Submarine

Film: Submarine
Genre: Comedy/Drama
Director: Richard Ayoade
Year: 2010
Starring: Craig Roberts, Yasmin Paige, & Noah Taylor





For most of us being a teenager is awkward and confusing. Movies have been expressing this kind of feeling for a long time, making itself really known in the 80's, via the work of John Hughes, but these kinds of film have existed before the era of bright colors and bad haircuts. On top of that, this film is about the adolescence of a young British (Welsh to be more specific) man, dealing with his life in his own way.

The film is based on a novel of the same name by Joe Dunthorne, and is the coming-of-age story of a young Welshman named Oliver Tate(Roberts). Like most teens, Oliver isn't the most popular kid in school, but he also isn't the most outcast or spat upon, he seems to remain more in the middle. He has a crush on a girl in his class named Jordana(Paige), and uses his imagination and general teen urges to get him to fall for him, even though it requires him to throw the class outcast into a pond. Along with his romantic desires, he deals with the apparently failing marriage between his parents, which only gets worse when his mother's old flame moves in next door.

As with many teenagers, Oliver is far more clever and charismatic in his head than he is in reality. His narration of events is well constructed and preformed with great poise and grace, while his actual speech is often quiet and slightly-bumbling. There is a scene where he gives his girlfriend a stack of books which he wants her to read, thinking the books will make him appear more cultured and sophisticated than in reality. Even his physical movements are of that young and awkward age, he stands stiffly, rarely looking relax about anything.

Overall, the film is very good. It has the same feel as one of Wes Anderson's films, though it's much less colorful, perhaps as a way of responding to the Welsh environment that Oliver lives in, and has to deal with. Though in general the film lacks color, there are a few colors which are brought out, primarily blue(Oliver's room is blue, compared to his parents and the rest of the house, which are all beige), and the red of Jordana's jacket which makes her stand out whenever she appears on screen. Also, the film itself can be very funny, despite its subject matter, much like Anderson's films, with cleverly written lines sprinkled throughout, keeping with its more dramatic tone.

Memorable Moments:
• In the prologue Oliver mentions the fact that he sometimes daydreams about what would happen if he died. The following fantasy of thousands of people mourning his death, despite him not being well known, or even liked that much.

Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy

Film: Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy
Genre: Drama
Director: Thomas Alfredson
Year: 2011
Starring: Gary Oldman, Tom Hardy, & Colin Firth



Plenty of films have been made about the Cold War, and about espionage, from when they actually took place, and up until the modern day. Though for the most part people seem to think of spy movies to be more along the lines of series such as James Bond, which who is more a secret agent than a spy. Especially with all of those things blowing up and high tech gadgetry. So, the actuality of what spies really do is often overlooked, in favor for the more glamorous explosions. Which frankly, American audiences seem to enjoy more than talking.

The film is based upon a 1974 novel of the same name written by John le Carré, and subsequently a television series based upon the novel released in 1979, starring Alec Guinness as George Smiley, a British intelligence agent who was forcefully retired then brought back to help uncover a mole in the agency. The man brought in to carry out the investigation is as previously said: George Smiley. Who had been forcibly retried a year before, following a botched mission concerning an agent who was trying to obtain some sensitive information in Budapest. Though he does not have a lot to work with, he knows that the mole in the British intelligence agency AKA "The Circus" is all the way at the very top. Because of this Smiley is the best man for the job, as he was once at the top and he is able to look upon his history with those men responsible for the leak, and his original banishment.

Story wise, the film doesn't follow the normal narrative format, which is an interesting change when it comes to recent films. Instead of simply having everything play out in the order in which it happened, or in the order which best suits the audience, development is revealed in the same order that Smiley learns about it all. So, much like real espionage, or even life for that matter, you learn things in an order that you will have to rearrange yourself, as to see the bigger picture. Several people I have talked to complained that the move was confusing, but most of those people were my age or younger, and likely expected everything to be laid out in the order in which would make the most sense. But, life doesn't always happen that way, and nor should stories.

Overall I rather enjoyed the feel, and look of the film. Though I wasn't alive in the seventies, this film made me feel as though I was actually there, with fantastic set design, and cinematography. Every shot in the film feels like an old photograph you find in a box hidden away for years. It's warn, and colors have faded, much like the memories you might have about what is in the photo, so that's an interesting sensation coming from a film.

Along with the superb cinematography comes a fantastic cast: Gary Oldman, Colin Firth, Toby Jones, Mark Strong, and Tom Hardy; some of England's most highly renowned actors, all of whom make you believe in their roles. Also, the inclusion of actual Russian actor Konstantin Khabenskiy took me my surprise. He plays a Russian diplomat suspected to be involved in the leak, though it is not a large role, and has few lines (even fewer in English), the fact that they got an actual Russian actor is another surprise for me. Even more so, the fact that they could have just as easily have gotten an English actor to do the job, they got one of Russia's most famous actors to play the bit minor role. Well done.



Memorable Moments:

• Smiley's introduction. He is present and introduced early in the film, but remains silent for the first several minutes of the film. Allowing for the audience to get a feel for him emotionally, rather than though exposition.

• The inclusion of the French version of the song "Beyond the Sea" which plays at the end of the film. I was unable to recognize the song while watching, but it finally came to me once I left the theater and was in the parking lot.