A guest blog post by Joe Dunthorne
1.
The first time I watched the film of my novel, Submarine, was a strange experience. We were at the world premiere as part of the Toronto Film Festival and it felt, to use the director, Richard Ayoade’s words, like a “ninety-minute heart attack.” Okay, maybe not quite that bad. A ninety-minute anaphylactic shock. (I have a peanut allergy, so I can say that.) Only as the credits rolled was I filled with a wave of relief and pride — much like the feeling of being injected in the glutes with an Epipen full of adrenaline.
2.
The second time I saw the film was at the London Film Festival, with my parents, sisters, friends and famous people all in the audience. This time, being more able to concentrate on the film, I’d even go so far as to say I enjoyed it. But there was still this meta-narrative, whereby I was conscious of all the different versions of the story that exist. Not just the film and the book, but all the different drafts of the book, and all the drafts of the script, and everything that got cut out, and all the scenes that I’d watched being filmed — so, although I really enjoyed the film, I was still a little self-conscious. Although that could have been because I was sat next to Alex Turner and Alexa Chung. Did I mention I was sat beside Alexa Chung and Alex Turner? It probably slipped my mind because I was totally relaxed about sitting beside Alex Turner and Alexa Chung.
3.
The third time I watched it was at the Welsh premiere in Swansea, my hometown. At this screening, there was my family, my oldest friends, my first girlfriend, all my parent’s friends. I sat on my own, at the side of the audience, sweeping my eyes across all these people from my childhood, trying to read their expressions. I don’t think I’m letting the secret out if I say that my novel, Submarine, was a little autobiographical — so this was an audience made up of people who had been turned in to characters in my book. My experience of the film was through them, which was lucky, because they seemed to really enjoy it. Afterwards, me and my first girlfriend compared notes about how similar the sex scene in the film had been to the, shall I say, source material.
4.
The fourth time I watched it was the breakthrough. Associate Producer (and my housemate), Ally Gipps, had smuggled me a copy of the DVD and we watched it, at home, on the projector, with tea. This was the true moment of revelation. It’s a great film. Really, properly great. I instantly wanted to take full responsibility for its greatness. So I did. The acting, the casting, the music, the sets, the shot choices, the lighting, cinematography, production, the PR, the posters, the costumes… All me! I even did all the on-set catering. I’ve always been passionate about the sort of food that suits being warmed by a heat lamp. Reminds me of school dinners, which I also loved. What joy to play lunchtime-football with a stomach full of beans, chips and turkey burger. What was I saying? Oh yeah — the film. It’s really good. Go see it. Though you should probably read the book first.
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