Casperworld Forum

Zitat

Coming Of Age: Richard Linklaters „Boyhood“ feiert nach zwölf Jahren Entstehungszeit endlich Premiere.

Würde es sich bei der weiblichen Hauptdarstellerin in „Boyhood“ um Julie Delpy handeln, das hier hätte das
ideale Begleitprojekt zu Linklaters „Before Sunrise“-Trilogie werden können. Bereits hier ist der Regisseur über
einen Zeitraum von insgesamt 18 Jahren immer wieder zu seinem Ex- und Wieder-Liebespaar Ethan Hawke/Julie Delpy
zurückgekehrt, gipfelnd im gefeierten „Before Midnight“, der letztes Jahr etliche Jahresbestenlisten mitanführen durfte.

Was den beiden dort beinahe bevorstand, nämlich eine Trennung, dürfte in „Boyhood“ am Beginn der Coming-of-age-Story
stehen. Denn der Film, der über einen Zeitraum von zwölf (!) Jahren entstanden ist, dreht sich um ein geschiedenes Ehepaar
(Hawke & Patricia Arquette) beziehungsweise in erster Linie um deren Sohn und seinen Umgang mit der Trennung.
Dafür haben sich Linklater und sein Team jedes Jahr einmal getroffen, um neues Material zu schießen und so mittlerweile
bei einem fast dreistündigen Film zu landen, in dem die Schauspieler mit ihren Figuren tatsächlich mitaltern.

Wie gut das funktioniert, wird die Premiere von „Boyhood“ auf dem diesjährigen Sundance-Filmfestival zeigen. Und weil
das wiederum gerne ein paar der letzten Berlinale-Panorama-Beiträge beisteuert, hoffen wir jetzt schon auf Linklaters
Erwachsenwerden im Februar in Berlin.
Quelle

Zitat

Twelve years ago, Richard Linklater started production on a movie following the development of a child from
the age of seven through the end of his teenage years. If there was ever project that demanded to be informed
by the history of its making, "Boyhood" is it. Epic in scope yet unassuming throughout, Linklater's incredibly involving
chronicle marks an unprecedented achievement in fictional storytelling — the closest point of comparison,
Michael Apted's "Up" documentaries, don't represent the same singularity of vision. Shot over the course of 39
days spread across more than a decade, "Boyhood" is an entirely fluid work that puts the process of maturity
under the microscope and analyzes its nuances with remarkable detail.

The key to "Boyhood" lies with the smallness of its story, which revolves around the plight of Texan native Mason
(Ellar Coltrane) along with his older sister Samantha (Lorelei Linklater, the director's daughter) and their divorced
parents, Mason Sr. and Olivia (Ethan Hawke and Patricia Arquette). As we watch this quartet consistently age
during the movie's justifiable 164 minute length, the subtle qualities of change become steadily crystallized.
At its center, Mason's growth allows Coltrane to fully inhabit his character through the accumulation of his
experiences and their recurring impact on his expanding awareness. As a child, he and his sister witness their
parents' unruly separation from a limited perspective before getting whisked away by their mother to a new life
in Houston.

That shift marks the first of several transitions that find the broken family unit moving from place to place while
their desperate mother veers from one ill-fated relationship to another. In between, their free-spirited dad crops
up for occasional visits, leading to a sharp contrast between the adults' meandering lifestyles and their kids' regular
attempts to comprehend the fractured world around them. Alternately sweet and melancholic, "Boyhood" slowly
unfurls with an enthralling trajectory, predominantly relying on the changes in its characters' physical appearances
to connote the advancing years.

