneath to follow.

Mia’s (Katie Jarvis) life pretty much sucks.  She’s been kicked out of school, doesn’t get along with the local girls, and tries to free a dying horse before returning home and getting in a routine and curse-laden shouting match with her young and blonde mother Joanne (Kierston Wareing).  Little sister Tyler (Rebecca Griffiths) is also surprisingly capable of handling the foul-mouthed wit, drinking, and smoking that fills their tiny council apartment.  Mia’s only escape is some booze, the lame local boys, and a neighboring empty apartment where she practices hip hop dancing.  One day, Mia meets her mother’s latest boyfriend Connor (Michael Fassbender).  Quickly he ingratiates himself into the girls’ lives and seemingly becomes the stable male figure that could set the household straight.  Or not.

Refreshing Film Design

Writer and director Andrea Arnold (Red Road, Wasp) wastes no frame in establishing the crappy corner of Essex that is Mia’s world and doesn’t let up for a solid two hours. I’m an American adult, and yet after seeing Fish Tank, I feel like I’ve been to the unpleasant of ye merry England and spent a shitty teenhood there.  To say the least, anybody who’s been around a crappy neighbor can relate.  Perhaps one can simplistically hinge this tale on the stereotypical coming of age teen sexual drama. However, by time your well and deep into Fish Tank, you don’t think that at all.  This almost feels like a documentary not a movie; a lone camera following a girl, a person with pain and passion that we can all understand.  One may not notice initially, but Arnold smartly filmed Fish Tank in old fashioned, square full screen glory.  Yes, the symbolism of being boxed in with the titular small fish is a little obvious once you notice the aspect ratio, but it’s more interesting that Arnold even thought to have the film itself reflect the dated and crappy onscreen world when so many other directors go for more and more effects and detracting visuals.  In a way, the audience is meant to feel like the Peeping Tom of the piece, observing everything from just over Mia’s shoulder.  It’s refreshing to return to such classic A Christmas Carol “And I am standing in the spirit at your elbow” filmmaking.

Arnold wastes nothing onscreen. The small, colorful TV/DVD combos within the film continue the trend, and heck, why have a film composer when you have a CD with the song you want handy?  Fish Tank was made on the cheap, for sure, and a lot of that leads to its ingenuity, yes.  However, if you can make great films like this with next to nothing, why the heck aren’t we?  The handheld camerawork is not the jagged, in your face herky jerky and extreme of faux reality yarns like Ghost Hunters- it is natural, fluid, personal, and even uncomfortable for the viewer thanks to what it finds.  The audience also feels like we’re blushing over this private peep show thanks to Arnold’s tight script.  Again perhaps out of scheduling necessity but also by smarts, Arnold filmed Fish Tank in chronological order and gave the cast the script piecemeal. Like the viewer who doesn’t know what will happen next, the actors didn’t know the turns their characters would take.  Now that we see the realistic and successful results of this arrangement in Fish Tank, again one wonders why more films aren’t done this way.  While we may have never given it a second thought before, now in comparison, it seems strange to think how other movies will have their players filming critical plot twists and character motivations out of order.  How can that possibly be genuine?

The naturally made to look crappy set design also adds a layer of character to Fish Tank. Mia has a very old and dirty room for which she is probably too old- with a half empty snow globe highlighted as one of the few things she actually owns.  She must go to a rundown internet café to watch break dancing videos and has to mail things from the corner convenience store.  Little sister Tyler also should remain a little girl and innocent as her room suggests- with some kind of hamster, a dog aptly named Tenants, and drawings of cats on the walls.   All they ever seem to do is watch music videos.  Mom Joanne dresses like her daughters, their rooms are all the same garish pink color, they have sheets on the windows, and they all seem stuck in the seventies.  Not retro, just shitty with a tropical mural in the living room and low to the floor designs with junk piled everywhere and laundry hanging on the balcony.  Oh, and the mini refrigerator in their kitchen is empty.  Well, if that doesn’t get you in the mood of this world, nothing will!

