Day 2 - My Favourite Film

Fun, invigorating, refreshingly real and poignant at times, The Boat That Rocked is my favourite film.

When it comes to films, I always feel a kind of obligation to herald an old film as my favourite. There is an unspoken rule that if it's too new it surely can't be worthy of favouritism. But, The Boat That Rocked is my favourite film and it was released in 2009. Simply put, it overtook all it's 'favourite film' predecessors - The Parent Trap, Love Actually, Vicky Cristina Barcelona. As you can see, overly serious films just don't make the cut with me. Not to say I don't like them, I do, it's just that they have never jumped out as favourites to me.

Back on to the main topic, my first viewing of The Boat That Rocked was an incredible experience for me - something about it touched me. It manages to be heartwarming and endearing and upsetting all at the same time. The relationships between the characters are filled with realism, which is they key to making any fictional relationship interesting, in my opinion.

There are so many subtleties throughout the film which give it it's feel - the moment when teenager Carl is sitting on the sofa with his head to the floor, after the girl he's interested in - Marianne - sleeps with another ship member, and two other members come and sit with him, armed with tea and biscuits. Carl is not moved by this approach, and after a while of the three of them seated in silence and stillness, the two other men begin eating the biscuits themselves, dipping them in Carl's tea. This soon brings a smile to Carl's face and he begins joining in, laughing. But even with this his sadness is still evident. That moment has always stood out to me, I love it.

I don't want to go into the plotline, although perhaps I should have at least outlined it before beginning this post. Here's a late delivery - it's the 1960s, and 18-year-old Carl (Tom Sturridge) is sent to live with his godfather (Bill Nighy) on a ship committed to pirate radio, in an attempt to straighten him out. (It's worth mentioning here that Carl does not actually need to be straightened out.) It soon becomes evident that with that intention in mind, this was not the best place to send him. Meanwhile, the British government are plotting to find a way to put a stop to pirate radio. That's the plot in all it's simplicity, but it really is much more than that. All in all, it's about teh relationships between these people as well as the feel of the 60s. This is enhanced by a brilliant soundtrack.

If you havn't already seen it, please, please do. It's genius. If you live in the US it will be renamed Pirate Radio.

This is a link to the trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pyXu0mC38SE