I just watched the movie Boyhood. I was very impressed, touched, and inspired. First and foremost, what this movie was, shot over 12 years, is a triumph in film making. It’s historic and innovative, and that alone makes it an awesome movie well worth seeing, but that is only the beginning. The movie told a story, while admittedly quite gender specific, held subject matter that was incredibly relatable to me. The movie painted an incredibly authentic, and shockingly holistic view of what it’s like to grow up as a boy in america in the last 30 or so years, perhaps more. So much of the content in the movie felt so familiar, thanks to the manor, rate, and style. I’ve not felt so in touch with my memories of my own boyhood for a very long time, but this movie managed to bring those memories rushing back with such vivid and authentic quality, it was mind blowing.
12 years of a life, distilled to 3 hours, it doesn’t seem like a lot, but linkleater made good use of that time. What really happened as a result of this movie for me, was something akin to editing the 3 hours those 12 years of my boyhood. I saw the events in my own life that paralleled the ones being shown to me on screen. Heartbreak and mild mannered rebellion, the evolution of your parents and the inevitable point of separation, Awkward leaps and falls forward, and of course the eventual summit of the transition into adulthood. It’s an amazing gift to have your memories of growing up and coming of age so fresh in your mind thanks to the similarity of what is on screen.