Submarine: Joe Dunthorne Interview

• 13th Jul 2011

With the release of Submarine on the immediate horizon I took a moment to quiz the author of the book Joe Dunthorne about the making of the film and being a teenager in Wales.

How much of Oliver Tate is you?

I’ve actually been using a percentage and I think it’s about 43 to 44% that’s me. I was definitely into language and this is essentially the weirdest bits of me blown up and amplified to make what is essentially a kind of hyper version of me. Certain factors in my life such as my sisters made me more normal, so Oliver is in a way what I may have possibly ended up like.

Many reviews have pointed to similarities between Submarine and films such as Gregory’s Girl and Rushmore. Unlike the other two protagonists though Oliver really tries to blend in, making a conscious effort to not stand out, where did that come from?

For me growing up I felt that the ultimate challenge was to disguise any unusual characteristics with the main goal to be as inconspicuous as possible. Hoping to be neither bullied or the actual bully just walking a middle line that may involve compromises but you put your morals aside for various reasons. If I was to make an analogy, if you think of the premier league my aim at school was to be Aston Villa.

How exactly did the film come about, where you thinking of writing a script from the beginning?

Some of the things that I had written previously did in fact feel to me like bad versions of film scripts. When I came to writing Submarine it was far more literally and internal and I thought that it would only really work on the page. So when it was actually optioned I was surprised and continued to be surprised throughout the process.

Taking that you knew of Richard Ayoade’s work previous to this, where you excited when he came on board?

Yeah I was really excited and yes I did know him from Garth Marenghi which I had enjoyed very much. The show was funny in many ways but I felt the direction was superb with a great deal of humour within the way he actually shot that. Richard is basically a walking IMDB and has an endless knowledge of film so it actually turned out as well as I could have hoped for.

What was the process when it came to the screenplay?

Basically we talked a lot about how the book could be adapted and we watched a great deal of films from Woody Allen to Scorsese. Richard then went away and wrote is first draft of the script and gave it to me for my thoughts and I gave it back to him with my comments and we continued on like that.

How do you think Craig Roberts did attempting to capture that 44% of you on screen?

He did a fantastic job, personally I was very non-believing that they would find anyone that could play the part that convincingly. Craig just did a fantastic job; I personally thought his ability to display internal emotion through the minimum of actual physical process was brilliant.

Being Welsh myself I have noticed that any film even set in Wales is a rarity, do you feel the film captures a certain Welsh-ness that relates to you?

The film was in fact shot over a great deal of South Wales and I personally feel that it does capture Swansea but that being said I don’t think that is the strongest Welsh town in Wales. But it does represent what you could call a type of Swansea Welsh, let’s say, but in no way does it captures the whole of Wales.

I don’t think it would be possible to capture the entire country in one film given the divide between North and South.

Exactly, I don’t think so either to be honest. As for the Welsh in me my mother’s Scottish and my father is English and I grew up in Wales. So I’ve always felt like a hybrid of sorts and I think the film does actually capture that. My experience of Wales is this kind of melting pot with influences from every part of the UK all over the country.

You have a new book coming out in August is there any chance that will also end up being made into a movie?

I know other writers that have been burnt in this situation but for me personally it went very well and I’m up for anything really. The film is great and it has reflected wonderfully well on the book so I’m rearing to go to be honest. With a bit of luck it’s possible the new book may indeed become a film sometime in the future which is something I’d be very excited about.

You mentioned at the beginning that you felt that some of your early writing felt like bad scripts is there any plan to actually write an original screenplay in the future?

I’m definitely interested in trying but I suspect that it may not be my calling but I’m always up for giving it a go. I don’t have any real experience in that field but after working with Richard and seeing his drafts of the script it has given me an idea of what a script needs.

Is the new book also introspective or will it have a different approach?

It has more characters and is more expansive so it will be somewhat different. It’s actually set in a commune in Gower and it has around ten central characters that you follow around.

So could be another Welsh film set in Wales possibly?

Yeah definitely without a doubt, I mean film companies always want to relocate your story to Sheffield or somewhere else but if I get my way then it will undoubtedly be in Wales.

Aled Jones