Submarine (2010)

In the slightly fickle and over-done genre of awkward coming-of-age dramas, Richard Ayoade's debut Submarine, is one which, at its best stands miles above the rest and even at its worst, superlatively, but not arrogantly parodies the clichés of its siblings. The film follows the protagonist, Oliver Tate's (Craig Roberts) pursuit of his love interest Jordana (Yasmin Paige).

One of the most enjoyable aspects of this film is its self-assurance, it knows where it stands, what it says and how it is going to say it, this comes mostly from Ayode's and Dunthorne's outstanding script. This confidence is needed when following a protagonist who is so unsure of himself and the world he lives in. Like the title of the film suggests, Oliver Tate's identity is half submerged under the ocean of his own subconscious. The audience seems to understand Oliver better than he does, even in his most revealing inner monologues Oliver's insight cannot match what the audience has already identified about his character. For instance, when talking about his failing relationship with his girlfriend Oliver assures himself that he will soon resume his role as "the best boyfriend in the world," the irony and humour of this lies in the fact that the audience can see Oliver never was the best boyfriend in the world, despite having only his perspective on the matter.

Considering how funny the film is, it's quite rare that it tackles the deep issues it does managing to never offend, never trivialise and never mock problems such as failing marriages, terminal illness and depression. That's not to say Ayoade tip toes cautiously around the problems, he faces them full on, but the focus remains always on how Oliver sees them and tackles them and this gives the script the scope to say some honest but often horrible truths. Credit must of course go to Craig Robert's brilliant performance, pulling off the humour of the role whilst being seemingly unaware he's in a comedy film.

Aesthetically the film is simply beautiful, the rainy beaches and hills are captured in a way which shows they're not perfect, but that doesn't diminish their beauty. This is a notion which echoes Oliver and Jordana's relationship, which is far from perfect but beautiful nonetheless; he first gets her attention by bullying another student, their awkward first kiss takes place under a railway bridge and is even edited together with grainy still photos taken by Jordana as they make out (she ends up with a series of close ups of Oliver's arm). Jordana hates all romance and the two share a love of setting things on fire and spitting hardly the love of Oliver’s dreams.

Oliver's Super-8 memories, the pyromaniac montage and the gag about not being able to afford a crane shot all show that this a film made by people who belong behind a camera and are truly comfortable there, as I said, this is a film that knows what it's trying to say and how it's going to say it - and it pulls it off fantasically.