Submarine

Director and adaptor Richard Ayoude may be most familiar to audiences as Moss from the BBC comedy series The IT Crowd. The socially backward man with an enormous fro and glasses. What was I to expect from Ayoude’s first feature film? I had very little to go on, other than the clear genre cues reading ‘indie.’ As it turns out, Submarine is a little like the lovechild of Amelie and High Fidelity. Ayoude cites The Graduate and Catcher in the Rye as influences, and they are apt references for this coming of age story.

When it rains, it pours, doesn’t it? In 1986 Wales, Oliver Tate has his first girlfriend, but his parents’ relationship is on the rocks; his mother’s old flame is in town and his father’s depression lingers. As an only child of awkward parents, Oliver feels it is up to him to save his parents’ marriage – never mind his own relationship. Oliver’s romantic interest, Jordana, is the girl who plays with matches, a girl too cool to be considered an outcast, but not interested enough to be a queen bee, detached and tortured like a Fitzgerald heroine. But Jordana has her own problems, and things only seem to get worse at home for Oliver.

Ayoude is more than capable as a director and screenwriter. Submarine starts with a solid foundation – the script having been adapted from the novel – and builds upon it. Ayoude is content to let the actors he has chosen be their characters, and has given them the confidence to do so. Craig Roberts is excellent as Oliver, self-possessed, well-intentioned, and principled. It’s refreshing, since in America Submarine would have ended up just another Michael Cera movie. Instead we have a frustrated young man, wiser than his peers, struggling to make sense of relationships. (Aren’t we all…) As Jordana, Yasmin Paige is brooding and reminds me of the femme fatale in Brick. The supporting cast is just right; Ayoude must have been attentive to every detail, I especially enjoyed Noah Taylor as Oliver’s father. Now, whether the film’s style comes from Ayoude’s interpretation of the material or whether he turns out to be a one-trick-Wes-Anderson-pony remains to be seen. I’d like to know what’s up next for the director.

As for Submarine: it’s good! I can’t say that I feel any desire to read the source material, as some adaptations may inspire, but it is a lovely little film. In the DVD featurette, Ayoude says he has a soft spot for stories that take place at this time in a character’s life – these tales of self-discovery and growth. I can’t say that I share his affection, but I do enjoy a well-made movie. Somewhere between Pirate Radio (or The Boat That Rocked) and Billy Elliot lies Submarine. Dive in.