A bold experiment with a big heart

One criticism that may be levelled against "Boyhood", Richard Linklater's brilliant paean to childhood, coming-of-age and family life, is that everything in it we have already seen in countless movies before. While there are some basis of truth in that, those who say so miss the point entirely. To my mind, it wasn't Linklater's primary intention to present a number of groundbreaking or breathtaking scenes in the film, but rather to illustrate growing up and family relationships as pure and as simple as possible, devoid of artifice and melodrama. Which is exactly what makes "Boyhood" miles above from all the other childhood and family dramas that we've seen before. It insistently and consistently shuns away all those requisite dramatic "highlights" to make the proceedings "livelier" and "louder";instead, what we get to see is the seeming banality and modesty of the filmic family's, together with their friends and relatives, day-to-day living. Here, Linklater, a skilled writer that he already is, strips filmic storytelling to its barest essentials. 

And here is where "Boyhood"'s bold experiment plays a truly significant part. Bringing the film's unique brand of ultra-realism to exceptional heights is the director's groundbreaking decision to present the coming-of-age element in real sequential time-lapse. Thus, we see the same actor, the revelatory Ellar Coltrane as Mason, literally grow before our own eyes: from childhood, through adolescence, to young adulthood, all spanning 12 years! What's even more astonishing is that the time transition is something that just effortlessly happens. The condensation and cohesion are astutely done, all covering 165 minutes of running time, that we barely notice any connecting narrative device between the transitional scenes. In fact, it may not even be necessary at all! On a moment-by-moment basis, there appears to be "nothing" that happens at all in the film, with a great number of scenes seems to be happening in random or not connected with each other. But it's the cumulative effect of the unprecedented narrative gimmick that gives "Boyhood" its true heart and power. Sophie Hyde's "52 Tuesdays" has tried to utilize as well an authentic timeframe in its depiction of family dynamics, but on a rather limited scale. Linklater's film is much more ambitious and encompassing  having its exceptional storytelling device at hand - and its heart grows bigger as it moves "through the years". It's almost like we've already known Mason and his family and their relatives and friends throughout their lives. 

Strictly speaking, "Boyhood" doesn't really have a story to speak of. For argument's sake, we can just probably say that it's about a boy growing up in Texas (the director's homestate) throughout the first decade of this century. Or perhaps still, it's about a boy and his family's ups-and-downs through the years. But thinking about it, Linklater isn't so much concerned about the film's story as about life itself, with all its randomness, unpredictability, vagaries and fleetingness, without the need for artificiality, sugarcoating and sentimentality as one usually sees in sub-par melodramas. That's why watching "Boyhood" makes us feel like we're seeing vignettes of a family life unfold through the years right before our own eyes, the experience being enhanced further by Sandra Adair's unhurried editing and Lee Daniel's and Shane F. Kelly's nostalgia-tinged cinematography. One can almost say that it's close to a reality-based show, minus the intrusiveness and sensationalism. 

There's really no lack of innovation and ingenuity in a Linklater film, as we've seen in "Waking Life", "A Scanner Darkly" and the "Before" trilogy. Even the more "commercial" "School of Rock" has a certain punch in it. Though in spirit, we can say that "Boyhood" is closer to his earlier works "Dazed and Confused" and "Slacker". As in these two films, the director has once again displayed in "Boyhood" a remarkable ear for dialogue and a fascinating feel for time and place. As in a Quentin Tarantino or a David Mamet conversation piece, the dialogues in a Linklater film possess a distinctive flavor and cadence that would fall terribly flat when mouthed by a less-skilled actor not attuned to the director's sensibility. Thankfully, the likes of Coltrane, Patricia Arquette (the mother) and Linklater regular Ethan Hawke (the father), along with countless other characters in the film, deliver more than what is expected. There's just no negligible character here, everyone turning in memorable performances on his/her own. Likewise, it brings rewards to viewers to see a filmmaker singing a beautiful love song to his hometown, as has been done before by such master directors as François Truffaut, Federico Fellini and Victor Erice. "Dazed and Confused" and "Slacker" defined their own generations;"Boyhood" seems to be poised in doing so, too. I may have missed something, but before "Boyhood", the only other film that I can think of that has portrayed childhood in the most natural and impressionistic way possible is Truffaut's "Small Change". 

The film's poster shows the 5-year-old Mason lying pensively on the grass as he looks up the sky. It's in fact the film's second shot and it couldn't be more fitting. From thereon, viewers are immensely treated to what life has to offer for this young boy as he grows through the years, with all the joys and pains, dreams and uncertainties, with not a few pleasant and unexpected turns along the way. Which is exactly what life is supposed to be. "Boyhood" is simply brilliant in all respects. Christopher Nolan's "Interstellar" is one ambitious sci-fi yarn that has regrettably stayed in my mind for just a couple of days and fell way below my expectations. Linklater's film, on the other hand, rightfully earns its ambitious intentions as it's something that has undoubtedly exceeded my expectations and will linger in my mind long after the end credits have rolled. Mason believes that it's the moment which seizes us instead of us seizing the moment. "Boyhood" does exactly that. 

(Richard Linklater's "Boyhood": A film whose heart grows bigger as it moves "through the years".)