|
How entertaining? ★★★★★
Thought provoking? ★★☆☆☆ 29 July 2011
This article is a review of SUBMARINE. |
“Listen, look, I know you think I'm very boring, you know... but once I ripped my vest off in front of a woman, and err... it was very effective actually. It produced a very atavistic response,” Lloyd Tate
It has been a great year for Brit cinema: ANOTHER YEAR, ROUTE IRISH, THE ARBOR, ATTACK THE BLOCK, THE KING’S SPEECH, HARRY POTTER and of course SUBMARINE. What a directorial debut from Richard Ayoade (if you didn’t already know, Moss from THE I.T. CROWD). His music videos for the likes of Vampire Weekend and The Last Shadow Puppets certainly demonstrated talent, but here he hits the ground running and doesn’t let up. There’s a confidence and panache which even the experienced haven’t always cultivated. We are in Wes Andersen territory, cine-literate family dysfunction. Not as good as RUSHMORE, though, what the hell is?! However, it is better than BOTTLE ROCKET – a fairer comparison perhaps. Coming-of-age comedy, with a bit of drama, then.
It has been a great year for Brit cinema: ANOTHER YEAR, ROUTE IRISH, THE ARBOR, ATTACK THE BLOCK, THE KING’S SPEECH, HARRY POTTER and of course SUBMARINE. What a directorial debut from Richard Ayoade (if you didn’t already know, Moss from THE I.T. CROWD). His music videos for the likes of Vampire Weekend and The Last Shadow Puppets certainly demonstrated talent, but here he hits the ground running and doesn’t let up. There’s a confidence and panache which even the experienced haven’t always cultivated. We are in Wes Andersen territory, cine-literate family dysfunction. Not as good as RUSHMORE, though, what the hell is?! However, it is better than BOTTLE ROCKET – a fairer comparison perhaps. Coming-of-age comedy, with a bit of drama, then.
|
|
The narration is from the lead, Oliver Tate, played by Craig Roberts, who has to carry the film, and does so like a pro. The Welsh accent is so enjoyable to listen to. Talking of listening, if you like The Arctic Monkeys, you probably have the songs from the film (as they’re by the lead singer, Alex Turner). If you don’t like them (I’m not a mega fan), they suit the film, never taking you out of proceedings. Based on a book, it is structured like some – prologue, parts, epilogue. The prologue has us in the daydreams of Oliver, as he imagines the impact his death would have on his school chums and the community. We are given a clue immediately that we are in the world of solipsism. The solipsism of being a teenager, but as the story shows, it is far from being just the preserve of the young. Oliver is well read, cultured, with great vocab; he is also a dweeb and a bit of a coward (fear is a big part of the film, and not just from him). His briefcase and duffle coat are not ironic Having said that, I unironically like duffle coats. Anyway, I’m meandering. I guess a bit like the film, which doesn’t seem to have much plot, though that doesn’t matter in the slightest. We’re watching a guy trying to woo his first lady, Jordana Bevan (Yasmin Paige), which so happens to coincide with a particularly awkward time in his parents’ marriage. Oliver frankly and unashamedly notices they have not been intimate in awhile. Not in any dodgy way, you sickos. Just that the dimmer switch has not been utilised for physical romance purposes.
This could’ve been too quirky, too eccentric; however, it works – SUBMARINE is compelling and pacy. Not only that, it is funny and charming, and stylishly made. It’s all freeze frames, slow-mo, fast cuts and tracking shots; but form and meaning are fused, not just for style’s sake. There is an 80s feel too. No time period is specified, though a trip to the pictures to catch CROCODILE DUNDEE is a giveaway (though it could be in rep). There are no mobiles, and the tech seems to be all analogue: video, super 8, vinyl, cassette, typewriter and Polaroid. There’s also a pretty impressive mullet from Paddy Considine. He is such a tool here – hilarious! That reminds me, the cast is tip-top wicked – not only from the two leads, Roberts and Paige, but from Sally Hawkins and Noah Taylor too. A great five-some.
You don’t hear the line, “My mum gave a handjob to a mystic” very often. The funnies keep coming. We are mostly in the comedy of embarrassment and humiliation. There are tender moments too, and beauty – an industrial estate, for one, of all places! There are interesting ideas and motifs going on. How parents can mess us up, but also how at some point we have to take responsibility. Maybe I’m reading too much, but the colour red seems to show up whenever Oliver is around Jordana. Not just her coat, gloves and bag, the colour appears in blood, flares, flowers, bedspread and fades. Water is used as the symbol of misery on the other hand – the bath, a swimming pool, the sea. Would it be fair to call SUBMARINE an arty INBETWEENERS? Definitely! (Though the later is quality.) A question arose while watching, is romance letting your girlfriend burn your leg hair? It may well be a new gesture to enter our love lexicon. Oliver makes mistakes, which make you want to scream at the screen, but how many of us can empathise with him? Not me of course. Err.
|
|
