Boyhood (2014)
This film first came on my radar when I listened to a review of it in the Danish film podcast Filmnørdens Hjørne. A podcast I have listened to almost since its beginning in 2009 and it has been hugely influential in my ongoing interest in movies. They gave it 6 out of 6 stars, though I somehow never got to watching it until now. I know Richard Linklater from his Before-trilogy, three films also starring Ethan Hawke and they some of the very best romantic films I have seen. In addition, the whole making of the film is impressive in itself, as it is filmed over the span of 12 years with the same actors, so we see both children and adults actually grow older.
The film itself is basically the very core definition of a “coming of age”-film, as we literally follow Mason in the span of 12 years, through parents divorce, moving to another state, getting a new second family with the usual defining moments of graduation, relationships and drinking. It is all very well made and Linklater certainly has a special ability to create authenticity on screen, but perhaps I am too old and not from the US to really connect with this. For me it felt very American, in the sense that it was like a very strong condensation of several American movies about young boys growing up (in places it almost become of parody of the clichés), but not something that I could relate much to.
In fact I felt a closer understanding for the parents, and there is no rule that a coming of age movie has to side with the teenager or portray the parents in a negative way. In fact, I liked how nuanced all the characters were. They all make mistakes, but with the heart in the right place. I could mostly relate to the parent’s frustrations of not feeling their children appreciate enough all the things they do for them, and Mason can be pretty annoying at times.
It wasn’t the 6 star masterpiece I hoped it would be, for me at least. The Before-trilogy got to me more as the dialogue felt richer, whereas Boyhood is more focused on portraying growing up through many scenes of mundanity. It is a film where the director puts things on the screen and you have to find your own meaning from that.
Seen as an entry for the IndieWeb Movieclub
Rating: 3