Boyhood is about a family, particularly the son Mason, and their journey throughout his boyhood. This film took 13 years to film, as they used the same actors all the way through. The story ventures from Mason's 5-18 years. We see his mother's struggles raising him and his sister, Samantha, as a single mother. She marries a few times, all of them ending horribly. The other important character in this piece is his father. We see him occasionally giving advice to his kids, and taking them out. This movie's genre is sentimentalism. It is about a family sticking together through bad situations. They also must do this with limited help from their real father. However they do stick together, and Mason is able to succeed. For him and his mother, his success is going to college. A secondary genre of this film is psychological realism. It takes a personal look at Mason, and his reactions to life around him. The most important dramatic element of the movie is actually character. The entire film is an in-depth look at Mason. It is about the different people, mostly family members, in his boyhood, and how they have impacted him. The next most important dramatic element in the movie is plot. The plot of this movie is a chronological look at Mason's growing up, and how he adapts to his environment. The plot also follows the main family unit around, throughout two marriages, and moving around the state of Texas. Mason is the protagonist of the film. His character traits and persona change greatly throughout the movie, as he actually ages 13 years during the filming. He begins as a wild, energetic child. As his character matures, he becomes thoughtful, friendly, nice, thoughtful and creative. Mason is multi-dimensional. As he ages he changes as a person, and we do not know how he will act. Another important character is the father. He is seen originally as unable to get through to his children and speak to them well. He doesn't know how to properly communicate with his children, but later in the film, he becomes better at being their father. He is a fun character. He cares a great deal about his children, and also their mother. The father is multi-dimensional, as we do not know what his next step will be. This film is written and directed by Richard Linklater. The lead role, Mason, is played by Ellar Coltrane. His sister, Samantha is portrayed by Lorelei Linklater, Richard Linklater's daughter. The mother is acted by Patricia Arquette, and the dad by Ethan Hawke. Richard Linklater and Ethan Hawke often team up together (The before sunrise trilogy and others), and often make great films together. The Major Dramatic Question of the movie is "What happens next?" The movie leaves off at Mason's first day at college. We are left wondering how he will do in college. We hope he will continue photographing. The primary conflict of this piece is physical. It is all of Mason's troubles growing up. The conflict also pertains to his family having major issues.
The soundtrack of this movie is very important. It features popular music from the year corresponding to each part of the movie. The songs help place the audience in the correct time period. The editing in this movie is quick. When the film skips one or more years into the future, it is immediate. There is no title card telling the audience about it. We just move to a different time. There is some basic cinematography in the movie. However one particularly well-shot scene is when Mason and some of his friends are rolling around the neighborhood on a skateboard and bikes. The camera is a dolly shot, as it wheels around in front of them. Most shots in this film are middle shots, as they are not from afar, and there aren't many, if any, close ups.
The language in this movie is diverse. At first the language is simplistic as Mason and his family communicate in a basic manner, so he can understand and speak himself. When he matures, and gets older he uses profanity, and it is more explicit. During the movie there is various uses of colloquialisms and slang. The convention of time is greatly manipulated, as 13 years are fit into a time slot of less than three hours. Therefore time is condensed. There are edited jumps, that take us years into the future in less than a second during this movie. During this film the audience will be sucked in because the film is so realistic. It really is convincing. On a scale of verisimilitude, it is approximately halfway between the center and the photo realism side. It's believability is marvelous, and exactly what makes this movie original and fabulous. The movie is about a family sticking together. We see how the main family unit (Mason, Samantha, and their mom) handles abusive step-fathers. We see how they all react to the abuse differently. Also, it explores the bond between a father and son. This incredible film is a must-see. Although it is two hours and 45 minutes, not a single moment was worth editing out. Every moment of this movie is important and brilliant. The characters and dialogue are real and interesting. Everyone should see this emotional and fantastic movie. It fulfills the dual purpose of art, entertaining and instructing. It provokes plenty of emotion, whether that be fear or sadness for Mason and his main family unit while one of the step-dads abuse them, or pride, when Mason first arrives at college, this is an emotional film. It also instructs. We ask plenty of moral and motive questions about the father, Mason, the mother, and plenty of others throughout the entirety of the movie.
The soundtrack of this movie is very important. It features popular music from the year corresponding to each part of the movie. The songs help place the audience in the correct time period. The editing in this movie is quick. When the film skips one or more years into the future, it is immediate. There is no title card telling the audience about it. We just move to a different time. There is some basic cinematography in the movie. However one particularly well-shot scene is when Mason and some of his friends are rolling around the neighborhood on a skateboard and bikes. The camera is a dolly shot, as it wheels around in front of them. Most shots in this film are middle shots, as they are not from afar, and there aren't many, if any, close ups.
The language in this movie is diverse. At first the language is simplistic as Mason and his family communicate in a basic manner, so he can understand and speak himself. When he matures, and gets older he uses profanity, and it is more explicit. During the movie there is various uses of colloquialisms and slang. The convention of time is greatly manipulated, as 13 years are fit into a time slot of less than three hours. Therefore time is condensed. There are edited jumps, that take us years into the future in less than a second during this movie. During this film the audience will be sucked in because the film is so realistic. It really is convincing. On a scale of verisimilitude, it is approximately halfway between the center and the photo realism side. It's believability is marvelous, and exactly what makes this movie original and fabulous. The movie is about a family sticking together. We see how the main family unit (Mason, Samantha, and their mom) handles abusive step-fathers. We see how they all react to the abuse differently. Also, it explores the bond between a father and son. This incredible film is a must-see. Although it is two hours and 45 minutes, not a single moment was worth editing out. Every moment of this movie is important and brilliant. The characters and dialogue are real and interesting. Everyone should see this emotional and fantastic movie. It fulfills the dual purpose of art, entertaining and instructing. It provokes plenty of emotion, whether that be fear or sadness for Mason and his main family unit while one of the step-dads abuse them, or pride, when Mason first arrives at college, this is an emotional film. It also instructs. We ask plenty of moral and motive questions about the father, Mason, the mother, and plenty of others throughout the entirety of the movie.