The music and diegetic sound design also adds dimension to Fish Tank. Though I’m not a fan of modern hip hop music (I much prefer the old school rap), the songs chosen here are pretty good ones- great dance tunes with hard hitting lyrics and subtext. One might also debate whether Arnold expressly lets certain snips of lyrics from the onscreen music videos be heard in place of dialogue to suggest more innuendo. Again, it’s a little indicative of the urban, music video generation that Mia would be interested in American Rap music just because it’s all she sees on television, but the despair of youth in song shines through. Bobby Womack’s California Dreamin’ rendition contrasts these contemporary grooves perfectly with a mellow, nice and easy, seemingly blissfully comparison.  As much as I love The Mamas & The Papas classic, their version would not have played as well for today’s teens.  Although the timing of Arnold’s writing and the filming of Fish Tank doesn’t coincide with Mackenzie Phillips’ recent sexual claims about her father John Phillips (ew and thanks for ruining all their songs for me!), I do think its ironic California Dreamin’- arguably Papa John’s most famous tune- is in this particular film about the grey line between father figure and budding iffy sexuality. This does make listening to The Mamas & The Papas a little weird now, doesn’t it? Likewise bleak and disturbing are the real council housing locations in Fish Tank.  I’ve seen my share of American projects, but my goodness these places- even the higher up areas we see- look twenty years behind the times.  As Connor says, “Get on out, girl!” and after living in Fish Tank’s world for a few hours, the viewer has to agree.

People, not Characters. 

While some critics have dismissed newcomer Katie Jarvis as having it easy and simply playing herself, Mia is much more than that.  She dresses kind of dated, at least to me her hip sweats and track suits seems so nineties, indicating a lack of fashion and style know how.  She only begins to wear makeup and come out of her angry shell once she meets Connor.  Mia even goes in her mother’s room and goes through her things. Perhaps this is a pissy knee jerk reaction at first.  But, it’s also almost as if Mia’s playing dress up, mixing youth- trying eyeliner- and adulthood- finding birth control- in ways she knows nothing about.  She hasn’t even learned to present herself properly and is now confronted with all this budding whirlwind drama!  All the girls in Fish Tank seem this way. All the females seem made to look ugly and dress like hos. Cunt and Bitch are terms of endearment as well as insults. Not only is this not an easy world clearly, but Arnold also somehow tastefully implies this place is a little antiquated and misogynistic. Oh, a man will fix this whether the chick wants him to or not!  You get the feeling that if Mia had a father figure to begin with, none of this might have happened. Is that, however, such a bad thing? Fish Tank argues that these life changes will happen whether you are ready for them or not, and it is up to the individual to make the outcome positive or negative. While the horse symbolisms for Mia are a little much- freedom and chains and all that- these archetypes are also lovely and relatable, too.  Despite her youth, energy, vitality, and latent sensuality, Mia is as chained up and starving old as the animal.  Again, the jerking camera moving with each stroke as she tries to free the horse is more about letting her own anger out without having to say anything.  Mia lashes out with overused hollow curse words because it is the only way she knows how. Jarvis in this debut captures the range of rage, emotion, realism, underlying softness, and hope needed to keep us rooting for Mia when things get ugly.  Trainspotting, anyone?

The dancing elements- while also perhaps stereotypical- do go deeper. Fish Tank is not a dance film. The empty, abandoned apartment where Mia goes to dance is as bleak and despairing as she herself may very well seem. However, this is a free, uncluttered space with an open view.  It does not contain all that makes her home so broken- shouting and violence.  Ironically, I personally think Tyler is correct- Mia’s dancing isn’t that good. At the very least, it’s a few years behind- but the quality of movement is not the point.  Dance is simply Mia’s chosen vehicle of art, self, freedom of expression, and potential talent that isn’t supported at home.  Since she speaks with her body or seems to think that is the only outlet she has, I don’t wonder if Mia has been assaulted before? The creepy boys in the neighborhood are certainly implied as rapacious. Is this why Mia further crushes on Connor- the only seemingly stable man around? Why, after being so bottled up for so long, does she confide in him and want his opinion about her dance audition? How much can we read into why she chooses his song for her audition? Is it the song’s melancholy yearning for sunny California or is it her newfound feeling for him? Instead of the dated music video imitations, Mia’s unfinished (ah, life is unfinished, hint hint) dance routine becomes almost ballet: graceful, fluid, very beautiful, truly expressing herself in an artistic and sensual way. Isn’t that, by definition, sexy?   

Fish Tank takes our inability to not judge someone and puts it on its ear. Kierston Wareing (The Take, It’s a Free World) looks completely different from Joanne in real life.  The ‘mother’ of our piece is definitely some form of abusive, always hitting her kids and cursing in a sort of self loathing jealous and reflective anger at her own lost youth.  In some ways, she is the immature teen here, caught in a time warp and listening to reggae music. She even likes to dance, too- but her impromptu parties downstairs turn into a sex fest with Mia seeing two couples getting it on.  This is not a pretty part- we tend to look over these types of characters because they are so ugly. Is it Joanne’s fault? Perhaps, but not really. In a different world without their circumstances- or maybe with their hardships to boot- these three girls could have been a real trio with nothing to stop them.  By contrast, if Joanne were a cool, wayward free spirited adventurous friend instead of parent, we’d probably think badly about her just the same. Instead, we have a difficult and angsty in between: a mom who is jealous of her own daughter.  Joanne even seems jealous of Tyler and tries to compete with her youngest over Connor’s attention. Frankly, the fact that they are adults is the only thing she has in common with her new boyfriend- that and drinking.  She is desperate to keep him to value herself.  Why does she feel she needs a man for self worth? Joanne cooks and cleans the house for him, but not the kids. She even goes along with plans to send Mia to reform school, embarrassing and insulting and agreeing her daughter has always been trouble.  If they sat together in the living room like family before Connor, maybe Mia wouldn’t be such a “bad seed”.  Joanne hates Mia because she hates herself.  And what does she do for a living, anyway?

