Without doubt one of the finest Directorial debuts I have seen
Lover: Taken from IMDB
“We had the pleasure of seeing and listening to Richard Ayoade in person at last night's screening at the Glasgow Film Festival. I am normally a bit scared of coming-of-age movies, mainly because of potential cheesiness and annoying child actors but Submarine managed to an accurate, funny portrayal of the hell of teenage UK school life. There were some slightly Adrian Mole-esque moments but that's not a bad thing. The audience at the screening seemed to think that the whole thing was a rip-roaring comedy and laughed at points which were obviously supposed to be more poignant or sad. Overall, however, the tone is one of wry comedy at the horrors of growing up and even subjects such as brain tumors & divorce are treated as lightly heartedly as possible. Don't be put off that Ben Stiller's production company was behind funding the film - it has nothing in common with a Hollywood teen movie. One of the best British films we have seen”
It is as good as this review sais it is, very good points made too.
Hater: Taken from IMDB
“Dear Mr. Aoyade: The hero in your film tells a victim of bullying that it will make her stronger. I can tell you for a fact Mr. Aoyade that bullying does not make you stronger. It destroys a person. It destroyed my life. Your "hero" also says that during the two week romance with Jordana they picked on the weak. Oh, you must be a wonderful person to advocate for the harassment of those who can not stand up for themselves. Tell us Mr. Aoyade, do you kick dogs? Do you advocate racial hatred? Do you beat your lovers? Do you smack children? These would seem to be characteristics that you find amusing based on the action of your "heroes". Also, the movie wasn't funny. If I hadn't arranged for a group to go see the film and felt a responsibility, a word whose meaning I'm sure is unfamiliar to you Mr. Aoyade, I would have walked out of the film in the first five minutes.”
This review is hilarious; it’s just a film for Christ sake. If you were bullied at school I sympathise with you but by no means is Richard Aoyade on a personal mission to offend and hurt you all; Terrible over the top review.
What I thought:
From the opening scene you know your watching a quietly brilliant piece of cinema, dialogue is sharp and to the point, cinematography is simple and very easy on the eyes. Richard Aoyades postcard to youth is first a comedy and secondly coming of age drama. Our hero is Oliver Tate a kind of ‘inbetweener’ whose nerdy enough for geek cred but popular enough to have roughish friends. He does have ideas above his station, delusions of being the subject of a movie where everyone loves him. When he’s used by a fellow pupil (Jordana) to make her boyfriend jealous, Oliver stands up for her and so find himself a girlfriend.
It’s about so much more than the relationship running through it and one criticism aimed at the film is that this relationship does seem dampened by other comings and goings. Those other things are solely based around parenting, from cheating mothers to the big C, both characters are dealing with situations at home that at certain points take precedence. All of this I think only adds to the relationship as it affects the way they are together. Another possible criticism is Paddy Considines’ rather pantomime performance; I guess you’ll make your own mind up but I think it suits the character and that rather impressive mullet. However it’s all beside the point, this film is exploring youth through the world weary eyes of a comedian.
In that sense it’s a wonderfully funny film with some genuinely touching moments, snapshots of the main romance to small little touches like the parents dimmer switch. It all comes together in what is one of the most impressive debuts from a director I have seen, Aoyade has a firm grip on cinematography, script and squeezing out extraordinarily impressive acting from child actors.
