Jess and I watched Boyhood
about a week ago, and while it wasn't a great film, it definitely is a
memorable one. As you probably know,
Richard Linklater filmed Boyhood over
a twelve year span, which means that the same actors actually age twelve years
over the course of this 2 ½ hour film.
This alone makes the film memorable; even with the best special effects
artists it is impossible for makeup to portray the passage of time as convincingly
as the actual passage of time. This
twelve year experiment is not entirely successful; partly because it is
distracting, and partly because it lacks continuity. The exception to this analysis is Ethan Hawke's
performance; he plays the father to Mason (the boy referenced in the title). Instead of being distracted by physical
aging, we see the consistency that exists in his relationship to Mason over the
twelve years. Perhaps what this film
most clearly demonstrates is that experiments and gimmicks are unnecessary in
filmmaking – a good story, good dialogue, and a great actor is all you
need.
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