Reeling – Submarine

I can’t be the only one here who has a weakness for coming of age movies.  Me?  I’ll take it in just about any form -- the auteur variety: The 400 Blows, the Last Picture Show, American Graffiti; the ironic and oddball: Igby Goes Down, Rushmore; and of course the teen crisis ouevre of John Hughes that began with 16 Candles.  I’m not sure why this should be.  My own adolescence was long ago and, in the end, not so painful.   

But here comes Submarine, a recent, irresistible Welsh take on the form which proves once again the timeless appeal of a well-told tale of teenage humiliations. We meet Oliver, a 16 year-old who has real reasons to be embarrassed by his Python-esque parents, and Jordanna, the gothy object of his affections. 

Poor Oliver’s world is in full tilt.  His Dad is depressed, his Mum is flirting (or worse) with a pathetic old flame, and Jordana is at risk of being softened up by her mother’s cancer.  And in keeping with the conventions of the oddball strain of the genre, these two find solace in petty pyromania.

Submarine is an affecting and original reminder of how fragile and durable we are through the strange passage of adolescence.  Not as dark as Harold and Maude, it's every bit as funny.  Major props to first-time director Richard Ayoade for this film’s freshness, which doesn’t just come from the Swansea setting.  On iTunes and Netflix.