Hollywood has spent the last 100 years
trying to teach audiences profound truths through narratives on the silver
screen. There are strict formulae about
heroes/villains, exposition, arcs and third acts that we as audiences have come
to expect and absorb. So it is so
refreshing when a film comes out that is profound outside of the usual plot
clichés.
In the literary world, America prides
itself on the Great
American Novel – a kind of mythical state-of-the-nation narrative that
reflects how America is doing through a snapshot of metaphors and realism. This seems to be what Richard Linklater has done for cinema with Boyhood.
The story follows the childhood and
adolescence of Mason Jnr (Ellar Coltrane)
as he grows up from a pensive 5-year-old to a brooding 18-year-old college
graduate. He lives with his stressed
single mum (Patricia Arquette) and
his sister Samantha (Lorelei Linklater),
with whom he spends frequent weekends with his dad (Ethan Hawke). The story
slowly evolves over 12 years as Mason grows up watching his mother’s tumultuous
love life, which leads to them moving house regularly around Texas because of unseemly
new partners, and receiving awkward parent advice from his awkward generation-X
dad.
Along the way we get to see a collection
of rites-of-passages or defining moments that define his young life – feigning
illness to skip school, an unwanted haircut that spoils a burgeoning identity, first
time he sees his mother cry, a safe sex conversation, his first beer, his first
kiss, his first girlfriend… Yet at no time does any of it feel like a moment of
plot, it simply plays out episodically as he perpetually grows up.
Amazingly, the film was made over an
actual 12-year period so we see the actors actually ageing gradually as the
film progresses. The narrative jumps
forward by a few months/years periodically, with the length of Mason’s hair as
the main indicator of a shift in time.
The other two types of chronological signifiers are the pop music that
situates the action within an era (beginning with Coldplay and The Hives and
ending with Bright Eyes and Arcade Fire), and the politics of the Iraq War and
Obama election. It is a tragic statement
on American culture that these two phenomena are treated as equally useful
methods of reflecting on the first decade of the 21st century…
The playful title of the film seems to
reinforce the nostalgic feeling that teenage life, although complicated, is the
pinnacle of existence with only anxiety to follow in adult life. All of the adult men – an alcoholic, a
conservative war veteran and Mason’s ageing ‘cool dad’ – are suffering
variations of identity crises and feel emasculated or insecure. This also applies to Mason’s mother who is at
first seen as independent and feisty, but also succumbs to the injustices of
adulthood.
My only minor gripe with the film is the
focus on masculinity – as the sister Samantha is just as interesting and
important to the mood of the film. I
understand the editorial reasons for focusing on one character growing up, and seeing
as the director (and writer) is male it makes sense to focus on a young
boy. Yet I couldn’t help but wonder how
different and more radical this film would feel if it was a young woman we were
watching grow up through adolescence on screen...
Having said that, there is unlikely to
be a film this accomplished and atmospheric for a long time – maybe ever – and
is a near perfect reflection of growing up and becoming more confused and
cynical about the world around that is presented to you. Anyone who is under 25 should effortlessly
relate to the milestones that Mason goes through and the pop culture around him
(especially the video
games), and everyone over 25 will feel nostalgic for their own childhood
and the defining moments that punctuate growing up. Boyhood
is a deeply moving film and my first bet for potential Academy Award Best Film
for 2015.
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