Every morning Oliver walks into his parents' bedroom and switches the light on to find out if they had sex last night. If the light is dimmed Oliver knows that this is a good sign that the relationship between his parents gets better, if not he knows he has to do something himself. In his debut feature “Submarine” tells director and scenarist Richard Ayoade a coming of age comedy about, at first sight, stereotype problems of a boy in puberty which are the central theme of nearly every coming of age film: the first girlfriend, the first sex, the broken marriage of his parents, bullying in school and the question what kind of young man he is. But Richard Ayoade tells the story in a cranky way that isn't comparable to any film I have seen before.
The story takes place in the welsh village Swansea in the 1980s. The film tells the story of the fifteen year old Oliver Tate (Craig Roberts). Oliver is a inconsiderable personality an his popularity with his classmates keeps within limits although he thinks that the whole school would drown into chaos and everyone would mourn if he would suddenly die. However, he manages to conquer the heart of his classmate Jordana (Yasmine Paige). But the happiness in their relationship don't last for a long time. Oliver has the suspicion that his mother Jill (Sally Hawkins) has an affair with their neighbor Graham (Paddy Considine): an esoteric New-Age guru. Because of this Oliver's father Lloyd (Noah Taylor) suffers a depression. Oliver tries to hold his family together but neglects over this Jordana who's suffering because her mother is seriously ill. Now it is in Oliver's hand to safe his family and his relationship.
One interesting feature of the film is that the use of camera and cutting of scenes are related with the way the main character is telling the story. It seems to be Oliver's decision if the moment freezes or two weeks are compacted into a few pictures. In one scene for example he mentions that he wishes his life should be like an American soap opera where the picture just fades to black when the main character gets into trouble. After he said this the picture really fades to black.
The highlight of the film are the cranky and bizarre characters , especially the main character Oliver. His strange personality, which abounds when Oliver reads a dictionary in his free time, spies on his neighbors or, like mentioned before, examines the frequency his parents have sex, makes him so sympathetic.
This coming of age story combines bizarre characters and very British humor with a melancholy atmosphere in a way I have not seen in a film before. But sometimes the melancholy predominates so much that some jokes seem misplaced. As a summary I can say that the director did nothing wrong and people who like indie films an British humor will love it.
At first I have to say that I am pretty disappointed by this British comedy-drama. I really expected the film to be very amusing but the kind of humour that is shown is shown is not funny at all. I totally agree with TH calling it “British humour” because this is not what Germans would term funny. I also think TH is right saying that the weird characters are the highlight of the film. Especially Oliver’s bizarre behaviour gives “Submarine” a special atmosphere and makes the film interesting even for viewers who are not convinced by the displayed kind of humour. However except the scene when Oliver burgles his neighbour’s the plot in general is quite boring. One of the view things that are really well-made is the set design. “Submarine” takes place in Swansea which is the second biggest city in Wales. During the film plenty of old industrial buildings appear. This fits to the fact that Swansea had been the location of several foundries since the 18th century. Also the usage of old cars and old furniture is realistic because the film is set in the 1980s. In conclusion “Submarine” is a comedy film that is not funny but still can be interesting due to the bizarre protagonists.
In my opinion “Submarine” is not a really good movie. It’s kind of those movies you watch on TV when you don’t know what to do. The plot is quite boring and cheesy and as the two comments above already said, it is not very funny. I agree with them to call Olivers character interesting but I think he is not played very well as he seems too staged, like he’s doing really crazy stuff, nobody would normally do. I suspect this should be the interesting thing about his character but all in all he plays it a bit too exaggerated, what makes Oliver implausible. Another thing that doesn’t fit with my taste is the soundtrack of the movie. Often the music doesn’t match with the feeling of the scene and seems always to be dreary . All in all I would give “Submarine” 5 out of 10 points. FS (151 words)
ReplyDeleteSubmarine
Every morning Oliver walks into his parents' bedroom and switches the light on to find out if they had sex last night. If the light is dimmed Oliver knows that this is a good sign that the relationship between his parents gets better, if not he knows he has to do something himself.
