Film: Boyhood

I was going to have to see Boyhood eventually, there's been so much hype over it. Anyway, it's directed by Richard Linklater, and I loved the Before trilogy. And it stars Ethan Hawke, who was also in that trilogy, so you know they work well together. Also stars Patricia Arquette, with whom I'm most familiar from the Medium series. Plus, it's extremely highly rated on IMDB. So when I was looking for a film, it was a no-brainer.

Luckily, it's showing in my local cinema, so I walked down there - a pleasant walk, during a sunny patch of the afternoon. The staff showed their usual disregard, only having one till open despite the queue; still, it took under five minutes. The person - again, wearing Maleficent zogabongs - who gave me my ticket didn't bother to ask me where I'd like to sit. Maybe they're learning! Neither did she replace my voucher - maybe they don't on weekends. Never mind, I still have a spare. I missed the screen and had to double back - I haven't been in this one before. And this time, I almost sat where I was assigned - unlike the other screens, this one doesn't have an aisle separating the seats in front, which is where I tend to like to sit, for the leg-room. And the front row was too close. I might, in fact, have sat exactly where I was assigned, except that it was right in front of someone else. So I sat right in front of that, instead.

Well, this is a 166min marathon. But you know, it's surprisingly interesting. It follows the main character through 12 years of his life, actually filmed over 12 years, a bit each year. I have to keep reminding myself that they didn't have to source several different child actors - these are the same people! The director knew what he was doing - the years focussed on are from 6 to 18, which must see the most dramatic change of anyone's life. The boy of the title starts off the film in elementary school, progresses through high school, gets and loses a girlfriend, find an interest in life, goes off to study that at college, and the film ends on his first day there. We get the standard milestones - he starts to drink and smoke cannabis, gets bullied. We also get some not-so-usual milestones, as his mother (Patricia Arquette) goes through a succession of unsuccessful marriages (she separates from his father, Ethan Hawke, before the film starts), and house moves, and we get to see some unsavoury family situations. Also his evolving relationship with his sister, played by the director's real-life daughter. You can really see the resemblance to the director as she grows up.

It features Linklater's naturalistic style, of course - I had to keep wondering whether the shots were scripted, or just loosely. So if you liked the Before trilogy, you'll probably like this. It being so long, I was kind of glad when it came to an end, but all through I was just fascinated to see what would happen next. Oh, and what the main character would look like, as his appearance kept changing. Yeah, it's good - I do think you need to be a Linklater fan to really appreciate it. And, for obvious reasons, I don't think this style of filmmaking will really catch on.

Bought dinner on the way home, and am currently eating a Sainsbury's cottage pie. Can't really recommend it - tasty, but it's at least half mash.

So, if tomorrow is a film - which looks likely - it's like to be Begin Again. Starring Mark Ruffalo as a disgraced music industry executive, and Keira Knightly as an up-and-coming musician (oh, and also featuring Mos Def), it looks good, and is, again, showing in my local cinema. And hopefully, next time I'll get a replacement voucher.. for Tuesday, I've already booked (because booking was heavy) for a Dennis Potter play double bill at the BFI.