Boyhood was fantastic. Definitely see it before it goes. Richard Linklater (of the Slacker, Dazed and Confused and Before Sunrise, Sunset and Midnight fame) is on top of his game in this film which he filmed over more than 12 years using the natural aging of the actors in the film. The main protagonist goes from 7 years to 17 years in a space of 3 hours of the film and so does all the supporting cast - Ethan Hawke and Patricia Arquette. The film comes across as a very natural story though it is completely scripted. Does tell you that acting your age allows you to focus on acting the character then to worry about acting the age and the character. As Patricia Arquette who plays the mom says, I just thought it (life) would have been better. The film is a 10 year long visual diary of the life a boy, his sister and mother go through. I as a viewer also wished that these three characters had a better life and better outcomes in their struggles. But before you realize that three hours of the movie have passed, you have seen 10 years of life of family living through bad decisions, bad circumstances, sympathetic friends, loving family, multiple events - milestones and there is nothing more. You come out of the movie sad, come out expecting that you could follow them for some more time and hope that better things would eventually happen to them. That is the skill of Linklater the writer, even after 3 hours, you want more. Acting in the movie is very very good. Ethan Hawke is fantastic. The boy played by Ellan Coltrane, is natural and it begs the question - How did Linklater know 10 years ago that Ellan would grow up into a natural actor? Patrcia Arquette plays are part well, she could have been better. Her role of a frustrated mom, not ever been able to have fun and be herself, was a difficult one. The film is an out and out Linklater film. Good writing, experimental film making, like the Before films, where he used natural aging of Ethan Hawke and Julie Delpy to move the films along, he has used natural time progression really well. Check it out for sure. One of the better films that you will see this DECADE. PS: Great dialogue on Beatles when the dad, Ethan Hawke, is making his son aware about the music of Beatles for the first time. He puts together a album of solo hits of John,Paul, George and Ringo and calls it the Black Album and says (paraphrased) - There cannot be a favorite Beatle. This is the best of John, Paul, George, and Ringo’s solo work, post-BEATLES. Basically I’ve put the band back together for you. There’s this thing that happens when you listen to too much of the solo stuff separately — too much Lennon: suddenly there’s a little too much self-involvement in the room; too much Paul and it can become sentimental — let’s face it, borderline goofy; too much George: I mean, we all have our spiritual side but it’s only interesting for about six minutes, ya know? Ringo: He’s funny, irreverent, and cool, but he can’t sing
Posted on: Sun, 16 Nov 2014 04:07:23 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015