There is surely no argument about it now that Arnold is a very fine film director in the gritty contemporary drama genre. I'm less convinced about her writing and this film convinces me even more. She sets excellent scenes, creates interesting characters (even though we've seen them many times before), draws fantastic performances from a predominantly young cast, and creates realistic tension and drama, but in Fish Tank the resolution is weak and in the last act I thought the story got a bit lost as if she didn't know where to go with it or changed her mind several times in a bid to find originality. I'd be interested to learn how she wrote it whether that was always the ending from the first draft, or she tried to bolt on several versions before finally settling on the one we see in the film.
Make no mistake about it she is a special talent (a sort of ginger female Shane Meadows) and if she ever gets her hands on a brilliant story (written by herself or another) then they're will be no stopping her. I look forward to seeing her next film.
Make no mistake about it she is a special talent (a sort of ginger female Shane Meadows) and if she ever gets her hands on a brilliant story (written by herself or another) then they're will be no stopping her. I look forward to seeing her next film.