Well, kid sister Tyler is a molestee waiting to happen.   She tans in front of adults, smokes, drinks, curses-all learned behaviors from the upstanding examples in her community no doubt.  She calls her mother by her first name and does nothing but watch TV. In real life, I would probably hate this full of shit arrogant little brat who curses whilst swinging on a swing.  At best, it’s kind of weird to watch such a foul mouthed kid.  It’s a shame though, because she has some of the best lines in the film!  “I like you. I’ll kill you last!”  Newcomer Rebecca Griffiths holds her own against the leads with great zest and natural fun. Her “What the hell?” in response to Fassbender’s “I’m going to catch a fish.” cracks me up and I’m not really sure why. Is it really so absurd to this little girl that a man can catch a fish with his hands?  Tyler may talk big, but her talk is just that, talk.  You can’t help but wonder what is going to happen to her by time she reaches Mia’s age, even though she deserves to be a kid now, she’s also clearly caught in some sort of limbo in between. Tyler doesn’t call Joanne “mum” until they are cruising to the countryside with Conner and playing animal guessing games in the car.  You know, like a real family. Everyone seems to like being a family except for Joanne.  In some ways, Connor coming along is a good thing.  He is the stable force all three of these girls need in different ways.  Unfortunately, things just kind of get a little mixed up!

The Fass Fassy Bender Bendy Smorgasbord 

So then, let’s talk about The Man Himself, the gorgeous shirtless dreamboat with a car and a job that puts Joanne on Cloud 9 and awakens this entire household with attention, life, and sexuality.  Fassbender (Hunger, X-Men First Class, Inglourious Basterds) seems so damn ^&*$##^ $@^&$# sexy in this film because everything is from Mia’s point of view.  She has a crush on him from the start, and therefore so do we. We are swept off our theater seats along with Mia and that infatuation blinds us to the things about Connor we might not want to really see- or more importantly, the things Mia in her youth fails to comprehend or misinterprets. Some of that is her mistake, yes, but he certainly contributes!  Connor genuinely seems a friend and role model initially; but as the film progresses, we see more and more budding inappropriateness. And again, though it’s so strange to say, it isn’t anyone’s fault. If he were unattached to her mother or their ages were slightly different, we might not have a problem with the hope of escape through a romantic relationship.

Unfortunately, the relationship between Connor and Mia becomes increasingly askew.  Things are well and good when he takes them all on a drive to nature, outdoors, freedom from dirty concrete. If Joanne is uninterested in all of it, whom is he trying to impress with the fish? He works security at a home improvement store- clearly, he is not that many steps above them, yet he seems to know each of them is in awe of him.  His camera and fancy car are as high tech as Mia’s ever seen. Connor seems to have more in common with her and goes out of his way to befriend her.  If he is already in good with Joanne and she could care less about her kids, why does he bother?  Does he really have to insist Mia climb on his back so he can carry her when she injures her foot? My favorite scene in Fish Tank is when Connor carries Mia to her room while she pretends to be sleeping.  We know she is pretending because she likes him, and the excellently distorted and slow motion camera angles and movements show this lucid mix of dream and reality perfectly.  This is romantic for her, and again we believe this could be a healthy romance.  Couples have to lift one another and support each other- not unlike a parental figure at times. Is this also, then, in a good way, a fatherly scene? Connor takes off her shoes, folds her clothes, and covers her up….was it all innocent, him proving his good intentions to her and her family? One might believe so.  He also carries Tyler upstairs to bed later, and has to put down a drunk Joanne as well- yet these scenes are played totally different.  Really, there’s no harm from him towards this family, is there?

