Fish Tank is a 2009 socially realistic British drama directed by Andrea Arnold, Mia Williams is the protagonist in the film and we get an insight on what it is like for a 15 year old girl trying to reach her own personal achievements (becoming a dancer) and what her relationships are like with her family and other characters while living on a poverty stricken estate in east London.The film is in a chronological linear structure as we get a glimpse of Mia's life over a week/ two weeks.
Micro-features are used in the form of various POV and over the shoulder shots throughout the film in order to make us feel like we are actually there giving us a real insight on what life is like for Mia, it also allows us to symphasise for Mia as seeing much of the film in POV shows us precisely what she sees from day to day life living on a rough estate. In terms of mis en scene we immediately realise Mia is pretty much neglected by her mother due to her not having many possessions, her cheap tracksuits and speakers help the audience to quickly make judgement on her due to her possibly being associated with a stereotypical troublesome teenager. We also know she drinks and smokes which adds to the thought of this but we later on find out that really even though she may just come across as a sterotypical troublesome teenager due to all these factors and her attitude towards people at the beginning of the film (as she swears and head butts another young girl), she later on shows that she is not just this, as throughout the film her character develops and we see her show compassion and love towards other key characters including Connor and her sister Tyler. Her determination in order to achieve her goals is also evident but unfortunately much of this is altered due to the film being realistic of her circumstances and it being very hard for her to achieve her goals as she has no money and no support from her mother. We see her being let down continuously through the film as we find out Connor who first comes across as a possible father like figure ultimately seduces her and then proceeds to have sex with her, the other major let down was when she turns up to a long anticipated dance audition which results in her walking out as she finds the audition to be for pole dancing at a strip joint. I think both of these plot twists were put in place to give us a harsh sense of what reality is like for many deprived young people, these were possibly so effective as we know Andrea experienced poverty as a child in the uk allowing much of the language and props used to be a accurate description of what it is really like.
In my opinion Andrea Arnold effectively used cinematography and first hand experiences in terms of the mis en scene used to create a hard hitting film giving us a strong insight on what life is like for some young people, I thought Connors character was key in doing this as even though his sexual intentions towards Mia may be seen leading up to the Climax in there storylines, he was still a likeable character (possibly due to him acting like a Father to the sisters and providing Mia with the camera allowing her to pursue her dream), his character may of been used to explain that people are deceiving and manipulating in todays world and may not be who we think they are, this was clearly shown as we later find out he lives a more sustainable lifestyle having his own house and family compared to Mia who lives on a rough estate and has broken relationships with her mother.
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