Fish Tank

Fish Tank

How typical is the text of its genre?
Fish tank fits in to the genre of social realism. It is quite a typical film of this genre because it shows real situations and issues. It is filmed in a way that makes it look like a documentary, there are different uses of the camera, lighting and sound effects that give it this effect. The film uses a lot of tracking shots that follow the main character and also uses point of view shots. These shots make the audience see the film through the eyes of the characters in the film and allow them to connect with them and relate with them  more. There are many handheld camera shots too, this makes the film look like it is being filmed from within the estate that it is set, this also helps make the film look like a documentary. An example of this is at the start of the film when the camera is tracking and following Mia around the estate, it looks as if she is being filmed as she is going about her everyday life, this adds to the realism of the film. Fish Tank also uses natural lighting throughout the film.This makes the film look real instead of giving it a fantasy look. The film only uses digetic music, the digetic music makes it look as if the film has been filmed from within the estate. There are sounds of traffic, CD players and TVs, these are all in the film and help create action and atmosphere in the film without making it look like a fantasy. There are also unknown actors playing the characters, this is very typical of social realism films as it doesn't give the audience any preconceived ideas of what the characters may be like if they are being played by well known actors. It creates authenticity and realism in the film.

Explore the different representations  of women in the text?
Women are represented as being vulnerable and trapped in the film. Mia and Tyler are trapped in the world that has been created for them by their mother Joanne, they are unable to escape and have to make do with the life they have. Joanne is also trapped in her life but when she meets Connor she is overwhelmed by him and lets him take advantage of her. She thinks he is the answer to her problems but in the long run he ends up causing her more problems than she had before.

How traditional is the  narrative structure of the text?
The narrative structure of Fish Tank focuses on social problems. It focuses on alienation and relationship problems. For example, Mia is trapped and alienated in the world that she is in, she is unable to get out and lead a better life because she doesn't know any better. Also, the film represents relationship problems, we see that Connor has his own family but is having a relationship with Joanne, this suggests that although from the outside it looks like he is happy with his family, he clearly isn't and is leading a secret life with another woman behind his wife's back. It is hard to apply a narrative theory to Fish Tank but the most appropriate theory would be Todorov's theory of disequilibrium. The film appears to start in equilibrium with the family getting on with their life until Mia finds out about Connors family. This causes disequilibrium in the film to Mia and her family. Equilibrium is restored at the end of the film, but only for Mia, she gets in the car and goes to Cardiff with Billy to start a new life and escapes from the life and the problems that she doesn't want.