Ironically, it is Connor, not Joanne, who inquires on the boy Mia is bombing around with- claiming a 19 year old is too old for her.  He seems the angry parent who is interested in her well-being.  Or, when the conversation turns to sex, does that make his interests something more? Connor wants to talk about Mia’s school plans, and it is she who angrily insists he is not her parent.  Why would she reject the one security she is getting at home? He was trying to be parental, wasn’t he?  He almost always uses the word family for them. Mia wants a father, she wants a boyfriend.  Though perhaps unaware of what she is really doing, she tries her darndest to get both from him- even watching him and her mother have sex then repeatedly slamming her bedroom door in response to them. Paging Dr. Freud! Eventually, Connor responds the only way he can- not that it by any means makes it everything all right. Again, we the voyeuristic viewer come away with no easy answers in Fish Tank.  And that is just the wonderful, stunning, delightful, and exceptional Fassy in all his effing glory.  Get on the ball, Oscar!   The Fassman is calling you…you can’t ignore him forever!

Modern Gem

Wow, I’ve already written a lot on Fish Tank, haven’t I? Fortunately, you don’t have to take my word for it; International awards and acclaim have followed 2010 BAFTA for Outstanding British Film recipient Arnold, British Independent Film Most Promising Newcomer Jarvis, and London Critics Circle Film Awards Best Supporting Actor Fassbender since the film’s debut at Cannes.  In fact, the only place that Fish Tank seems on the outside looking in on accolades and larger audiences is the US.  Hopefully, that will now change with the Criterion DVD and Blu-ray releases.  Though the interface is kind of clunky, the blu-ray edition looks smashing! Despite its American unlove, plenty of features have also been included on the Region 1 release.  These spoilery treats include a 14 minute in depth interview with Kierston Wareing (I love her idea that Joanne’s girls probably have different dads), a 25 minute audio conversation with Michael Fassbender, audition tapes, photo galleries, and three shorts films from Andrea Arnold.  A commentary would have been nice, but all this took long enough just to be released stateside!  Of course, not only is some of the natural dialogue in Fish Tank tough to hear, but some folks will definitely need subtitles for all the English English accents. 

Fans of the cast- especially Fassbender- and Arnold will of course delight; but this Hard R coming of age tale is not for youths, prudes, or those who can’t take gritty downtrodden sexual drama.  Despite her anti-Cockney ears, I keep thinking my 14-year-old niece might like Fish Tank for its dancing angles and intelligent maturity examinations.  Then, I think of those juicy Fassy scenes and think ‘Good God no! Maybe I’ll consider it at 21…maybe.’  Even if you like seriously good film and enjoy Fish Tank, some parts are very difficult to watch, and frankly, it’s meant to be uncomfortable.  My husband says that’s what I get for watching kinky movies. Unfortunately, at best, indiscretions like this happen in the real world all the time. We just turn a blind eye to the loss of innocence every day- be it Essex, England or Essex, New Jersey.  Fish Tank, however, won’t let you look away.  It’s that good. 



Continue to our Fish Tank Spoiler Edition examination here if you dare! 

Andrea Arnold: Film Shorts

Andrea Arnold: 3 Short Films

By Kristin Battestella

In addition to my praise for Fish Tank, I wanted to spend a few moments discussing the three Andrea Arnold Short Films included on the Criterion Fish Tank release. While it’s somewhat strange perhaps to have 3 additional films as supplements, I’m just pleased these fine films have seen the light of DVD day, as most critically acclaimed short, foreign work is often so obscure.

Milk (1998) looks older than it is, but the dated period style works with this examination of a couple dealing with a stillbirth. Arnold moves quickly from conception to loss to ungrief with straight cuts and no fuss.  Granted, the swift pacing is because it’s a short film. However, the time makes one wonder why we make superfluous two-hour films when this kind of pain can all be captured in ten minutes. Is cohorting around with a younger man grief or is it going off the deep end? Is there that big a difference between the two when one is dealing with this kind of loss?  As she says so perfectly in the film, “Goodbye? I didn’t get to say hello.” 

2001’s Dog again presents so small a world in tight focus of one topic, and yet it’s something so understandable to all.  This film is actually very similar to Fish Tank; full of dated downtrodden dirt mixing with budding youth romance and the predatory or whore-like implications it can bring.  In its short ten minutes, Dog may seem a little random- but hey, that’s life, and the monotony and useless waste is far worse when you’re a teen with nothing but sex and crime to do. The topper of how the titular dog factors in just caps off the tragedy perfectly.

Wasp is the longest ‘short’ here at 25 minutes.  The 2003 Best Live Action Short Oscar winner begins with a barefoot catfight witnessed by four barely clothed kids with foul mouths and empty bellies all to match and gets trashier from there. Danny Dyer (Outlaw) and a picture of David Beckam on the wall are as good as it gets for these folks thanks to one seriously bad mom and only a half a bag of sugar to go round. Is it her fault? Are the kids brats? Regardless of what judgments you want to pass, the audience obviously sees no one deserves to live like this.  Disturbing as that is, such attention to ambiguous character and universal human condition makes for beautiful film.

