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Submarine (2010 film)
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Wikipedia article
{{Infobox film
| name = Submarine
| image = Submarine poster.jpg
| caption = US theatrical poster
| director = Richard Ayoade
| producer =
| writer = Richard Ayoade
| based_on =
| starring =
| music =
| cinematography = Erik Wilson
| editing =
| studio =
| distributor = Optimum Releasing (United Kingdom)
The Weinstein Company (United States)
| released =
| runtime = 97 minutes
| country =
| language = English
| budget = $1.5 million
| gross = $4.6 million
}}
'Submarine' is a 2010 coming-of-age comedy-drama film written and directed by Richard Ayoade and starring Craig Roberts, Yasmin Paige, Noah Taylor, Paddy Considine and Sally Hawkins. It was adapted from the 2008 novel 'Submarine' by Joe Dunthorne, and is an international co-production between the United Kingdom and the United States. 'Submarine' is Ayoade's directorial debut.
Plot
Oliver Tate (Craig Roberts) is an unpopular 15-year-old who is infatuated with classmate Jordana (Yasmin Paige). When Jordana invites Oliver to meet secretly after school, she takes pictures of them kissing, hoping to make her ex-boyfriend jealous. He reacts by putting Oliver in a headlock and punching him at school whilst they are surrounded by other pupils. Jordana soon becomes Oliver's girlfriend and after a couple of weeks they have sex in his bedroom whilst his parents are out.
At home, Oliver becomes concerned about his parents. His father, Lloyd (Noah Taylor), is depressed. New-age guru Graham (Paddy Considine), an ex-boyfriend of his mother, Jill (Sally Hawkins), has moved in next door, and his flirtations rouse Oliver's suspicions.
Oliver's relationship with Jordana grows, but he learns that her mother has a potentially fatal brain tumour. At an early Christmas dinner at Jordana's house, he witnesses her father break down. Unsettled, he decides that the Jordana he loves is at risk because the emotional events surrounding her will "make her gooey (sentimental) in the middle." He cuts off contact with her.
Thinking that his mother and Graham are having an affair, Oliver attempts to repair his parents' relationship. While searching for his mother on the beach, he is stunned to see Jordana with another boy. Horrified, he heads home and on the way, he sees his mother with Graham and assumes the worst. Enraged, he breaks into Graham's house, gets drunk, and commits minor acts of vandalism. When Graham comes home, he finds Oliver but returns him home with minimal fuss. The next morning, Oliver awakes to see that both his parents aren't angry with him and are reconciling.
Oliver remains distraught about losing Jordana; he is downhearted for weeks, until he sees her on the beach. Running towards her, he explains his actions and learns that Jordana has either broken up with her new boyfriend or never had one. Together, they walk several inches deep into the sea, smiling.
Cast
*Craig Roberts as Oliver Tate
*Yasmin Paige as Jordana Bevan
*Sally Hawkins as Jill Tate
*Noah Taylor as Lloyd Tate
*Paddy Considine as Graham Purvis
*Gemma Chan as Kim-Lin
*Melanie Walters as Jude Bevan
*Steffan Rhodri as Mr. Davey
*Ben Stiller as Soap Opera Star (Uncredited)
Production
Casting
Michael Sheen and 'X Factor' contestant Lucie Jones were originally cast in the film but dropped out due to other commitments.Filming
The film was produced by Warp Films and Film4 Productions. Principal photography began on 26 October 2009 and filming finished in December 2009. Andrew Hewitt composed the score and musician Alex Turner of Arctic Monkeys contributed six songs.Soundtrack
Original songs were written and performed by Alex Turner, the frontman of Arctic Monkeys. The soundtrack charted at 35 in the UK Album Chart.
The original score was composed by Andrew Hewitt, long-time collaborator of Ayoade, recorded at Air Studios with The Composers Ensemble orchestra.
Release
The film premiered at the 35th Toronto International Film Festival in September 2010. Following a generally positive reception it was picked up by The Weinstein Company for a North American release. The film also played at the 54th London Film Festival in October 2010 and was played out of competition at the 27th Sundance Film Festival in January 2011. It was also screened along with 400 other films at the 61st Berlin International Film Festival the next month.
Critical reception
'Submarine' received positive reviews from critics. On Rotten Tomatoes, the film has a score of based on reviews from critics, with an average score of . The website's critics consensus: "Funny, stylish, and ringing with adolescent truth, 'Submarine' marks Richard Ayoade as a talent to watch." At Metacritic, which assigns a weighted average score out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the film received an average score of 76 based on 37 reviews, indicating "generally favorable reviews". Critic Roger Ebert gave the film 3/4 stars saying "'Submarine' isn't an insipid teen sex comedy. It flaunts some stylistic devices, such as titles and sections and self-aware narration, but it doesn't try too hard to be desperately clever. It's a self-confident work for the first-time director, Richard Ayoade, whose purpose I think is to capture that delicate moment in some adolescent lives when idealism and trust lead to tentative experiments. Because Craig Roberts and Yasmin Paige are enormously likable in their roles, they win our sympathy and make us realize that too many movies about younger teenagers are filtered through the sensibility of more weathered minds."
References
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