In Glasgow, a widowed police CCTV operator leads a solitary and mechanical life until she chances upon the man responsible for her loss, released early from prison, and becomes fixated on his movements.Andrea Arnold's low-budget film won a host of awards, including the Jury Prize at Cannes, and her follow-up, Fish Tank, is set to garner equal acclaim. It's not hard to see why: this is a deeply serious work, demanding of immersion in the head of the damaged protagonist and forcing it by cutting repeatedly from watcher to watched, until the viewer has no choice but to see through her eyes.
Kate Dickie and Tony Curran make for true-to-life leads as victim and evildoer, occupying their characters so naturalistically that the eventual switch in their roles comes entirely plausibly as a form of Stockholm syndrome develops. The focused blacks and whites of self-righteousness blur and all that's left is a targetless sorrow, which might finally allow tenderness in.
It's by no means an easy ride as Arnold is clearly intent on dragging the audience through the same mill of anguish, and there are longeurs when the technique insists on hammering home the point of emotional disconnection through repetition. But these are necessary evils: rarely does a film capture blame, guilt and forgiveness with such raw immediacy.
8/10
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