Wow, that was short and sweet!

Fish Tank: The Spoiler Fest

Here There Be Spoilers! (And Dragons in the Fish Tank!)

by Kristin Battestella

Please see our tame critique of Fish Tank here if you want to remain chaste and unspoilt.

Don't Say I didn't warn you!

Well, then, I’ve speculated and suggested, and if you’ve researched Fish Tank online elsewhere, you probably know that things turn seriously drastic in the final act of the film.  I’ve given the philosophies and generalities, but now we can talk about the finite layers and details of the juicy drama!

 

1. Are there hints to Connor’s Marital Status? Yes indeed the careful viewer can see Connor’s twist coming throughout the film. Honestly, what hip guy drives a mini wagon car thing like that?  If the tattoo on his arm were really for an ex, wouldn’t he have the design redone and not just stick with a meaningless name? Naturally, there may be differences in Britain, but everything you wanted to know about Connor would have been revealed on his pay stub- if Mia knew how to read it, that is. Income, insurances, dependents and all that- the fact that she didn’t understand how to read it again proves she’s still a kid with no sense of real word details.  Connor’s immediate casual banter with both daughters, the way he barters with Tyler on the first morning- why is this guy, unlike most others, so comfortable with tag along kids? He makes 3 cups of tea- is he used to doing things in threes per his family?  He doesn’t object to a family road trip, in fact, he is the one who invites the girls along. Wouldn’t he rather spend some time alone with the hottie he’s just met?  Is he that used to having a family around? Instead of looking at Joanne in the car, he looks in the rearview mirror at the girls when he’s singing. Does he normally sing in the car and expects reaction or someone to join in? We can debate the sexuality and motivations of his taking of Mia’s pants after he carries her to bed-Fassbender himself says he did not perceive that scene as sexual- but why would he think of such a thing anyway-unless he is used to carrying someone to bed?  Later, he also carries Tyler up and comes back down stairs to retrieve her pillow- again, like he expects a child to cry for a particular blanket or doll.  Connor goes out of his way to get in the girl’s good graces, asking Mia if it’s all right if he stays with them.  Now, I don’t understand why in English English they say ‘us’ in the singular. However, when Mia calls Connor’s numbers, his phone message says, “This is Connor, leave us a message.” Later, he claims his cell phone battery died, so this was most likely his home phone. When Mia calls his work, they claim he’s taken a week’s vacation, and have no problem giving that information to a young girl over the phone.  Does a young girl, perhaps a child, often call work for her father? There are plenty of kids and families playing in his neighborhood, no one is surprised Mia is about his house.  Careful viewers will see the women’s gardening gloves by his window, the plant on Connor’s table. There is one can of Coke next to the beer in fridge- on the top shelf where a kid can’t reach! Toy bracelets are also on the table, and the scooter’s box is blurred in the frame behind Mia before she sees it. Actually, perhaps it’s not a question of if Connor has a family, but frankly, how many of these families could he have? If he hadn’t slept with Mia, how long would he have carried on with Joanne? Connor’s real life doesn’t seem so bad- why would he leave it? Did he marry young thanks to getting a girl pregnant and wants to reclaim his lost kicks- just like Joanne? We really never find out any more about Connor than we knew at the start, because Mia doesn’t get the complete picture.

2.  Does Mia come onto Connor?  A provocative theory, I know.  We definitely perceive him as the older, wiser, and should have known better man.  However, if we could attempt to see the film from his perspective, I think Mia would be very taunting indeed.  Sure, the first morning when he catches her dancing was just hot to happen, but she calls him a “donkey’s knob” at the party. Did he know she was pretending to be asleep when he carried her? She was lying in her mother’s bed where he just spent the night, what was she implying? Yeah, mom and I share boyfriends all the time! By undressing her, was he testing her reaction to him? Honestly, I don’t care if it is Michael Good God mother fucking Fassbender, I’m damn ticklish and would definitely recoil if someone started undressing me.  How can she stay so still unless she wanted him to take her pants off?  At that point, did he think her young and juvenile, because things certainly change when she comes downstairs in her underwear.  Is she not flirting with him in the kitchen by contesting her mother over being half-naked? Why would Joanne care now unless she is aware Connor is looking at her daughter? He was being kind and carrying her like a kid when she hurt her foot at the lake- but he had to notice the way she was holding onto him and resting her head on his shoulder. Is she playing a little ‘look, but don’t touch!’ with him? She does dance for him in the parking lot when asked, pleased to show off before him until her mother embarrasses her.  Surely, he knew he didn’t tell her where he worked- which means he also knew she had been snooping in his wallet.  He had to know it was for adult dancing on the flyer- but Mia says don’t tell her mother.  What else, like her sex life, does she hide from her mom? Did he take these events as signs of her pressing her maturity upon him? Repeatedly she tells him she is not a kid and he is not her parent, that he is nothing to her- as in, he is eligible to Mia? She brings Billy (Harry Treadaway, City of Ember) to his work to make Connor jealous- and when he suggests Billy is too old, Mia claims it is sexual. Was all this orchestrated to get a reaction from him? When they do finally have sex, he talks as if she liked it and wanted it. Sweet Jesus, the things Fassy says! In Connor’s mind, was she asking for it?  At best, perhaps he initially saw her as a kid with a crush, but as the days went on, did Mia turn into some sort of unknowing temptress luring him to worse on a hot and heavy drunken night? We try to find some sort of justification because we like The Fass. We don’t want to think him as bad even if she’s 15. This was however, in a strange way, both consensual and abuse at the same time.  She knew she liked him, and better her to be with someone she liked than be raped by a creepy, nasty non-Fassy older man.  However, Mia also seems very childlike and unaware of her feminine wiles- or what they are truly capable of doing.

