SCRIPT TO SCREEN - BRITISH TV DRAMA - WATCHED - REVIEWED AND CONTEXTUALISED
FISH TANK - BBC 2 - FILM DRAMA
BY ANDREA ARNOLD - WRITER AND DIRECTOR
PITCH FOR FISH TANK: Mia is a victim of emotional neglect, lost in a world the world with no guidance, can she escape from her harsh reality ?
TITLE ANALYSIS: I was a young writer when I was told about the fish bowl life, it may not be a tank that the film suggests but it was amazing advice in which I was given, someone said to me in 2013 "What is it you want from life? what do you want to achieve" my answer was simple "to be happy and that my friends and family are healthy" they then went on to ask me my daily routine "what do you do everyday" I continued to answer " I get up in the morning, take my son to school, come home and watch some TV , I may go to the gym (this was years ago not so much now)" he then went on to say "you live in a fish bowl" I didn't quiet understand what he was saying but he went on "everyday for you is the same , you have the same routine, you seem the same faces, you have the same morning cup of tea and a cigarette, then you sleep and go back to the same thing the next day" I understood exactly what he was saying, whilst I looked at him in shock he went on to tell me " you need to escape the fish bowl life and step out of your comfort zone"
By looking at the title of the film and watching it , this is exactly what Mia did, she stepped out of what she was used to doing in everyday life and escaped her reality.
REVIEW: This film hit home a lot because not only did I see myself I saw my son and his frustrations, I sympathised with the mother because she is a young mother on a council estate with no hope of escaping her reality of having 2 young girls , we can easily see she was very young when she had Mia and makes it seem like she regrets the choices that she made. With 2 children there is a slim chance that she can get a job and she really makes it clear vocally that she blames that on her children.
Mia, strangely looks up to her mother , this was very obvious because of Mia's love for dance, we see a lot of scenes with her mum dancing and the camera really focuses on her moves and men are very attracted to this which Mia longs for love - I was very uncomfortable with the act of 'Conner' the father figure that Mia really needed , whom groomed her from the start. Conner wanted a bit of rough and I gathered that he had a family very early on because of his tattoo, I really don't like watching scenes where it involves 'Paedophilia' however It also is a harsh reality which is not spoken about enough, I knew also that Mia was falling for Connor the morning he showed affection by making her a cup of tea.
Animals where a big part of this film , all of the Black Violent dogs, I feel they signify her violent way of life, the amount of times she see groups of friends laughing,having fun together in different scene signifies how she longs for friends and when she see siblings playing together and having fun , she longs for that, Andrea Arnold uses really powerful images in this film that really got to me.
HOW DOES IT RELATE TO MY IDEA: Mia is a lost teenager who may have underlining issues, my idea is based on my son , who also has no filter and has a lot of issues in which we are still learning about and trying to understand, sometimes I can have the negative attitude such as Mia's Mum as my partner works away and sometimes it's hard to cope, so watching this I can really use some strong themes within the film to help out with my idea.
By looking at the title of the film and watching it , this is exactly what Mia did, she stepped out of what she was used to doing in everyday life and escaped her reality.
REVIEW: This film hit home a lot because not only did I see myself I saw my son and his frustrations, I sympathised with the mother because she is a young mother on a council estate with no hope of escaping her reality of having 2 young girls , we can easily see she was very young when she had Mia and makes it seem like she regrets the choices that she made. With 2 children there is a slim chance that she can get a job and she really makes it clear vocally that she blames that on her children.
Mia, strangely looks up to her mother , this was very obvious because of Mia's love for dance, we see a lot of scenes with her mum dancing and the camera really focuses on her moves and men are very attracted to this which Mia longs for love - I was very uncomfortable with the act of 'Conner' the father figure that Mia really needed , whom groomed her from the start. Conner wanted a bit of rough and I gathered that he had a family very early on because of his tattoo, I really don't like watching scenes where it involves 'Paedophilia' however It also is a harsh reality which is not spoken about enough, I knew also that Mia was falling for Connor the morning he showed affection by making her a cup of tea.
Animals where a big part of this film , all of the Black Violent dogs, I feel they signify her violent way of life, the amount of times she see groups of friends laughing,having fun together in different scene signifies how she longs for friends and when she see siblings playing together and having fun , she longs for that, Andrea Arnold uses really powerful images in this film that really got to me.
HOW DOES IT RELATE TO MY IDEA: Mia is a lost teenager who may have underlining issues, my idea is based on my son , who also has no filter and has a lot of issues in which we are still learning about and trying to understand, sometimes I can have the negative attitude such as Mia's Mum as my partner works away and sometimes it's hard to cope, so watching this I can really use some strong themes within the film to help out with my idea.
really good review!
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