Boyhood Review

While the film to beat this year remains Steve McQueen’s Oscar winning 12 Years a Slave, it is a film that was 12 years in the making which is providing quite some competition. As Richard Linklater’s unique, creative and ultimately masterful drama Boyhood is a film like no other; and in an industry full to the brim with remakes, reboots, prequels and sequels, that can only be a good thing.

Shot intermittently over a twelve-year period, Boyhood chronicles the maturation process of Mason, played by Ellar Coltrane, from the age of five all the way up until his 18th birthday. We witness the youngster, alongside his sister Samantha (Lorelei Linklater, Richard’s daughter), and single mother (Patricia Arquette), as he develops from an impressionable young child, to a pubescent teenager, where he discovers love and life simultaneously. In the meantime, we also explore his fractured relationship with his father, played by the brilliant Ethan Hawke.

Following on from the ‘Before’ trilogy and mockumentary Bernie, comes yet another example of Linklater pushing the boundaries of cinema, in a film that opts for realism over melodrama, as one of the most naturalistic productions you’ll ever witness. So many other filmmakers would be inclined to be dramatic and use their artistic license to create a more intense, entertaining production, but not Linklater. Instead this piece is a candid, authentic portrayal of a young man growing up, discovering the world and himself; while we almost voyeuristically peer into his life.

That’s not to say this ever becomes tedious though, which is quite a feat given that the running time almost reaches the three hour mark. Much of that is down to truly exceptional editing techniques, as we seamlessly drift along, moving between the years with a relative ease and minimum contrivance. This avoids it ever feeling episodic, and while it is effectively 12 different tales brought together, a linear narrative remains, as the differences in age are so subtly employed, shown off in haircuts or a slight deepening of the protagonists voice, to mark the chronological progression.

Boyhood also feels like a truly era-defining production, capturing the essence of the noughties so succinctly, and doing so without hindsight, as we witness the changing of technology (and President) without feeling like a message is being forced upon us. Ultimately, Boyhood is just a study of life as we know it. Nothing more, nothing less – though as simple as that may all sound, nobody else has dared make a film of this ilk before. But thank God someone finally has, because Linklater has created a masterpiece.