3.  Were Connor’s actions premeditated?  Hmm, by contrast, we have to consider Connor’s potentially pedophile culpability.  I don’t think his attraction and eventual encounter with Mia was premeditated, as some certainly may. Strange to say that the film somehow leaves the issue open to interpretation. Rightly or wrongly because of him or her, his attraction does grow, there is no doubt. However, it clearly seems the affair with Joanne and his moving in with them was indeed carefully orchestrated.  Joanne- thinking Connor complete perfection- obviously did not know he was married. If it’s possible to have something more disturbing than an out and out pedophile plan, it’s that we don’t really know Connor’s motivations.  Does he periodically leave his wife for these types of flings?  How did he meet Joanne anyway? Judging by Joanne’s phone conversations with friends, this is a new whirlwind romance.  However, this couldn’t have been super spur of the moment if he was so able to coordinate keeping the car, his work schedule, and phone status. He has already made up a convenient excuse about a turbulent arrangement with his mother. Recalling his mysterious phone call when they went fishing, Mia asks if his mom kicked him out, and he agrees its something like that- lying with a smile!  Connor remains at work until his encounter with Mia. How does he explain her appearances there unless his buddies or employer at least know of his separation? There were other guy and gal friends at the party- where they aware of all this? Despite his charm, the fact that we don’t know what happened before the opening of the film further implies all sorts of creepy things about Connor.  If a man is so ready to deceive his family and effectively prey upon another, then the leap to other nefarious abuses doesn’t seem that far behind.  His ambiguity and hidden womanizing at best proves he really just shouldn’t be trusted around any attractive women regardless of age.  After they have sex, Connor still supports Mia’s audition and acts like a dad again, as if they just had to get the temptation out and that isn’t how he really feels about her- but which are his true colors? Again, it is Fassbender who lets Connor get away with these things.  He is a charming, good-looking jerk in many ways. If Connor looked like a Florida registered sex offender mug shot, we would think differently.  Instead, everyone looks the other way as he says they will talk about it tomorrow. He’s always putting off his problems.  While he didn’t seem to set out to abuse young girls, Connor is an opportunistic bigamist and all around irresponsible and selfish guy.  Though bad, is that a crime?

4. Is there something suggestive in Conner’s relationship with Tyler? Knowing what we know about Connor and Mia, it is certainly possible to see potentially iffy happenings between him and young Tyler.  While some of their relationship seems wonderfully fatherly and honest- the way he carries her to bed and takes her places- some of it gets a little too weird. Tyler hasn’t even met Connor yet when she is at the door in her tiny nightgown. He had gone upstairs after meeting Mia and says he met “one” daughter.  Where did Tyler learn to ask strange men for money to open the gate so he can get out the door anyway? (Isn’t that the definition of prostitution?!) While he could be used to such games with his own daughter, it is uncomfortable that he tickles a little girl he doesn’t know until she gives him a discount.  What’s even weirder is their off camera conversation in the bathroom. Tyler wants him to hurry up and shave so she can go to bathroom, and Connor says he doesn’t care and she should come on in.  Um, what? Okay, not only would most guys be grossed out by all that regardless, but hello, that’s nasty. Isn’t that even weird between a dad and a daughter, much less a stranger and a little girl?  When Tyler is reluctant and tells him to close his eyes, he jokes he can’t because he will cut himself shaving.  All of this happens while Mia mails her audition tape, and we never see them in the bathroom together.  So, what is Arnold implying by letting us overhear this conversation?  Is this a bizarre suggestion at the disastrous mix of mixing male role model with inappropriate sex that is to come with Mia? Or, is it a completely innocent example at his comfort with kids? But it’s just too damn casual to be nice, isn’t it?

