Review of Little Fish (2005) by Charles S — 11 Jun 2008

Little Fish.

directed by Rowan Woods.

written by Jacqueline Perske.

starring Cate Blanchett, Sam Neill, Hugo Weaving, Martin Henderson, Noni Hazlehurst, Dustin Nguyen.

Sometimes, you can never quite shake off misdeeds from the past. Tracy lives with her mother in Little Saigon, a section of Sydney, Australia. As the film opens she is attempting to get a bank loan but she?s repeatedly turned down because of a history of debt, fraud and various other financial troubles. She has been asked by her boss Mingh (Jason Chong) to go in as partners on an expansion to the video store that she manages. She has been clean from heroin for four years, which coincides with the last time she saw Jonny (Nguyen), an addict himself. When Jonny unexpectedly returns, it sends Tracy askew. She and Jonny rekindle their romance and Tracy gets sucked into a major drug deal after she finds out that Jonny does not work for a stockbroking firm as he claimed. He also told her he could manage some day trading to help her raise the money but this proved to be a lie as well. So, Tracy finds herself in dire straights primarily because she has told both her mother Janelle (Hazlehurst) and Mingh that she secured the loan.

This is a tightly woven story that conveys a strong sense of real existence in its various depictions. The action in this film seems to be taking place in immediate proximity to the viewer and subsequently the experience of watching the picture seems much less vicarious than in most other films. There is an entire lexicon of intensity at play here and this aspect is played out on the faces of the characters. Tracy is working with a great fear as she attempts to bankroll her future as a business owner. She wants something more than what she already has and has worked exceedingly hard to put herself into a position to grab hold of it. All the pain, the struggle, the confusion, and self-abnegation are demonstrated in slight hints emblazoned across Blanchett?s face. Ray, Tracy?s brother, (Martin Henderson) is a small time dealer who lost his leg in a car accident where Jonny was driving. Ray is dejected and deeply pained as he continues to live with acute evidence of the accident. It isn?t made entirely clear if Jonny was at fault as the film wisely decides to minimize background information. We know that Lionel (Weaving) has been something of a stepfather to Tracy and Ray but we don?t know any of the circumstances of his bust-up with Janelle.

The photography by Danny Ruhlmann provides visual representation to much of the decay that is rotting away at several of the primary characters. There is a sense of the degeneration that plagues the bodies and minds of those who have succumbed to illicit substances to gain a stranglehold on their pain. Tracy thinks she has escaped it and for the most part she has. The appearance of an old boyfriend, with all the memories of escaping through drugs, throws her mind into something of a tailspin. She chooses to go in on the big score because she has convinced herself she has no other options. Naturally, the deal doesn?t go off as planned and tragedy intervenes.

The pace of this film is decidedly languid and essentially not much actually happens. It focuses on the daily sufferings of each character without providing them with a dramatic arc. There is not much bliss in the story because each character is battling with various demons that have stripped them of their ability to just let go and experience life as it comes. There are several scenes of Tracy swimming in a local pool as if it were the only place where she can truly allow her self to be free. The underwater shots of Blanchett in the pool are poetically rendered and give the film a momentary calm that belies the tensions that are playing out during the rest of it. With the emergence of Jonny, Tracy is forced to reckon with her past experiences with him while they were high together. We are not provided any information about Tracy?s former life either with Jonny or without. Her drug use is casually mentioned as is every other detail of significance. The story unfolds simply and naturally without any histrionics or attempt to explain anything away.

The performances in this film are nothing short of extraordinary. Cate Blanchett disappears in her character so naturally, one entirely forgets that the role is being played by one of the most sought after actors on the planet. She is so entirely natural and gives the audience many insights into her character?s mind set at any given time. We understand Tracy?s desperation and longing and how intent she is to improve her status in life. Blanchett makes Tracy an entirely sympathetic character who seems to be in mourning throughout for something she cannot articulate. Hugo Weaving is brilliant in the role of Lionel, a tortured drug addict who suffers through the raging desire for smack while attempting to maintain as much decorum in his existence as possible. Lionel is a jangle of nerves and never quite manages to solve himself. There is a purity about Weaving?s performance; it is an evisceration of a junk-fiend that manages to be both unapologetic and nonjudgmental. Lionel is simply a junkie and the film never draws too much attention to this fact.

Sam Neill is quiet and foreboding as the Jockey who has made a career out of slinging dope. The intimate moments between Lionel and the Jockey are fraught with grave tension as one is not certain that there will not be bloodshed. Neill has a serious countenance throughout and never allows his character to reveal much of anything about the severity of his manners. All that is given is that the Jockey poses a threat and that he is not opposed to using the threat of violence when it suits him. Noni Hazlehurst plays Janelle as decidedly disturbed by the course events have taken regarding Tracy. It is alluded that Janelle took Tracy in to protect her four years previous when Tracy?s life had reached its nadir. Hazlehurst shows us Janelle?s confusion and her lack of desire to fully comprehend the events that are circling around her.

Overall, this is a genuinely captivating film with rich textures that unveils a world of great trouble and pain without succumbing to sentimentality. It is never cloying or obvious and each scene possesses a magic about it which is the product of framing and music. It seems as if we the audience have been dropped right in the middle of these dangerous lives without much of a map to navigate us. We don?t learn much of anything of what went on before and meet the characters quite organically. We are given opportunities throughout to see the ravishing effects of drugs so the film doesn?t cheat us in that respect. Ultimately, the thrust of this story involves the difficulty one faces in escaping those treacherous moments in our past. Often they just fade away into oblivion but sometimes they come back to haunt us, practically to the grave. This film explores this phenomenon with precision and an expert eye for detail. There is a warmth here that comes from the amazing performances and the clarity of the story.