I think you should see this movie.

Okay, so I’m two three days late on my indie-film-per-month-in-theater resolution, but last night I saw “Fish Tank” by Andrea Arnold:

It’s brilliant. It’s naturalistic, but has a structured, novel-like complexity that doesn’t come easy to film. The main character, Mia, is a complete badass (less than 5 minutes in, she head-butts another teen in the head and breaks her nose) but contends with a family and an environment that’s so tragic and so bleak you want to rescue her from the movie. It’s a film about characters obsessed with music, and dancing and the lifestyle that comes with the limelight, but when the music comes through Mia’s shitty little speakers you can feel the distance between her and the power of the songs she loves – and how deep she is in the shadows of the dreams she and her sister make out of watching music videos.

The movie has such a light touch, it feels like there was no crew there at all – just a camera floating into the Mia’s life (and her head). I’m a huge fan. If you’re in LA, it’s playing at the Laemmle Sunset 5.

There’s a better blog review here from Ray Pride:

Where’s the novelty in Andrea Arnold’s storytelling?
It’s everywhere, is where it is. The odd critiques of “Red Road” and “Fish Tank” that have asserted Arnold tells familiar stories with familiar characters are off the mark. The live-through-this intensity of her storytelling is charged and fresh.

Next up: TERRIBLY HAPPY