Beyond the inherent intrigue of this structural gimmick, however, "Boyhood" maintains a consistent focus. During
Olivia's second marriage, to her graduate psychology professor Bill (Marco Perella), the children observe a far more
upsetting breakup than the preceding one, with Bill growing dangerously moody under the influence of alcoholism.
While this chapter constitutes the narrative's darkest hour, it also plants a seed of understanding that enables an
increasingly self-reliant Mason to resist similar oppression from his mother's third and equally reckless husband.
"Boyhood" owes much of its power to this network of cause and effect spread across its plot with fascinating
nuances. As his voice deepens and he blossoms into a long-haired, deep-voiced, pot-smoking teen, gains a first love
and develops a promising interest in professional photography, Mason embodies the rite of passage indicated by
the title.

But "Boyhood" leaves ample room for its supporting characters to define the conditions of Mason's growth.
Lorelei Linklater's assertiveness makes her character an equal source of interest for the way she quietly remains
the family's backbone. Hawke's Mason Sr., a freewheeling lefty musician, crops up just frequently enough to
offer a rich commentary on the advancing challenges faced by his kids. While their relationship never becomes
strained, it's clear by the movie's later years that Mason has learned to view his father's nuggets of wisdom with
a healthy dose of skepticism.

Hawke, who undergoes almost as much of a dramatic physical change as Coltrane, provides a nifty counterpoint
to the soul-searcher he portrayed in Linklater's "Before" trilogy: He has muddled passion and politics to spare
(in one hilarious sequence presumably shot in 2008, he encourages his kids to nab John McCain flyers off his
neighbors lawn; in 2002, he fills their heads with anti-war ideology) but not much to show for it. Among the
focused ensemble, only Arquette strains from certain unmistakable one-note aspects in the role of the flimsy,
put-upon woman, but eventually gets the chance to show her assertiveness once her children stop being high
maintenance.

While continually astute, "Boyhood" gets particularly engrossing during its final third, when Mason starts to
pursue his professional interests and contemplate his future in light of the possibilities he has witnessed at
home. A central conversation with his girlfriend, during a visit the duo pay to his sister at her college, illustrates
his emerging cynicism about the next stages of his life. Even here, however, "Boyhood" leaves room for few
more revelations that impact Mason's thought process. An ideological prequel to the "Before" movies, Linklater's
sprawling approach tracks the evolution of Mason's intellect. Surrounded by expectations and vaguely worded
advice from his confused elders, he finally obtains the ability to operate as a wholly independent thinker
willing to push back. Linklater masterfully foregrounds the juxtaposition between Mason's inquisitive younger
self ("There's no such thing as real magic in the world, right?" asks the 10-year-old) and the college-aged thinker
in the closing act who rationalizes his increasing worldview.

Despite keeping its tantalizing premise in constant focus, "Boyhood" does feature the occasional lapses in
quality: awkward lines of dialogue and some broadly scripted supporting characters come and go, but they're
generally forgivable in light of the larger tapestry that never wavers in the slightest. Linklater glues together
the discombobulated proceedings with distinct ingredients that define each period: changing video game
consoles, flip phones, music cues that range from Coldplay and Weezer in earlier scenes to snippets of the
recent Daft Punk album. These signposts are helpful for the sake of orientation, but rarely over-pronounced.
Instead, the movie constantly sublimates its widening ideas into passing exchanges. "Any dipshit can take pictures,"
one of Mason's teachers tells him when he's been lapsing on his studies. "It takes a real genius to make art."

One assumes that Linklater felt similarly when he started "Boyhood," though the result hardly contains any
indications of presumptuousness. Instead, Linklater relishes the small moments that epitomize Mason's flow
of experiences. During a camping trip with his dad clearly shot years ago, the pair have a hilariously prescient
exchange about the "Star Wars" franchise and determine it could never accommodate additional movies.
Retroactively a sly commentary on the upcoming sequels, the conversation implies that not all ambitious
filmmaking must be tethered to commercial intensions. It's one scene among many rendered insightful by the
passage of time surrounding them — the central tenet at the heart of "Boyhood" that makes it Linklater's
shrewdest accomplishment to date, and a de facto celebration of his ongoing commitment to moving forward.
Quelle