Fish Tank HW 13.12.18

How useful has an ideological critical approach been in understanding binary oppositions in the narratives of your chosen films?
The narrative of Fish Tank does not really provide a wide variety of enigmatical or hinting codes throughout its 2h 4m runtime, thus making way for the spectator to understand and form sympathy for the characters of the film or contrastingly feel an indefference towards a character (an antagonist perhaps). The ideological critical approach use in this film, known as british social realism, presents an authentic, gritty prespective on the lives of individuals in low ecomimically gifted children. Certain moments in the film show the desperate scenearios these individuals have to go through, such as Mia’s fatherless child hood or kayla’s young smoking habit. The way these characters are represented in the film spark thought in a spectator’s mind about the different situations others find themselves, and certain scenes encourage the spectator to imagine themself in a situation one like Mia finds herself in.
After establishing that whilst watching this film, it’s suggested that the audienc is meant to support these character’s actions, especially the protagonist: Mia. Therefore binary oppositions are used to represent Mia, for example, in an area of conflict. A realization of this may be the binary opposition of adults vs. children; Mia’s dispute and dislike of her mother is prominent through the film, as we view the film via Mia’s prespective. However, the final dance scene in fact proposes that Mia’s mother only wanted the best for her.


Comments

  1. Miss CraderDecember 18, 2018 at 4:49 AM


    Paragraph 1:
    "The narrative of Fish Tank does not really provide a wide variety of enigmatical or hinting codes throughout its 2h 4m runtime, thus making way for the spectator to understand and form sympathy for the characters" - do you mean there are no enigma codes? I think enigma codes play a prominent part in the film (such as the enigma code over Connor's true intentions towards Mia - is he paternal or predatory?).
    "The ideological critical approach use in this film, known as british social realism" - British social realism is a genre, defined by certain micro features (such as gritty realism and authenticity), rather than an ideological critical approach. Your focus should either be on feminism or class.

    Paragraph 2:
    "However, the final dance scene in fact proposes that Mia’s mother only wanted the best for her. " - Overall, this paragraph - and the essay as a whole - is lacking in specificity. This means that there is not enough attention paid to key scenes. So, in this dance scene, how are the characters represented through micro features? What is the camera doing? Is it static? Handheld? What shot sizes are used? How is the sequence edited? In terms of blocking and proxemics (mise-en-scene), how are the characters positioned, and why is this significant? Is the diegetic music (Nas' Life's a Bitch) important? You need to focus in on key scenes and analyse them in detail.

    Finally, overall, this is rather brief - you want to aim for at least half to three-quarters of a page for each analytical paragraph. You will be able to write more for each paragraph by focusing on key scenes, using key terminology.

    Mr Boon

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