Boyhood – Film Review
Director: Richard Linklater
Starring: Ellar Coltrane, Patricia Arquette, Lorelei Linklater and Elijah Smith
Release Date: Jul 11
The life of Mason Jr. (Coltrane), a carefree kid living in Texas, is chronicled from ages 6 to 18, as the surrounding people in his life provide their own advice, experience, drama, issues and general presence in Boyhood.
Remarkably, this project was filmed bit by bit over twelve years beginning in 2002.
Immediately this film should pique your curiousity, not least of all because of the way in which it was made. The film’s lead character, Mason, literally ages before your eyes with no older or younger lookalikes, or even a badly photo-shopped cutaway of a photo from the past.
In a lot of ways, this is nothing new. There have been series like this in the past, such as the controversial Up Series or Francois Truffaut’s Jean-Pierre Léaud saga. While both span longer amounts of time, the dedication of filming over 12 years for a single 165 minute feature film is what makes Boyhood so uniquely endearing.
Of course, with all this in mind, the question about Boyhood is ‘Is it any good?’, which is separate to the interesting story of how the film was made, similar to films like Escape from Tomorrow or Russian Ark.
The truth is that the study into how Boyhood was made is a more interesting subject and the film itself doesn’t quite hold up as a masterpiece. But that isn’t to say the film isn’t wonderful, because it is.
Ultimately, a film of this length could probably never be the quintessential film about the transition into adolescence. Yet that doesn’t matter because, although Boyhood is ultimately something of a light film, it does capture a certain sense of one’s own lifetime in a very new way.
Also, despite its slightly extensive duration, the film just flies right by, almost scarily so. The old “they grow up so fast” cliché comes to mind at this point.
Ellar Coltrane provides a worthy on-screen performance, mostly showing a quite stoic charm, especially for the first half of the film. As Coltrane grows up before our eyes, so do the surrounding cast who all give that seemingly effortless and realistic appeal that is typical of Linklater’s work.
Playing Mason’s father, Ethan Hawke in particular keeps you guessing about where his character will go and how good of a role model he really is to his kids. Yet his recurring though not constant appearances become more welcoming each time.
Other major and minor characters alos give you a sense of nostalgia (within the film’s own duration) of moments from before, when they disappear and reappear “years later” appearing slightly or significantly different from that time. The constant presences in Mason’s life evoke a convincing sense of warmth, affection and familiarity.
Along the way, there are in-jokes that feel very rewarding and loose ends that are left untouched by the films’ conclusion. The sadness of some hit you later, well after viewing the film.
One particularly charming thing about this film is a technical detail, and that is the notably minimal evidence in its editing and the footage quality that suggests that this was something of a homemade film.
For the most part, you wouldn’t at all guess that this was a pet project and the film is engaging enough that you forget for a moment the story behind the film.
There are some particular pop cultural moments that you forget weren’t nostalgic at the time of their filming and at times the predictions that Linklater makes of their significance in the future is a little staggering. One scene that briefly sums up the archetypes of the Obama/McCain election is particularly amusing.
In the end, Boyhood really is just lovely. It’s a must-see for anyone who’s even remotely curious about it, a refreshingly simple yet profound film.
Although it’s a personal project of its makers, which only covers a specific culture and part of the world, i’ts still a very relatable film and a further testament of director Richard Linklater’s determination and success in capturing simple elements of real life onto the screen.
Score: 4/5
Written by Sèamus Hanly
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