One of my book club mates saw ‘Boyhood’ when it came out and he has been raving about it since. So, I thought that I should watch it sometime. When I discovered that it was directed by Richard Linklater, I was quite excited. I fell in love with Linklater after watching ‘Before Sunrise’ and ‘Before Sunset’ and was wondering why he didn’t make more movies. Well, he has done that now. Now, about the movie.
‘Boyhood’ is, as the title implies, about the life of a boy who grows up to be a young man. Mason is six years old when the story starts and he lives with his sister Samantha and his mother Olivia. Olivia is a single mom. Mason’s dad visits them occasionally and takes them out for fun activities, but he is not really involved closely with their lives. Olivia gets involved with men who are nice in the beginning – one is her professor in college, another is a veteran of the Iraq / Afghanistan war – but in the end they all tend to be bullies who get drunk and treat her children not-so-well. The story closely follows Mason’s life – how he misses his friends every time the family has to shift because his mom breaks up with an abusive boyfriend / husband, how he gets used to a new school and makes new friends and sometimes has to confront bullies, his friendship with his mom’s new husband’s children, his interest in art and photography and the other transformative and messy things that happen in life like drinks and drugs and love, which is all part of growing up. Though we see the story mostly from Mason’s perspective, we also see a lot of Olivia, Mason’s mother – in the way she struggles to find love, how she has to work hard as a single mom and at the same time try to get a college degree and a job and find a career which fulfils her, the contrast between her relationships with her children’s father (which is mostly cordial) and with her current boyfriend / husband (which always spirals down after the initial excitement). Olivia’s life is a hard one but it is also rewarding and fulfilling and filled with love and kindness sometimes from unlikely places. Mason’s father, Mason Sr., is an interesting character. He has a good relationship with Mason’s mother and he is more a friend than a parent to Mason and his sister. He doesn’t play any part in the hardwork of day-to-day parenting, but when he makes an appearance in the children’s lives, he makes them happy and gives them good advice. Some of my favourite scenes were the ones in which Mason and his sister have long conversations with their dad, including one in which he gives ‘the talk’ and tells them about contraceptives. I also loved the scenes which depict Mason’s relationship with his girlfriend Sheena and how their relationship ebbs and flows across time.
I loved most of the characters in the movie. Even the abusive ones were perfectly portrayed. The main characters who get the maximum screen-time – Mason, his sister and his mother – were, of course, all wonderful, but the other main characters who are sometimes the minor ones were also fascinating. My favourites were Mason’s dad and his girlfriend Sheena – the scenes in which they come were all wonderful. In the last scene of the movie, Mason joins college and goes on a trek with three of his new collegemates. Mason has a long conversation with one of them after they reach the mountains and that is one of the fascinating scenes in the movie. The movie on the whole is vintage Linklater, with each scene sculpted delicately, the story waltzing slowly and a lot of conversation happening on screen – conversation which we love listening to.
Ellar Coltrane (Mason), Lorelei Linklater (Mason’s sister Samantha – how can one not like the name Lorelei :)) and Patricia Arquette (Mason’s mom Olivia) are all wonderful in their respective roles and Ethan Hawke teams up with his old friend Linklater and is brilliant in his role as Mason’s father.
This is all about the story and about the performances of the leading players. The movie was wonderful, on these aspects alone. What amazes us even more is that the movie was made over a twelve-year period with the same set of actors and actresses. So we can see Mason getting older across the years (and Ellar Coltrane plays that role throughout) and so do Samantha and Olivia. I have seen this happen in TV series where the same set of actors and actresses work together for many years – for example the way Amber (Mae Whitman’s character) grows up from a wild brat to a responsible young woman in ‘Parenthood’ and how Jake (Angus T. Jones) grows up from a cute, smart talking boy to a handsome young man in ‘Two and a Half Men’ and of course how all the main characters grow up and evolve in ‘One Tree Hill’), but this is the first time I have seen this in a movie. Because it is next to impossible to make a movie across twelve years – so many things change across time – for example the actors / actresses may not be available, the story and the screenplay might get dated – but this didn’t faze Richard Linklater in taking this huge risk and making this movie across more than a decade. His effort shows in the final result, in the exquisite beauty and brilliance of the movie, as the story and the characters feel wonderfully realistic, like people from our own family whom we watch from up close as they evolve as people.
