Film Review – Submarine (2010)

Submarine is the Adrian Mole-esque story of Oliver Tate, a 15 year old growing up in Swansea in the 1980’s who, like many boy’s his age, is convinced he is a one-of-a-kind unrivalled genius. The film takes a small snapshot of Tate’s life, his first proper relationship, the deterioration of his parent’s marriage and his father’s depressive illness.

The film has a genuinely touching ability to probe painful situations easing you in with a good helping of sarcasm and comedy. An excellent key cast including relative newcomer Craig Roberts, his love interest Jordana (Yasmin Paige) and an exceptional performance from Sally Hawkins as his wonderfully weird mother brings the perfectly ordinary story to life.

Oliver has fallen for a girl at school, united by their shared love of burning things, however when Jordana’s mother gets ill Oliver finds himself unsure of how to react and eventually the couple separate because of Tate’s poor handling of the situation. Despite sounding dour, the absurdity of Oliver’s behaviour is piteously hilarious, and Tate charms his way into your heart with a teenage angst and arrogance familiar to many.

A great soundtrack of original songs by Artic Monkeys Alex Turner adds more of that ironic cheer and bemused satisfaction than any warbling star in a Hollywood rom com could ever hope to whilst the juxtaposition of a teenager’s fantasy, 1980’s industrial Wales and the sparse but captivating natural beauty of the area suggest hidden meaning in the film’s surface plot.

What the movie does brilliantly is take tiny moments that seem utterly meaningless and turn them into icons that capture the entire film is a matter of seconds. Upon opening the film pans across Oliver’s bedroom and a drawing of a fish swimming beneath a submarine and a thought bubble that says “I don’t like it down here” speak volumes for the quiet tragedy that runs through the heart of the movie.

Yet, the movie is a fantastic mixture of deep contemplation and satire, dark tragedy and gentle beauty and the industrial hardships of the 80’s with the now highly fashionable neon kitsch of the era.

Juxtaposing the sad beauty of a largely derelict industrial Wales and the pain of a failed marriage and grieving family with the hilarious caravan masturbation scene and outrageous eighties glamour helps to highlight the depth of the issues addressed in the movie: beneath the neon and the humour lies a truly difficult, palpably believable story of growing up.

As the debut offering from the I.T Crowd’s Richard Ayoade it makes for a cheerful and heartening 97 minutes. Unfortunately Ayoade really missed a trick by not venturing further into the impact of Lloyd Tate (Noah Taylor)’s depression, which could have given the film a little more depth and tinted the almost too rosy surface story.

Review by Alyse Garner.