BOYHOOD In cinema it is rare to see the word gimmick used in any complementary phrase. It's usually more like "That guy doesn't know how to tell a story, he had to use gimmicks to get it done." Well, director Richard Linklater likes gimmicks.
In his first feature "Slackers" he creates the illusion of continuous action to tell his story of Austin Texas oddballs. As one character moves off screen, a character from the background moves into the foreground and that character takes over the movie for the next ten minutes or so and then the process is repeated for the next character and so on, so that it appears as there is no break of time. It netted Linklater considerable critical praise and a nice chunk of pocket change to boot. Lesson learned: gimmicks can work.
In "Boyhood", Linklater gives us a family saga that spans 12 years. There is the father Mason Sr. (Ethan Hawke) the mother Olivia (Patricia Arquette} the two kids Mason Jr. (Ellar Coltrane) and his older sister Samantha (Lorilei Linklater who I believe is the director's daughter). The gimmick here (if it can truly be called a gimmick, and I think I would argue that it isn't) is that the same actors are used to portray the respective characters for the entire twelve years. Not a particularly big deal for the adults, but the kids-- in Mason Jr. case he must age from 6 to 18. How do you do that? Especially, if you intend to chronicle each and every year? Well, in order to keep continuity and maintain audience credulity you would have to wait for the kids to grow into their parts and as a consequence the movie would take twelve years to produce. And that's what Linklater did. Gimmick? Creative Choice? Dramatic device? Whatever, it is interesting don't you think?
The film is set in Texas and opens with the family already in some disarray, Olivia and Mason Sr. are divorced, and Olivia is trying to make it as a single mother with a crappy job trying desperately to make it all work. Not surprisingly she's frazzled and just about on her last nerve. Mason Sr. does finally show up, apparently he's been in Alaska, and now wants to reconnect with his children. It's all too much for Olivia, so she decides to move to Houston with the kids, to be near her mother and start this all over again.
So we have a ne'er-do-well father and a stressed out mother. Typically, Hollywood would take this to dysfunction and maybe even to depravity, but not Linklater. No, the refreshing theme of this movie is that despite the ever changing circumstances, the family, all of them, are steadfastly determined to stay functional as a family, and as individuals. This is a story of people, human beings, trying to make the best play of the cards they were dealt.
We see all of this through the eyes of Mason Jr., an observer, and a stoic. He never has to doubt the love and commitment of his parents even if their ability to provide is limited. He seems to carry with him a since of duty to the family himself. That duty is to grow up, hopefully into a decent human being, with a full realization he's going to have figure out a lot of things for himself.
I can't say too much about the acting individually except give it the highest compliment I can, which is in every case (even the supporting players) it's believable, empathetic and relatable. And it has to be. It is the only way to hold the attention of the viewer for the two hour and forty minute length of the movie. There has to be a moment or moments where the viewer (as I did) can look up at the screen and say to oneself "Oh yeah, I know exactly what that's all about."
Much has been made of the 12 year production of this movie, perhaps even overshadowing the movie itself, but I don't think any of that should make any difference to the viewer. What the viewer is concerned with is what happens within the four corners of the screen. What Linklater has given us here is a rather large slice of life where it may at first glance appear that nothing remarkable or extraordinary happens, except that we watch a boy turn into a man firmly ingrained with the qualities of family, perseverance, duty, endurance, and a wealth of experiences which will make him as prepared as he can be for life's challenges. That's pretty remarkable.
In his first feature "Slackers" he creates the illusion of continuous action to tell his story of Austin Texas oddballs. As one character moves off screen, a character from the background moves into the foreground and that character takes over the movie for the next ten minutes or so and then the process is repeated for the next character and so on, so that it appears as there is no break of time. It netted Linklater considerable critical praise and a nice chunk of pocket change to boot. Lesson learned: gimmicks can work.
In "Boyhood", Linklater gives us a family saga that spans 12 years. There is the father Mason Sr. (Ethan Hawke) the mother Olivia (Patricia Arquette} the two kids Mason Jr. (Ellar Coltrane) and his older sister Samantha (Lorilei Linklater who I believe is the director's daughter). The gimmick here (if it can truly be called a gimmick, and I think I would argue that it isn't) is that the same actors are used to portray the respective characters for the entire twelve years. Not a particularly big deal for the adults, but the kids-- in Mason Jr. case he must age from 6 to 18. How do you do that? Especially, if you intend to chronicle each and every year? Well, in order to keep continuity and maintain audience credulity you would have to wait for the kids to grow into their parts and as a consequence the movie would take twelve years to produce. And that's what Linklater did. Gimmick? Creative Choice? Dramatic device? Whatever, it is interesting don't you think?
The film is set in Texas and opens with the family already in some disarray, Olivia and Mason Sr. are divorced, and Olivia is trying to make it as a single mother with a crappy job trying desperately to make it all work. Not surprisingly she's frazzled and just about on her last nerve. Mason Sr. does finally show up, apparently he's been in Alaska, and now wants to reconnect with his children. It's all too much for Olivia, so she decides to move to Houston with the kids, to be near her mother and start this all over again.
So we have a ne'er-do-well father and a stressed out mother. Typically, Hollywood would take this to dysfunction and maybe even to depravity, but not Linklater. No, the refreshing theme of this movie is that despite the ever changing circumstances, the family, all of them, are steadfastly determined to stay functional as a family, and as individuals. This is a story of people, human beings, trying to make the best play of the cards they were dealt.
We see all of this through the eyes of Mason Jr., an observer, and a stoic. He never has to doubt the love and commitment of his parents even if their ability to provide is limited. He seems to carry with him a since of duty to the family himself. That duty is to grow up, hopefully into a decent human being, with a full realization he's going to have figure out a lot of things for himself.
I can't say too much about the acting individually except give it the highest compliment I can, which is in every case (even the supporting players) it's believable, empathetic and relatable. And it has to be. It is the only way to hold the attention of the viewer for the two hour and forty minute length of the movie. There has to be a moment or moments where the viewer (as I did) can look up at the screen and say to oneself "Oh yeah, I know exactly what that's all about."
Much has been made of the 12 year production of this movie, perhaps even overshadowing the movie itself, but I don't think any of that should make any difference to the viewer. What the viewer is concerned with is what happens within the four corners of the screen. What Linklater has given us here is a rather large slice of life where it may at first glance appear that nothing remarkable or extraordinary happens, except that we watch a boy turn into a man firmly ingrained with the qualities of family, perseverance, duty, endurance, and a wealth of experiences which will make him as prepared as he can be for life's challenges. That's pretty remarkable.