Yesterday was SIFF first full day of screenings. SUBMARINE was showing at the Egyptian. The room was pretty packed - waiting for a great film about a coming of age boy, and its director, the nicest and funniest of all, Richard Ayoade -. The film, which was shown at TIFF - Toronto International Film Festival - last year, stars Craig Roberts, Yasmin Page, Noah Taylor and the fantastic Sally Hawkins. Seated in my chair, I first got to watch the groovy - very "film addict" - trailer of this year's festival. And then, in this old, Egyptian-style theater, so excited because it was my first SIFF film - apart from Opening Night -, it begun. And it was good.
SUBMARINE is a very good film. Not only a well-made, well-directed film, but also a fun and clever one. Adapted from the novel by the same name, written by Joe Dunthorne and published in 2008, set in Whales, it tells the story of 15-year old Oliver Tate, his love affairs and breakups, his familial fights, his life experiences - in a pretty absurd and eccentric way.
Oliver Tate's voice-over is present during the entire movie, which happens to be split in various sections : Epilogue, Part I, II, III and Prologue. The audience follows his discoveries with these sections - how he meets and falls in love with Jordana, how he suspects his parents's divorce and mother's affair with spiritual ninja/ psychic/ old friend Graham, how things turn bad, and good eventually. Always dressed the same - as in the picture above, duffelcoat it is -, Oliver is a loner and clever boy looking for love and letting dreams inhabit his reality: the first scene illustrates this perfectly, and i'st hilarious. The boy, seated in class, bored, imagines how people would react to his death - walks, flowers, sadness - and then to his resurrection. Jordana, who becomes his girlfriend pretty early in the film, brings him back to reality and forces him to face teenager's situations: kissing, going to the movies, sharing books, having sex, dealing with sickness. His parents, Lloyd and Jill, also drag him back to real life: their couple issues, the uncertain desire, the quest for physical attraction and relation - and how a boy can help improve - and also deteriorate - his parents' relationship.
Richard Ayoade, who wrote the script consulting with writer Joe Dunthorne, develops interesting, funny and clever characters, in this dark comedy. Michel Gondry and Wes Anderson's influences are all over the places, and Ayoade shots his actors with countershots and closeups and SPECIFIC colors - Oliver is Blue, Jordana is Red.
The "Blue" color of Oliver during the credits, at the end.
Richard Ayoade, on the set of SUBMARINE - his humor doesn't show, but it's here! -
Q&A with Beth Barrett - questions always answered in a fun way -
To sum-up : a nice first film. A wonderful first Q&A with a TOP director. SIFF is gonna be goooood.
MJ.