5. Did Mia and Billy have sex? Was Mia’s declaration that she had just slept with Billy just to impress Connor? Was it a vain attempt to stir something in her mother, who clearly does not respond positively? Joanne further insists that Mia should be shipped off to sleep with as many boys as she wants at her reform school.  But was what Mia said true? On one hand, kids in a drunken situation alone with nothing to do probably would screw around.  They really haven’t been educated on the consequences and don’t have much else to do in this perpetual cycle of youth breeding youth anyway.  So, at the least, you have to speculate that they certainly fooled around in some way. I do believe they did have full intercourse, because Mia doesn’t appear to be a virgin with Connor. Naturally, because of what we see in Fish Tank, one might assume that if we didn’t see Mia and Billy have sex, then they must not have.  However, it probably wasn’t that good or important for Mia, or she was just doing it because she saw her Mom and Connor and wanted to prove herself mature. It seems weird to say, but Mia probably did not enjoy it as much as Billy did- unlike her encounter with Connor, which ends up the other way around. What’s so upsetting about the scene with Connor is that Mia does seem to orgasm, and again what he says to her is just the worst!  Fassman’s talking dirty and asking her questions!  Mia doesn’t feel they did anything wrong and ends up more infatuated with Connor.  In fact, Mia may have had sex with Billy just to practice or be better for Connor.  Ew, I feel really weird writing that!  Ah, it’s nice to have a well-told, intelligent film that handles such taboo topics whether we’re ready to see them or not.

6. When does it become sexual between Connor and Mia? While for Mia, there is an instant attraction to Connor whether she fully realizes what is happening or not, when does the attraction happen for Connor? Was it just drunken titillation for one night, or did it grow on him sooner? His first day there, he lets her film him as he undresses, and gets super close to her for an opinion on his cologne. The camera angle here is lovely, even innocent in her enjoying how a man smells, probably for the first time.  He even asks her is she thinks he’s the best thanks to him giving her a camera- and his response to her insult is to spank her.  Well, so much for the innocence!  Again, you can speculate about him carrying her to bed and taking her pants off, but without a doubt there is definitely kinky here. While he clearly has the mom, Connor always ends up going for Mia when Joanne is not there.  When she comes upstairs and embarrasses Mia by saying she will probably break his camera, he warns Mia she’ll get another hiding. Previously he also told her she could have the camera only if she smiled, for “you look nice when you smile.” His tone is not in feigned kindness or a punishment jest; it’s flirtatious, as if something just happened that should be kept between them. I think Mia didn’t really know it, but the spanking turns her on.  She’s shocked but geez, she was on his lap struggling while he hit her in the ass, really! That night she is watching the video of him instead of her audition tape! It definitely had an effect on her. Likewise, the half blacked out camera shots for the sex scene with Joanne are wonderfully filmed.  Literally, the frame is outside the door, peaking in like Mia. Again, it is weird that she could care less about seeing her mother have sex, its Connor’s prowess in which she’s interested. Didn’t they know the kids would hear? They do get pretty loud! I think Connor does look up to the cracked door, too. Did he know she was watching? Why would Mia slam her door, admitting she heard, to say the least?  She goes after Billy the next day and brings him to the store to make Connor jealous. He apparently realizes this, as if he knows he can spank and mess with Mia but screw Joanne.  Mia jumps on his back again like she can play with him, too.  She declares she is not a kid, and he agrees and stuffs his money down her shirt. The underlying attraction was always there, so when the opportunity presents itself with alcohol removing all of his censors and inhibitions, Connor lets his id win. Now he puts the wasted Joanne to bed like a child in a much more fatherly tone. He didn’t get his rocks off with her and Mia comes downstairs admitting they’ve been “funny” to each other.  The dialogue here lets the audience know having sex with Mia has definitely occurred to him at this point.  The way he asks if they are still friends and offers her a drink- he is so full of compliments, but they don’t seem as genuine as when they first met. Oh, her hair is better down and she’s a “good girl” for getting that audition. Connor seems on the make, “If you can’t do it in front of me now, how are you doing to do it in front of all those people? I think you’re great already. Just thought I could help. It’s your call.”  Why does he put the ball in her court? He wants her sensuality to come out full force, doesn’t he?  The silhouetted and naturally lit dance scenes look wonderful- this is all well and good from Mia’s perspective, even if we-and he- know it’s iffy.  There’s so much simple beauty amid what turns into, actually, an ugly scene. Though steamy, their sex scene feels uncomfortable to watch but no less enthralling at the same time. On my first viewing, I kept asking, ‘How far is this scene going to go? Oh my!’ The filming is both dreamlike in lighting-ie this is really happening!- for her, but also shadowed out and hidden like abuse or scandalous sex one doesn’t talk about, much less see onscreen.

