![]() ![]() Dad is a boring marine biologist who gives Oliver love advice, claiming that if you rip your vest open in front of a woman, you can get a positive response. Oliver's mother is a paranoid who believes her tongue is too big for her mouth. Jordana has eczema and likes to set fires. She uses Oliver to make her former boyfriend jealous. Oliver has fantasies about Jordana, another semi-outcast. The story is told in first person by school boy Oliver Tate who spends time daydreaming. After missing the first joke, I added the English subtitles. If the breezy space of cool detachment leaves you feeling warm inside, get your Welsh arse on this film pronto.Reviewed by nogodnomasters 7 / 10 I DECIDED TO LIGHTEN THE BLOW WITH SOME LIGHT ARSON For me, it’s the latter but it’s a huge pleasure to be able to recommend a quality Welsh movie that a lot of people will enjoy very much. You’ll either like it a lot or be left cold. It’s a very different Swansea to that shown off in TWIN TOWN and although it’s essentially a British film, it makes plenty of referneces to Wales in the script, and carries a firm Welsh identity without slipping into cliché. (That hair salon pictured above actually used to belong to my ex mother-in-law). Filming locations include Barry, Brecon Beacons and about 200 metres from where I write now, in Penarth. Lyn Hunter, Steffan Rhodri and most impressively Darren Evans, amogst a few others. What a wanker! It’s also based on a 2008 novel by Swansea native Joe Dunthorne. It’s produced by Ben Stiller and you can catch a hilarious video message from the man himself to the Wales-based crew on our You Tube channel. You decide whether that’s a good or bad thing. It also gets cwl kudos from a soundtrack by Arctic Monkeys’ Alex Turner which is neat and helps distance the tone from any saccharine period nostalgia. You won’t find any leek-munching Welsh simpletons occupying Richard Ayoade’s part of Abertawe and for that I am appreciative. What also marks it out from most Welsh films is the right balance in the comedy/drama genre and faith in its own characters and humour. Which makes it pretty unique in the canon of Welsh representation. It’s an assured, confident and cinematic movie. That’s really about it in terms of story Oliver wants to get laid, whie keeping tabs on his folks’ sterile bedroom and hoping that Paddy Considine’s cheesy spiritiualist doesn’t break his his mum’s duck. ![]() Which I personally prefer in my movie choices but, hey-ho. Yasmin Paige is just cynically cute enough as Oliver’s girlfriend Jordana, and as Oliver tries desperately to get his end away the two young leads give assured performances which prevent the movie ever becoming normulaic (heaven forbid Mr Ayoade) or slipping into sentimentalilty. Our star Roberts is also supported well by the Swansea bay locations – the south has rarely looked so good on film. SUBMARINE sure has quality and Craig Roberts is the man as Oliver Tate, backed by a notably stellar cast including Sally Hawkins (SHAPE OF WATER) and Noah Taylor who give crediby nervous performances as sexless Mum and Dad. I love a Double Whopper from Burger King, but I wouldn’t rate it as a quality meal like, you know? See? I know it’s not the best entry, but try to differentiate between taste and quality. My favourite PLANET OF THE APES entry is Tim Burton’s version. What’s also true is that I’ve watched it with two different partners who both love it, and that approval ratings for this Swansea-set coming-of-age comedy drama are consistently high. What’s true is that I just don’t enjoy SUBMARINE. Unless we’re talking FARGO of course, containing a couple of almost sympathetic characters. For example, ask me to describe most Coen Brothers’ films and I’ll tell you “quirksome”. Its influences are perhaps out of my comfort zone and I’ve never been a fan of irreverence. I don’t actually feel qualified to judge or review this film. It is very British in its coldly detached tone, carrying minimal sentiment but still managing to be touching. When Ayoade does bring the blatant, Paddy Considine’s mulleted creep feels a little forced and cartoony, bringing to mind Patrick Swayze’s character and DONNIE DARKO a film which totally nails the 80s nostalgia but perhaps laid on a little thick in places. The way people walk, talk and look doesn’t feel out of place in 2019 or any other time between now and then. The setting is the 1980s, but apart from one very notable exception, director Richard Ayoade (big afro from THE IT CROWD) doesn’t waste energy laying on any mulleted, pop nostalgia. There’s something about a British attempt at a High School film which is SUBMARINE’s strength. ![]()
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