11:38 AM
ArtsNFashion
Directed
by: Richard Linklater
Cast: Ellar
Coltrane, Ethan Hawke, Patricia
Arquette, Lorelei Linklater, Shane Graham
Review by James Colt Harrison
Films are usually made out of sequence, shot in
small segments and have associated scenes grouped together. Sometimes the ending
is shot before the beginning. But never before has a film been shot over a
period of 12 actual years as has been Richard Linklater’s Boyhood. He
has used the same actors during that same time frame and they too, age
naturally. The film began shooting in 2002 and completed production in October
2013.
Ethan Hawke and Patricia Arquette play the
parents of a little boy named Mason (Ellar Coltrane). Mason grows up during the
movie and we see it all through his eyes. Mason is an adorable boy of 6 years
when the film begins, and we go through his entire life until about age 18 when he is ready to go off to college.
His little sister, played by Lorelei Linklater, the real-life daughter of the
director, evolves from being a bossy and controlling girl to a loving older
sister as they become teens.
Most males in the audience will be able to
relate to the trials of growing up---the friends, the smell of the summer
grass, the family gatherings, and slowly becoming a grown up yourself as the
years pass. All the significant moments in life are here, presented simply,
clearly, and in a straight-forward manner without frills. That’s the genius of
Linklater’s directing---he has made the ordinary not boring but as a necessary
part of all our lives, and especially that of young Mason. This reviewer also
liked the film for its simplicity and felt very close to the boy’s
experiences. Mason’s experiences were human experiences and totally relatable
by either males or females.
Ellar Coltrane said in an interview with People Magazine that “It was a
transformative thing.” Growing up next to his character Mason was “very bizarre
to see it all organized (on the screen.) You can look in the mirror, but you
can’t really see yourself changing---or how you don’t change---over the years.”
As they filmed in small segments over the years, Coltrane became close to his
co-stars. “It just became very much of a collaboration. When you’re young,
you’re kind of just along for the ride. But over time, we became more of
partners creating something.”
Linklater has handled the subject matter and
his young star with tenderness and truth. We were thoroughy immersed in the
boy’s story and were amused, saddened, cheered, and delighted with the events
that shaped his life. It’s a marvelous, stimulating movie.
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