7. Did Joanne know what happened? Tyler claims to know what happened between Mia and Connor and threatens to tell their Mom.  How much did she know, and what did Joanne deduce? Is Mia looking for the birth control she found earlier when Joanne confesses she almost had Mia aborted?  Does Joanne finally realize her jealousy and confess that having Mia was the stem of all her troubles? Clearly it wasn’t, but the verbal and dialogue suggestions of what happened were in the film all along.  The fish is “a slippery little fucker!” and the TV sounds offer something like “full male nudity” and “wearing a ski mask waving his cock about.” Did Joanne finally see and resent? Her answer is to kick Mia out for whatever greener pastures she can find. Will it be any better for Mia? And how could Tyler fully comprehend anything that was happening?  Could this all have ended amicably? Would Joanne learn her lesson and appreciate her children more? No.  Simply because, in some ways, this could have been a beautiful relationship between Connor and Mia- a better relationship than Joanne had with him. If Connor and Mia learned to love each other as more than mentor and daughter type figure, that could have been fine- so long as it didn’t become sexual. Or, if she were just a little older and he was not dating her mom! Forget that he is actually married- what if they both got pregnant by him?!

8. Why did Mia pee on the floor and kidnap Kiera? When Mia discovers Connor’s family, I don’t think it is vengeance or a territory statement when she pees.  She’s shocked and traumatized, showing just how childlike and in over her head she really is. The song Connor’s daughter Kiera is singing on the video is exactly how Mia feels. She doesn’t understand that her being 15 is a problem “if you like someone” and is just as juvenile as Kiera, who is what, 8 tops? The peeing is the physical symbolism of how young, literally unable to control her bowels Mia is- like a child embarrassed at the school play. Afterward, she ends up going upstairs in the bathroom to wash her face and calm down.  As we debate Connor’s preconceived plans, I don’t think Mia planned to harm his family, but rather it was a knee jerk, spur of the moment decision.  She wants to hurt him the way he has hurt her- again in a purely undeveloped childlike manner.  Unfortunately, she does just as much bad to Kiera as Connor did to her, perhaps worse trauma in fact than the early threats of rape in the film do. Being a teenager, however, and older than Kiera, Mia is horrible and deceptive, luring her away with ice cream and games. The way we expected Connor to know better and suspect he was a pedophile all along, Mia certainly looks like an expert kidnapper!   As the abduction goes on however, we see how much Mia is screwing it up, because again she’s a child who doesn’t know what to do. What did she intend to do- bring Kiera home to her mother so Joanne will like her and hate Connor? Make Connor come back to the house and they can all be a family? Mia acts like her mother towards Kiera, yelling, cursing, hitting, you know, endangering the welfare of a minor and all that.  Arnold returns to great water symbolism here. Everyone is out of the fish tank now and into the turbulent sea, drowning because no one can swim. 

9.  In the end, who suffers the most here? Well, the kids caught in the perpetual cycle of the downtrodden and abuses certainly pay the consequences for all, don’t they?  They are the ones ruined by the elder folk. Tyler says, “Say hi to the whales!” not even realizing how small her world is or what is out there, ie Wales. Most of us never really go beyond our usual little space, do we?  Despite his drastic influence, as quickly as Connor came into Mia’s life, he is gone. Mia won’t strip for the dance audition, proving she’s not ready to grow up too soon, like Joanne had to by having her.  Mia leaves Connor’s CD behind too, goes off to where ever, and maybe its better, maybe it won’t be.  When she rescues Kiera, hugs her, and takes her home, now Mia has perhaps grown up some.  She really was a kid who did wrong, and needed sorting out and punishing as Connor said.  Now he does hit her, and rightfully so.  Mia learned how to grow up the hard way, eh?  That’s life. Billy was stealing parts to get a car together and get out of dodge; you do what you have to do. The horse is dead, a bitter end, no reason to stay. Now Mia can finally cry because the lock is loose, things can’t go back to the way they were.  Bad as they had been, its no one else’s fault for the worst now. Joanne certainly thinks it will be better- or she finally grows up too late as Mia has grown up too soon. “I hate you! I hate you too!”  They had to see the best and worst of their family to appreciate what could have been. Mia’s smile and her getting out of the fish bowl implies that there is hope, maybe, for the next generation. We’ll just have to wait and see.