Submarine Review

I didn’t really know what to expect from Submarine. The writer-director, Richard Ayoade, is best know for his roll as Moss in the IT Crowd, and I had my doubts about his abilities in a role behind the camera. Perhaps I was expecting the IT crowd, along with all its silliness, but in a different setting; well this isn’t that at all, but for all the right reasons.

Essentially this is a coming of age story and the film follows Oliver Tate, a clever, yet weird, teenage boy who is attempting to one, find a girlfriend, and two, make sure that his parents stay together; though mostly, it is about him attempting to understand himself. Luckily, this isn’t your typical coming of age story and common clichés are replaced instead by something rather different, odd certainly, but in many spots brilliant.

If you didn’t already know that it was based upon a novel, you probably will have that suspicion by the end. The film, after all, is separated into rather distinct chapters and the story is driven on by the inner monologues of Oliver Tate, taking it in some interesting and strange directions and letting us get a glimpse of the imaginings of a teenage boy, one who tends to over think everything. Though at the start, this seemed to over complicate the story, and stilt it a lot; with it revolving around such monologues, but this soon settles down for the meat of the film and personally, the majority of the best bits can be found within the inner musings of Oliver Tate.

The laughs are heavily present, though they are nothing like that you would find within the likes of the IT crowd. The humour is incredibly dry, sometimes even rather dark; daring you to laugh when you feel you shouldn’t. For the most part, it comes in the smallest of events, or the smallest of dialogue. This obviously might not be up everyone’s alley though, especially for those who don’t like such dry, and slight comedy. In essence though, this isn’t a comedy, and those going to see it should not expect that; alongside its lighter moments it delves deep into ideas of morality and depression.

Probably what is most striking about the film is the way it is filmed. There is really not a scene that goes by that doesn’t involve some kind of flashy camera trick; time freezes, 360 pans, quick cuts, zoom-ins, slow motion, quick changes of lighting, and other things that I don’t have the filming knowledge to properly describe. Much of the film then, is heavily stylised but rather from detracting from the quality of the story, it adds to it, aiding its depiction as a story told through the eyes of an ever-over thinking youth.

Obviously, for such films, which on reflection only contained a handful of actors, it is the performances that are most important, especially for the main character, whose poetic monologues are a key component. The writing of these monologues, as with all of the dialogue, is superb, giving it a strange poetic nature which might seem out of place coming out of the mouth of a teenager but it totally believable coming out of the mouth of Oliver Tate which is certainly a triumph of both Craig Roberts, who portrays Oliver, and the writers. Craig Roberts not only delivers the lines perfectly, but also portrays himself just right putting forward a character who seems both perplexed yet inquisitive about the events of his life, and one with clearly a high intellect though with heavy areas of little understand, like many teenagers. Oliver certainly isn’t your average teenager, and his routine searches of his parents’ bedroom attest to that. Such character building scenes such are these are not overbearing though, and we learn so much about Oliver in the shortest of scenes.

Craig Roberts is not the only star though, and props must be given Yasmin Paige, who plays Jordana, with who Oliver begins a complex relationship as well as Oliver’s parents, Lloyd, played by Noah Taylor and Jill, played by Sally Hawkins. They create a family in great turmoil, though one which everything is carried out with the greatest civility. Their interactions with Oliver are great; with their reactions to his weird antics one of parents who attempt desperately to understand their son, though never fully do. While finally we have Paddy Constantine, playing Graham, who appears on the scene as a former lover of Oliver’s mother; a strange new age teacher who believes in the power of light, the results of which are pretty hilarious.

In the end, Richard Ayoade and this small cast have done amazingly well, creating a film that is both unique yet still highly watchable. There really isn’t likely to be another film like this in a while and it is certainly one the best British films released in a while. Can’t wait to see what Ayoade does next!