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Fish Tank (2009, written and directed by Andrea Arnold) is Arnold’s second feature film (her first being Red Road, which I saw at TIFF07 and absolutely loved). This is an exceptional film. It takes place in ghetto UK (not sure where but it reminded me of some of Little Britain’s skits) and concerns a teenaged girl named Mia, amazingly portrayed by newcomer Katie Jarvis.

Mia is introduced to us brilliantly and you know right away not to mess with her – she’ll beat the crap out of you – but we’re also quickly exposed to her softer, vulnerable side: This is the side that loves to hip-hop dance, a major cultural phenomenon that proves to be not only a creative outlet but a powerful element necessary to communicate with in her family setting.

The plot is set up quite well and even though it contains some generic elements, it still kept me feeling like I didn’t know what was going to happen next. Arnold definitely learned the language of her subjects and both recognizes and acknowledges their cultural symbols, which include shouting profanities and dancing to hip-hop. Although it’s easy to feel that these elements are a bit weird, they are handled so straight-faced that you soon realize that what you’re watching is very real, and is probably as strange to us as our way more conventional and “nice” way of life is to them. These people pull no punches – they call it as it is; they’ll punch you in the gut and then let you know why – or not.

Michael Fassbender is brilliant as usual and it was great to see him deliver another fine performance, sandwiched between his grueling portrayal of Bobby Sands and his equally intense LT. Archie Hicox.

Andrea Arnold is 2 for 2 now and I can’t wait to see what’s next from her!

(UPDATE: This is what’s next from Andrea Arnold. Amazing!)

My fourth film of this year’s festival, Cracks (2009, written by Ben Court & Caroline Ip, directed by Jordan Scott), was also pretty unremarkable. Eva Green’s performance didn’t blow me away (and now that I think of it, none of them really have since her debut in The Dreamers).

The story was not very interesting to me and the boarding school film has been done many times before, and much better. It didn’t have an emotional effect on me the way other films in this genre did, such as Dead Poets Society and School Ties, to name a couple. But it was nice and moody, with a slight element of mystery.

It was also beautifully shot, although I felt that the luscious landscapes had some more potential than was used (unless that was intentional, as some kind of metaphor for the misdirected potential of the students..?). I saw the climax of the story coming from a mile away so there wasn’t even a worthwhile payout at the end. I don’t understand why this movie had so many great reviews. I was pretty bored while watching it and also felt kind of disappointed that Eva Green’s career hasn’t seen a high point since it began with a bang. She was there, though, and pretty striking, so maybe it was worth it, after all!

Also, what’s up with Juno Temple? She was in three of the TIFF films I saw this year. I think we’ll be seeing a lot more of her in the next few years.

Nestyda (Shameless) (2009, written by Jan Hrebejk & Jirí Machácek, directed by Jan Hrebejk) is a Czech comedy that was rather unremarkable. It was legitimately funny at times and the lead character was indeed shameless in his self-centred actions. The situations he found himself in were often pretty funny but I really just thought he was an idiot and didn’t really care what happened to him.

There’s a scene at the end involving a fish and his son which was an excellent metaphor for how he was changing and more “alive” than he even realized. Sometimes, I suppose, we make the best decisions in the worst of ways.

Eyes Wide Open (2009, written by Merav Doster and directed by Haim Tabakman) is a gay love story / tragedy that takes place in a traditional Hasidic Jerusalem community. It is a relatable story of a man who considers his fleshly lust for other men to be something that, by constantly overcoming it, makes him stronger in his faith. He is so screwed up by his feelings that he fools himself into believing that this is something that sets him above others; this of course leads him to a place where he finds himself out of control, but ultimately, happy.

The film is not necessarily sympathetic but probably will be interpreted as so. The performances were was great. The pacing was slow but intentionally so and riveting nonetheless. There some amazing shots, too – one of them, a shot of a reflection in the window of a van, is still strong in my memory. Nothing in this story was especially surprising yet it was still satisfying and powerful. It was also pretty erotic in a pretty unconventional way.