Submarine

"Submarine" is Welsh. It opens, at least in North America it does, with a letter from its protagonist (Oliver) to Americans; educating us that Wales is a country located next to England. Although thankful that America has not yet invaded his country, Oliver informs us that this is an important film which we should treat with the utmost respect.

Don't worry, it's okay to laugh; you're supposed to. This is a teen coming-of-age comedy. Oliver Tate (Craig Roberts) is like a young, Welsh hero of a Wes Anderson film. Gangly and awkward he struggles with popularity in school, but when he imagines his own funeral, the entire country mourns. He bullies one girl to try and impress another but then writes a long letter not so much repenting his guilt but teaching her how to be cool. The dialogue, like Oliver, is precocious but hilarious with a surprisingly fresh feel considering how tired the genre has become.

Oliver tries to win the girl and become the best boyfriend in the world, and he also has to be the best son in the world to save his parents' marriage. In both adventures, he uses psychology books (usually found in routine searches of his parents' bedroom) to ensure his actions accurately reflect his intentions. If you can guess how his plans may go awry, then you are the right audience for this very funny film.

His father, Lloyd (Noah Taylor) is a depressed marine biologist, while his mother Jill (Sally Hawkins) is inappropriately attracted to their neighbour, an old boyfriend of hers. He's a mystic, theatrical performer, and Oliver and Lloyd are the only ones that see it for the nonsense that it is. Lloyd is like a grown-up, Welsh hero of a Wes Anderson film and I loved how they included the father of the protagonist as a main character and showed that although he was more mature, still not any more in tune with the ways of the world around him.

It has some slightly dark twists, but "Submarine" succeeds because it never lets up the humour or the quirky tone. Funny? Yes. Important? No, but I certainly get the joke.

Most teen romance coming-of-age movies are completely predictable, especially the American ones. High school student, Oliver Tate, as played by Craig Roberts, reminded of an equally quirky Dustin Hoffman in "The Graduate." He wanders throughout this comedy with a wisdom far greater than those around him. He spies on his very strange mother & father and tries to keep a relationship with his girlfriend, Jordana(Yasmin Paige) going with very mixed results.

Writer-Director Richard Ayoade does a great job of keeping the pace moving with no wasted moments & a dialogue that is both witty & believable at the same time.

If you are in the mood for a film which will make you smile and even bring back some childhood memories, this a perfect choice; Ayoade is to be commended for a wonderful movie & I eagerly await his next project.

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.

Dead pan humour is the order of the day with Submarine. Understated lines such as "my mum gave a hand job to a mystic" could go unnoticed by an inattentive audience; every exchange has a hidden reward if picked up on. There are of course obvious jokes throughout, however the true comedy is found in Oliver Tate's voice over and interactions.

Casting Craig Roberts as Oliver Tate was a masterstroke and much of the film's success is based on his performance. The imaginative and peculiar schoolboy analyses everything, often conjuring up fictional events which parody mainstream movies. In one such hypothetical situation he sees Jordana (Yasmin Paige) by the shore and runs to her, meanwhile his narration explains that it isn't her standing there, a stranger turns around.

Submarine is a simple coming of age story, without the solid plot of the British film veterans. A little slow paced on occasion, it could have done with an extra thread of story. In essence the narrative follows two strands, the relationship between Oliver and Jordana and between Oliver and his family. Trying to date Jordana and reignite the spark between his parents isn't a small task, not that that fazes Oliver.

Submarine is devilishly funny, a true gem and I hope it doesn't stay under the radar of most cinema goers for much longer.

There's nothing better than walking into a screen to see the debut film by a writer and director – one that you have only heard very little about – and walking away 90 minutes later feeling more moved, entertained and uplifted by a movie than you have been in years.

Perhaps cinema-goers in the mid 1990s had this experience upon seeing Wes Anderson's first film Bottle Rocket. And maybe even those who witnessed Spike Jonze's big screen debut, Being John Malkovich, only a few years later will understand it too. However, for those of you who, like me, were too young to witness the birth of these auteurs of independent cinema then you don't have to worry, because Richard Ayoade's film Submarine is almost as good as both of them put together.

It tells the story of Oliver Tate who is caught at the junction between childhood and adulthood as he struggles with his first feelings of love, desire, heartbreak and must choose what path he wishes to take that'll define who he is for the rest of his life.

Sure, it may sound somewhat similar to all the coming-of-age stories that have hit the cinema recently, but what makes Submarine so special is Richard Ayoade's ability to capture the essence of growing up; the joy, the optimism and the tenderness alongside all the angst, confusion and depression too. I defy anyone to not see themselves plastered up on that silver screen in the film's opening as Oliver fantasises about the adoration and attention he'd receive if he died.

The ups and downs of this British comedy are mainly due to Ayoade's wonderful screenplay and direction that are touching yet never slip into sentimentality - he often playfully pokes fun at it in many cases – but what also deserves credit are the poignant score by Arctic Monkey's singer Alex Turner, the cinematography that effortlessly shifts between comic framing and beautiful imagery and the note-perfect performances by the entire cast.

Craig Roberts plays Oliver Tate in a star-making performance that will surely see him become one of Britain's finest young actors in the next few years. His character is a complex, multifaceted one yet he is able to make it wholly believable. Similarly outstanding is Yasmin Page as his love interest Jordana. It's essential to the story that she is a mystery to Oliver for much of Submarine's opening half, only revealing the reasons why she is so rebellious, unromantic and mischievous in the final act, and Page brilliantly portrays this with a careful mix of enigma, seductiveness and humanity.

What also excels Ayoade's film from being just another British coming of age story is the stylishness of his direction. Presented in the fashion of a French New Wave film like Jules Et Jim or A Bout De Soufflé he gives Submarine an aurora of quirkiness and creativity that you rarely find in British cinema. The "kitchen sink" is gone and has been replaced by jump cuts, inventive sound design and a somewhat disjointedness.

This style, moreover, helps to complement the personality of our aforementioned protagonist who sees the world in a unique way to everyone else.

So what lies in the future for British cinema? Some could argue that it's the big dramas like The King's Speech, others could argue that it's the low budget affairs like Monsters and many will say that it's spectacles like Harry Potter. However, on the evidence that Richard Ayoade presents here, Submarine might just be a glimpse of the great things to come.