Ayoade’s debut is splendid—so much cinematic energy packed into 97 minutes
The two lead characters- Oliver (Craig Roberts) and Jordana (Yasmin Paige) are represented by colors—red and blue respectively and it’s fascinating to watch this laid out in Ayode’s mise-en-scene and décor—he even fades to red (when falling in love) and blue in sections
Ayoade is clearly a cinephile- there’s a lot of Wes Anderson here, The Graduate, Harold and Maude—plenty of Truffaut – Salinger in the text
New Wave influence in general—Melville’s Le Samourai poster in Oliver’s room, the parents (Sally Hawkins and Noah Taylor) going to see a Rohmer film
Most of the film is expressionistic, the camerawork, editing flourishes—but I think there’s a decent treatise here on the effect of marriage issues on a child
A dozen critics say they can’t wait to see what Ayoade does next
Wes—Chapter breaks, school uniforms, letter writing, “hand job”
Freeze frames and iris in and out from Truffaut—a triple-edit like Varda’s Cleo when Oliver hangs up the phone — the suicidal thought black comedy stuff Harold and Maude – mistakes Jordana for woman in hooded sweatshirt from Roeg’s Don’t Look Now
Stream of consciousness editing—hilarious gags of “I tried smoking a pipe, flipping a coin, listening exclusively to French crooners”
Had a little problem with his super 8 movie within a movie here- so the Olivier character is also making a movie about first love? And he uses cute touches like freeze frames? It’s too much
Overall the film’s first 20-30 minutes during the spring or romance section of the film is the highlight—the cinematic energy here is front-loaded in the film and it fizzles a little—Ayoade throws the kitchen sink out there
Leave A Comment