The Dish and the Spoon

I have now have a new favourite film. The Dish and the Spoon is directed by Alison Bagnall, whom also wrote the story and the screenplay, and stars Grata Gerwig as Rose, and Olly Alexander as The Boy. I discovered the film while researching Olly Alexander, as he stars in the latest series of Skins as part of Cassie's story, and it is a love story which knocks the likes of 500 Days of Summer into the dust. (If you want to watch it I advise you don't read on as there are some plot spoilers in the rest of this post.) It is rough and raw, if quite odd, but beautifully filmed. I couldn't fault it from a cinematographic perspective, with little details such as Rose becoming better dressed as the story progresses, and the fact that we never know the name of the Boy or weather any of the stories he tells are true.

Olly Alexander is fantastically talented, and I want to be his friend in real life. His roles in this and Skins: Pure are very similar, he plays a gawky awkward boy who likes art and music and wears grandfather jumpers, who falls in love with a girl who ultimately leaves him. The relationships in both stories are very similar also; very strong emotionally, both claiming to be in Love with the other, but devoid of much physical contact, Jacob in skins claims to be a virgin, and Rose and the Boy never do anything beyond kiss. The parallels give the impression of both relationships being real and honest, yet still seeming very unrealistically perfect at the same time.  

Though if you like cute indie films with crazy heroines and gawky heroes I reckon you would love this. 

(None of these images are my own)