I don't quite know how she does it but Andrea Arnold really has got filming a sex scene down to a fine art. "Red Road" is my favourite film and contains what I consider to surely be one of the most erotic pieces of cinema. There is nothing less sexy about watching an overly excited Man grunt and thrust on top of a helpless and easily "pleased" Woman. Yeah right. Real sex is what Arnold wants us to see and in Red Road, and indeed "Fish Tank", that's exactly what she gives us. Primitive lust and raw human need and want.
Right from the first scene in Fish Tank when we meet Mia we can feel the frustration radiating from her as she dances, alone and looking down on the world from the abandoned high-rise flat she finds sanctuary in. Constantly looking for ways to exert herself; ways to vent her anger and need for excitement in her mundane existence; Mia finds herself in fights with her friends, in compromising situations (in one scene she fights 4 young men for her safety after trying to free a seemingly mistreated horse) and in constant animosity with her family. At first it is difficult to understand why Mia would create such situations for herself but as the film progresses it becomes clear that her life really doesn't offer her much to be thankful for. A disregarding, vulnerable mother who treats her kids like they are just in the way has helped Mia build an emotional fortress around herself. She can't feel love or passion from the people around her, only finding it within herself when she starts to dance. I noticed that any time she does dance, it's always alone. A private passion she can explore only when she can let the walls come down.
Meeting Connor, Mia - and indeed we, the audience - is instantly thrown a lifeline as he strolls, topless and charming, into the kitchen to make his notch on the bedpost/Mia's mother some morning after tea. Mia is instantly captivated and finds herself almost speechless. Through out the film we watch as Mia watches him, sometimes he knows, other times he is unaware. The first instance of any physical sexual chemistry between Connor and Mia happens when he carries her through to her bed, Mia pretending to be asleep. He lays her down and undresses her; a highly intimate moment between the two. We know, and the two characters both know, that it is stimulating for both of them, not only that but, it's likely not the last time they will get close. We all know that Mia is too young at 15 but this doesn't retract the attraction. It is irrelevant. During this scene, all we can hear is breathing. Intense and sexually charged breathing. Lustful and wanting. Just like many later scenes; where he carries her injured out of a lake, where Connor sees Mia watching him and her mother have sex.
Mia's story unfolds as she decides to audition for a dance job. She borrows Connors camcorder and he encourages her to go for her dream. She shows him her unfinished routine, he gives her money and yet more encouragement. She sends the tape off and waits for a reply. The pivotal scene in the film, where Mia and Connor are alone in the living room, late at night, the drunken mother put to bed, she shows him her routine for the audition the next day. Lighting, alcohol, chemistry, it all comes together as their desires finally collide into each other and they share a fiery and engaging moment of passion. It's all about the sex scenes in Arnold's films. And as i say, she really knows how to work them.
From this moment, as reality comes crashing down and Connor realises what he has done, the film develops pretty quickly. He leaves the next morning, Mia follows him and discovers he actually has a family, she then kidnaps his daughter and nearly drowns her. It's not clear why Mia does this, especially as she returns the girl home later that night. She just wants his attention and in the form of a slap and him walking out of her life for good, that's exactly what she gets. The audition does not go to plan either and Mia walks out to "California Dreaming" (a song Mia chose due to it being Connors favourite), after realising that the "dance" job she was after is really a stripping job. Then she decides to walk out of her old life as well and runs away with her boyfriend, a character quite insignificant in comparison, leaving her little sister behind, telling her "I hate you"; the closest thing we see to a bond the sisters share; indeed a bond Mia shares with anyone. This fragile moment comes directly after Mia dances with both her sister and her mother in the living room, the only way she can say goodbye and express her love for her family - or indeed anyone - is through dancing.
"That was bang out of order" says Connor. "No it weren't" says Mia. I definitely agree with her.