In his debut feature “Submarine” tells director and scenarist Richard Ayoade a coming of age comedy about, at first sight, stereotype problems of a boy in puberty which are the central theme of nearly every coming of age film: the first girlfriend, the first sex, the broken marriage of his parents, bullying in school and the question what kind of young man he is. But Richard Ayoade tells the story in a cranky way that isn't comparable to any film I have seen before.
The story takes place in the welsh village Swansea in the 1980s. The film tells the story of the fifteen year old Oliver Tate (Craig Roberts). Oliver is a inconsiderable personality an his popularity with his classmates keeps within limits although he thinks that the whole school would drown into chaos and everyone would mourn if he would suddenly die. However, he manages to conquer the heart of his classmate Jordana (Yasmine Paige). But the happiness in their relationship don't last for a long time. Oliver has the suspicion that his mother Jill (Sally Hawkins) has an affair with their neighbor Graham (Paddy Considine): an esoteric New-Age guru. Because of this Oliver's father Lloyd (Noah Taylor) suffers a depression.
Oliver tries to hold his family together but neglects over this Jordana who's suffering because her mother is seriously ill. Now it is in Oliver's hand to safe his family and his relationship.
One interesting feature of the film is that the use of camera and cutting of scenes are related with the way the main character is telling the story. It seems to be Oliver's decision if the moment freezes or two weeks are compacted into a few pictures. In one scene for example he mentions that he wishes his life should be like an American soap opera where the picture just fades to black when the main character gets into trouble. After he said this the picture really fades to black.
The highlight of the film are the cranky and bizarre characters , especially the main character Oliver. His strange personality, which abounds when Oliver reads a dictionary in his free time, spies on his neighbors or, like mentioned before, examines the frequency his parents have sex, makes him so sympathetic.
This coming of age story combines bizarre characters and very British humor with a melancholy atmosphere in a way I have not seen in a film before. But sometimes the melancholy predominates so much that some jokes seem misplaced.
As a summary I can say that the director did nothing wrong and people who like indie films an British humor will love it.
Rating:
7.5 of 10 points (499 words) TH
At first I have to say that I am pretty disappointed by this British comedy-drama. I really expected the film to be very amusing but the kind of humour that is shown is shown is not funny at all. I totally agree with TH calling it “British humour” because this is not what Germans would term funny. I also think TH is right saying that the weird characters are the highlight of the film. Especially Oliver’s bizarre behaviour gives “Submarine” a special atmosphere and makes the film interesting even for viewers who are not convinced by the displayed kind of humour. However except the scene when Oliver burgles his neighbour’s the plot in general is quite boring.
ReplyDeleteOne of the view things that are really well-made is the set design. “Submarine” takes place in Swansea which is the second biggest city in Wales. During the film plenty of old industrial buildings appear. This fits to the fact that Swansea had been the location of several foundries since the 18th century. Also the usage of old cars and old furniture is realistic because the film is set in the 1980s. In conclusion “Submarine” is a comedy film that is not funny but still can be interesting due to the bizarre protagonists.
(210 words)
DH
In my opinion “Submarine” is not a really good movie. It’s kind of those movies you watch on TV when you don’t know what to do.
ReplyDeleteThe plot is quite boring and cheesy and as the two comments above already said, it is not very funny. I agree with them to call Olivers character interesting but I think he is not played very well as he seems too staged, like he’s doing really crazy stuff, nobody would normally do. I suspect this should be the interesting thing about his character but all in all he plays it a bit too exaggerated, what makes Oliver implausible.
Another thing that doesn’t fit with my taste is the soundtrack of the movie. Often the music doesn’t match with the feeling of the scene and seems always to be dreary . All in all I would give “Submarine” 5 out of 10 points.
FS
(151 words)