The Fundy Film Society

Boyhood

Boyhood

Over a decade in the making, Richard Linklater’s Boyhood is a coming-of-age epic of unparalleled depth and scope. In a variation on the method employed by Michael Apted on his groundbreaking Up series of documentaries, this understated yet overwhelming drama was shot chronologically, at regular intervals over a twelve-year period; as the story progresses, the actors age and mature along with their characters.

The young protagonist, Mason (played by newcomer Ellar Coltrane), grows up before our eyes from the age of five to eighteen, and along with him we experience the formative moments of his life as well as the seemingly inconsequential ones. He finds his voice (even though it tends to crack), and wears his heart on his sleeve (even though it tends to break). The end result is a moving series of vignettes that add up to a lifetime—or at least the beginnings of one. Accompanying Mason on his journey are his sister Samantha (played by Linklater’s daughter, Lorelei) and his divorced parents, played by Emmy winner

Patricia Arquette (TV’s Medium) and Academy Award nominee Ethan Hawke (the Before… trilogy, Training Day).

With the trilogy of Before Sunrise, Before Sunset and Before Midnight, Linklater had explored how characters (and the actors who play them) evolve and change over time. Pushing this ambitious project even further in Boyhood, Linklater added yet another fascinating layer to the experiment: as the production took shape over a dozen years, Linklater himself was developing as a filmmaker, completing more than a half dozen other films including Fast Food Nation, Bernie, and the last two Before… films.

Brilliantly blurring the lines between life and art, Boyhood is extraordinary, touching, and sincere. No one has ever seen a film like it—except, perhaps, in our own home movies.

“There’s a cumulative power here that transcends any rough patches. Boyhood isn’t perfect, but it’s an astonishing, one-of-a-kind accomplishment—and further proof that Linklater is one of the most daring, ambitious filmmakers working today.” (A.A. Dowd, The A.V. Club)

“Once in a great while I see a movie I know I’ll be listing as one of my all-time favorites for the rest of my days. So it is with this remarkable, unforgettable, elegant epic that is about one family — and millions of families. It’s a pinpoint-specific and yet universal story.” (Richard Roeper, Chicago Sun-Times)

“As a film that dares to honor small moments and the life they add up to, Boyhood isn’t just a masterpiece. It’s a miracle.” (Ann Hornaday, Washington Post)