Boyhood

“Boyhood was made over the course of a decade. Little Mason grows up alongside his actor, Ellar Coltrane. The fictional long-term study becomes a true coming-of-age film. There was no elaborate make-up or changing the cast to make someone look older. The film project adapted to the passage of time and was shot in stages: From 2002 onwards, the cast of American indie director Richard Linklater’s film met annually to shoot, and their changes became part of the production. At the heart of the story is Mason, who has to cope with his high-maintenance sister Samantha and his divorced parents. Ethan Hawke plays the father, who still needs a bit of time himself to grow up. Equally compelling is Patricia Arquette in the role of the single mother, who gets involved with the wrong men whilst also completing her degree.” (Xenix, Jan 2014)

“Despite its length of almost three hours, every line of dialogue, every time jump, every new period in the narrative is, in a sense, the essence of what is happening – or as one of the protagonists says during the film: ‘The moment is always the here and now.’ (…) In this way, Boyhood not only tenderly and ethnographically sketches childhood and coming of age, but also soberly and analytically explores ageing and saying goodbye. What is astonishing is that even insights which are not new – which border on clichés – are resurrected with new light and great power in Linklater’s cinematic quest for the lost years.” (Axel Timo Purr, artechock.de)