Saturday, July 12, 2014

Thoughts on 'Boyhood' and the films of Richard Linklater



Before Sunrise introduced Richard Linklater to me. I watched it 8 years back by the time I started to break free from mainstream movies and delved into foreign films, period films, Art and Independent cinema. Actually, Mr. IMDB recommended it to me (People who liked Notting Hill also like Before Sunrise and Before Sunset). It was unlike any other films that I’d seen. Yes, I’d seen our Woody Allen’s films where he always talk and talk and blabber and talk right from psychology to nature to religion to relationship to ‘men are from mars and women are from venus to communism to world war to dating to French women to Italian artistry to film making to smoking to claustrophobia to kids to anarchism to narcissism to nihilism to New York to Manhattan till life. Either Woody or his lead actor/ actress will be dominant on-screen and make the other party numb/ dumb/ weak in the conversation. Here, in Linklater’s films, two lives talk their heart and soul out. This is what makes his movies (Linklater’s artistic works aren’t just movies, but yeah, I don’t have a term to suit up for this argument) a special one. A man and a woman just don’t talk about love and relationship. They talk life itself.

Now, my fellow movie buffs will wage a war against me for leaving out the films of Jean Luc Godard where the male-female conversation has always had a huge part. The conversation between the Hero and Heroine, right from the road to her apartment room in Breathless (1960), the silent stands scene of the trio from Bande à part (1964) and Post-sex/ sleepover conversation between the writer and his girlfriend in Le mépris (1963) are classic without a doubt. On a deeper perspective, the dialogues, conversation and the theme of their speech would be way too abstract, sketched, impulsive, highly cerebral, Kafkaesque or tough to connect. I feel, maybe, the French-to-English subtitle translation of Godard films might’ve lost/ added a different context to the narration. Isn’t it? But we all owe a big time to these French folks for many things. The Inception of subtitling, Coffee& Cigarettes combination, new cinematic frames, wonderful filmmakers and last but not least their film noir.

Back to Linklater, from his popular Before series, I moved to Dazed and Confused. It came to me as surprise package in a period where I was watching classic coming-of-age films like Fast Times at Ridgemont High, The Breakfast Club, The 400 Blows, Stand by me,  Rushmore, Ferris Bueller's Day Off, Dead Poets Society etc.. The life lessons that one can take from the coming-of-age films, man, it’s unexplained. They must be termed as a coming-of-life films, I say. This is applicable to Boyhood too.

And then his Tape, a typical high school reunion of three friends that builds up to heated, traumatic conversation and drastic actions. It’s similar to the type of domestic trauma, tension and heat that develops amongst the characters from Asghar Farhadi’s films like A Separation, About Elly, Fireworks Wednesday and The Past.

Next comes School of Rock, which I’d seen on HBO and thoroughly enjoyed. It made me to watch Linklater and Jack Black combo again in Bernie, a wonderful ‘based on a true story’, black comedy about a charming criminal and a murderer. Bernie is Linklater’s take on black comedy at its best. I progressed to Waking life, next. Even though it was thematically, philosophically, morally inclined at heights beyond my consciousness and understanding, the grasp and sniff of it, like a dope, made me go high and elated. Must re watch it again, someday.

All this led to my 5-year hunt for a good print of Slacker (1991), the film that mapped Linklater at Sundance and the film world, which was unavailable for years, until our dear, beloved, doer of good deeds, grand Uncle Mr. Criterion Collection restored it in a gorgeous Blu-ray. Sudden encounters, hookup, walk by, pop-in, drop-in, checking up, going-out etchappen amidst the Texan population and the characters discuss right from poop to weed to accident to love to death to science to Scooby Doo to Meta physics to mattress to burglary to world war to what not. Slacker is a full course meal which will make your stomach and mind full for months.


Coming to Boyhood, 12 years in the making, it traces the life of a boy from age 6 to 18. We witness not just this boy, but his father, guardian, mother, friend, sister, grandma, grandpa and various important folks in the boy’s life, for the entire 12 years. Like us, he experiences everything that one needs to experience in their 6 to 18s. Right from pestering elder sister, childhood friend, new school, shifting homes, first crush, mom-dad fights, first porn, kiss, night out, party, inspiring school teacher, finding the true calling and passion, junior school, senior school and college etc... Linklater loves to play with them.

Unlike the movies where we witness characters unfolding over time (In films like Cameron Crowe’s Almost famous, Paul Thomas Anderson’s Boogie Nights, Bergman’s Scenes from a Marriage, Scorsese’s Gangs of New York, Anurag Kashypa’s Gangs of Wasseypur, Jim Carrey’s Truman Show, to name a few) in Linklater’s films we see time unfolding the characters. Time revolves at the apex of his narrative content and everything / everyone ( including the plot / story ) around it. All his films are such a piece of art.

One might say that Boyhood doesn't have a proper story, but yo!, the movie unfolding right in front of your eyes and trailing these characters life itself is a one helluva story, I say. Right from the Coldplay track, Beatles reference, life lessons from father Hawke, emotional outburst of busy/ working mom, Gameboy, Nintendo, Wii, Big ass desktop computer, flip mobile phones, long hair style, retro t-shirts, film roll camera, faded denims, art obsession, the traces from his life’s early 2000 till 2013 were aesthetically captured.

Being a late 80s kid, I would already feel nostalgic with 90s reference, but Linklater made me even more sad and nostalgic by showing early 2000s and 2010s as a flash of sweet memory and dejavu. This make me wonder, yell and ask myself ‘Man, Am I getting fucking old and aged?’ Dammit. Fuck You Linklater. I am in my prime 25s and your films makes me to feel old already and think like mid-30s. Fuck you, seriously.

One must see Boyhood as the gateway to Linklater’s films. Watch it first and then move on to his other films. As discussed above, Linklater has a foot print in coming of a̶g̶e̶ life, romance, Life philosophy, dark comedy, animation (A Scanner darkly & Waking life) and what not. So enter Boyhood and pick your favorite department/ DVD later on.  I would like to discuss more and more about Boyhood and the profound impact it had on me, but at the same time I don’t want to spoil your movie watching experience.

Boyhood is a new landmark and a remarkable achievement, not just in film making, but on the whole cinematic process itself. There is a little piece of life in every poem, art, essay, music and movies. And there is Richard Linklater's Boyhood as the collective sum. Experience this delicatessen that will serve you the real meaning of existence with a cocktail blend of time, life and emotions, unveiling right in front of your very eyes and get lost in its serenity and gargantuan beauty.

Not really, but miiiiiiiiild mild plot spoiler alert, in the following lines. Don’t worry, it won’t hurt your morale so read on.

Now that I’d seen Boyhood from 6 to 18 and the frames ceased out right when he enters the college, 2 decades from now I would love to sit in front of my home theatre and watch Boyhood sequel that traces his life from college to adult to relationship to marriage to kids. Oh wait. I’d already seen that in his Before Sunrise, Sunset & Midnight Trilogy. Holy, You fucking Linklater. What, man? Is this a prequel to Before trilogy?

And Hey, the only thing that I’d missed witnessing or I would’ve loved watching in Boyhood is his pet and a death of his closed one. Had Linklater touched upon the Pet and human/animal loss, would that have been even better or worse or Clichéd?... And that’s how I start/ strike a random conversation, with you, my stranger/friend/reader, like a character from Linklater’s films.