BOYHOOD: ...... In one line, its about the growth of a boy into adulthood. Though it sounds simple enough, why is this movie a true milestone of Movie Making in the history of films. Why ????
This movie was shot for 12 years, with a few weeks of shooting every year, with same actors for all 12 years. Its like, the director made a short film every year for 12 years, starting in 2002 & in 2014, stitched all those shots into a single 3 hour movie. How in this sane world did he possibly do that ? I cant even plan a shoot for 12 days for Gods-sake.
How did he convince everyone to commit to a movie for 12 years. 12 years is a very long time. People (actors) change a lot in 12 years. Their looks change, their hairstyles change, their priorities change, their fashion sense change, their voices change and still, how did he accommodate all of that in his movie. ? I have heard in an interview that the Director let the hero to have whatever the hair style or tattoo or an ear piercing he could have through out the filming process and he was filmed exactly the way he looked at that point of time. I mean, this director has no idea what his actors would look like after 12 years. He simply goes ahead with this insane curiosity he expressed in one of his interviews, " i was not afraid, i was curious about what this boy would become when he goes from 1st grade to college."
The funnier fact though is, he had no script for this. He just wanted show how a child will absorb this world as he grows up and hence, went on improvising the story continuously for 12 years. I wish i could just tap into the minds of the cast and crew just to see how they felt at the end of the shoot, what they went through, their feelings, emotions etc,,. It must have been the most extra-ordinary experience of their lives. Hands down salute to the director. I can't remember any other director as ambitious as this Richard Linklater.
So my brother asked me the right question when i told him about this.
How is the movie ? Is it good ? Does it have a good story and stuff or am i just lingering in the awe of its extra-ordinary film making process ?
Well i told him, its was just the most wonderful movie watching experience of the most simplest of story i have had in recent times. We have seen movies where the child and adult version of a character are played by different actors. Sometimes we see the same actor playing the adult and child through the magic of make-up or CGI. But, Just watching the same actors, from that boy to others around him, grow up 12 years through a span of three hours is something i cant describe in words. The movie is full of beautiful moments you can relate with, like, the first love, the first kiss, the first sex, the first beer, the first cigarette, the passing of high school, the hatred of homework, dealing with angry dads, consoling exhausted mothers, hanging out with friends, doing silly things and realizing how silly they are after you grow up, catching up with Pop Culture, your changing tastes in music, your changing tastes in girls, you changing passions and interest, your changing topics of conversations at different ages etc,,. Basically your entire childhood unfolds in this movie in the most beautiful and simplistic manner possible.
But this 12-year-old vision of Linklater lies within those beautiful dialogues he wrote himself. The dialogues in this movie are so natural, they could have been the lines you would have spoken with your mom, dad, friends and girl-friends or vice-versa. The best thing about the screen play is, there is no text on screen to indicate of what year is going on in the movie. The Writer-director cleverly hints at the major events to indicate the time line. So, if character is talking about Iraq war, you know its 2003 or if he is talking about Dark Knight, you know its 2007. These dialogues seamlessly blend in with the ages of the characters so you know their age when you listen to the type of conversations they have with each other. The poetry within the simplicity of these dialogues is bound to baffle you every-time, especially in those beautiful father-son chit-chat scenes. Couple that with the fact that they were improvised every year, this screenplay is simply a work of true Genius.
This movie is not only an ode to childhood, but also to the parent hood. It gently asks simple questions regarding life, like, is it absolutely necessary for every adult human being to fit into this Get-married-have-two-kids format of life-style ? So people who like having a family and responsibilities don't fit in the society ? Is life all about only the milestones, like getting into a good college, getting a degree, getting a job, getting married, growing kids ? Is our entire world centered around the kids after they are born ? Don't we deserve to have some moments for ourselves even when we are stuck within the Cobwebs of marriage and parenthood ? My favorite moment in the movie is ***spoiler alert*** in the end when the mother character cries while sending her son to high school and saying, " I expected more from my life".
You see these questions and situations come to life through the wonderful Oscar-worthy performances of the cast, especially from the parents themselves, Patricia Arquette and Ethan Hawke. Everything about this movie is Oscar worthy and i hope it sweeps all the awards functions for best picture, screenplay, direction and acting categories just like the way it sweeps your imagination with its grand vision and intimate intention.
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