Submarine (2010)

 

Genre: Romance/ Drama

Time: 1h 37mins

Director: Richard Ayoade

Quick Summary: 15-year-old Oliver Tate has two objectives: to lose his virginity before his next birthday, and to extinguish the flame between his mother and an ex-lover who has resurfaced in her life.

Honestly, this is a real gem of a film and I adore it. 

It screams quirky, but in a good way and is such a delight to watch. It's incredibly funny and it's ever so charming. It's a super easy and simple watch that you'll never want to end. 

The main type of humour this has is deadpan. It works so well. Craig Roberts as Oliver Tate was the main reason for this being so good as he is absolutely perfect. His voiceovers and onelines are so funny as he says them with such a casual tone even if he is talking about the world's worst things. To add to this with him acting so awkward, it gives it a perfect cherry on top for his performance.

I felt like it also managed to express the feelings of being a teenager really well. It captures the essence of growing up; the joy, the optimism and the tenderness alongside all the angst, confusion and depression too. Even when things get really down in this film, it keeps it light-hearted in a good way. It keeps its tenderness while exploring all these negative themes, which can be hard to do so I do praise this for that. 

For a film like this, I was pleasantly surprised by the cinematography. It oozes New Wave by being stylistically bold. Everything looks grainy as if it was shot on an old home video recorder and everything looks real. Nothing is made to look prettier, or more pleasing. It keeps the dreary and rainy landscape of Wales which I liked because it felt more real to me as we watched this young man explore the nuances of life. Close-up shots to show expressions or reactions are frequent. 

The soundtrack reflects everything perfectly, all sung by Alex Turner. It made most scenes a lot more emotional as they all had a touch of melancholy. 

This is wonderfully charming and I urge people to give this a chance. It's touching and funny and Is well worth your time watching, you won't want this to end.

10/10

"Oliver Tate: This is the moment where you leave him and come with me.

Jordana Bevan: Is it?

Oliver Tate: Yeah, are you coming?

Jordana Bevan: No."

"I suppose it won't matter when I'm 38, but I'm upset about it."

“She’s too good for me, she’s too good for anyone! All I could do was let her know.”