So, what is my final verdict on ‘Boyhood’? It is a beautiful, remarkable work of cinematic art. Richard Linklater takes big risks with the way he tells the story and the main actors and actresses play their roles perfectly with realistic understated brilliance. ‘Boyhood’ has been nominated for both the ‘Best Picture’ and ‘Best Director’ Oscars and I hope it wins both of them. I haven’t seen most of the other movies which are competing in these categories, but I think Linklater’s movie is gong to be hard to beat. Highly recommended.
I’ve been looking forward to this movie a great deal; however, I have two sons in their early 20s who are as of recently no longer home, so I’ve put it off because I know it will be sad to watch, too. Nonetheless, this is truly one of a kind movie – thanks, Vishy, you have such a way of capturing movies and books and inspiring us to enjoy them too.
Thanks Valorie. Hope you get to watch this movie and like it. It is such a beautiful movie. I can understand though how it might make you feel sad. Maybe you can watch it with your sons when they are visiting. Today I watched ‘Wild’ which is based on your favourite Cheryl Strayed’s memoir 🙂
OK, can’t wait to see what you thought of the movie.
I loved this movie too, as I’m sure you’ll be unsurprised to hear 😛 It’s so subtle and graceful and moving. Another blogger (Clare at the Lit Omnivore) said in her review that the movie deliberately avoids major milestones, but instead focuses on the random memories that actually tend to stay with us from our childhood – I thought that was an excellent point. Big events are told and retold in a way that makes us remember the narrative shape we assigned to them later rather than what it was like to live through. But the same isn’t true of smaller, more private moments, and this is what Boyhood captures.
Glad to know that you liked ‘Boyhood’, Ana. I loved what you said – that we remember the narrative shape we assign to our memories rather than how they actually happened. So beautifully put! I think that is one of the triumphs of ‘Boyhood’ because it makes things feel so real. I also can’t believe that Linklater made the movie across twelve years, shooting for a few days every year – so amazing!
I haven’t seen any of the films up for nomination except Grand Budapest Hotel which I adored( was fortunate to see it at a private viewing in a lovely cinema in London with my Aunt who is on the Oscar committee and actually gets to vote), it made me laugh out loud and that rarely happens these days, but Boyhood has come to my attention and certainly if it comes to the cinema here I’ll be watching it.
In the meantime, I notice that Alfred Hitchcock’s Rebecca is on TV tonight, hopefully in VO (version original) and not dubbed in French 🙂
So wonderful to know that you saw ‘Grand Budapest Hotel’ and loved it, Claire. I want to watch it sometime. So jealous that you watched it in a private screening with your aunt 🙂 Hope you get to watch ‘Boyhood’ sometime. It is such a beautiful movie. It is a shame that it didn’t win the ‘Best Picture’ award.
I hope you continue to watch the films you haven’t seen yet even if the show is over, I will be interested to see what you make of Grand Budapest Hotel, although maybe if you are in your ‘film critic’ role, you might be less forgiving than I was. Ralph Fiennes was brilliant even when the lines were entirely predictable, and Adrian Brody made an excellent parody of an aggrieved ‘wicked stepdaughter’ even though he was the son.
Sad that Boyhood wasn’t recognised sufficiently, I hope it makes up for it in popularity.
Loved your interview by the way!
It was sad that ‘Boyhood’ didn’t win atleast one of the major awards, Claire. I was hoping that it would win either the ‘Best Picture’ or ‘Best Director’ or both. Linklater really deserved that recognition. I will try to watch ‘The Grand Budapest Hotel’ soon. I saw some scenes from it during the Oscar ceremony and it looks funny and humorous. I have never seen Ralph Fiennes in a humorous role before and so I think it will be fun to watch. Thanks for recommending it.
I was so surprised when I heard how long it took to make this movie. Such a great idea. It does sound subtle and profound. I’ll have to watch it.
Yes, I was amazed by that too, Caroline. I was expecting a new actor / actress to play the role of the children when they were growing up and then I realized that I was seeing the boy and the girl literally growing up on screen. When it hit me, I couldn’t believe it! Hope you get to watch ‘Boyhood’ and like it. Happy watching!