Boyhood: a twelve year old cinematic genius

  • IndiaGlitz, [Tuesday,July 15 2014]

"Growing old is mandatory. Growing up is optional" said Carroll Bryant, Richard Linklater's modern coming of age masterpiece Boyhood' goes beyond it's a coming of age drama shot intermittently over a twelve-year period, capturing a boy's journey from childhood to adulthood is a historically unique ground breaker in coming of age sagas.

As stunning and beautifully rhythmic as Kim Ki-duk's Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter... and Spring', as enterprising in its approach as Alfonso Cuaron's Y Tu Mamá También', celebrating cinema as Giuseppe Tornatore Cinema Paradiso' Linklater's Boyhood' is destined to be figured amongst the top coming of age movies of all time.

Boyhood' took twelve years in making continuing with the same cast has Ellar Coltrane in his best performance till date as Mason - the six year old son of a divorced couple who explores the relationship with his parents as he grows.

Undeniably real and so involving making it impossible for the audience not to press the rewind or play button of their childhood and adolescent in their mind while watching, having all the familiarities of a family drama like a divorced dad longing to meet his kids, generation gap, husband wife quarrels, helpless parents, child from a divorce parent desire to see his mom and dad together one day, but it is so remarkably plausibly done by Linklater in Boyhood' that you have no choice but to root for this unique, brave and magical effort in American cinema that took 12 years in making and shot in 39 days.

American Film history has had its equivalent to Boyhood the one which comes close is The Antoine Doinel Series (1959-1979) that took 20 years in making tracing the life of Antoine Doinel (played by Jean-Pierre Léaud), as a troubled young boy to a 30 plus man is super but Boyhood' posses an intriguing class on its own.

The Up Series by Michael Apted follows group of British men and women since 1964, when they were seven years old no doubt it stands on its own. But it is based on unconcealed guesswork and it requires the helmer to search for the next fourteen after every seven years for the TV series.

Boyhood' from the face of 1990's indie revolution Richard Linklater is better equipped in its booming qualities as a brave and a rare magical path breaker from innocence to intelligence.

Already danced like a Queen at the 2014 Sundance Film Festival and received pats as Best Director posing with the Silver Bear at the 64th Berlin International Film Festival. Richard Linklater's third sensation after the Oscar nominees Before Midnight' and After Sunset' Boyhood' is one of the best ways to describe life and cinema - its life captured in camera to inspire and instigate action forever.