Review of Boyhood (1951) by Tsukasa A — 23 Aug 2015

It depicts a child's growth and changes in his family like an epic. It's a fulfilling movie as Richard Linklator said: "I've long wanted to tell the story of a parent-child relationship that follows a boy from the first through the 12th grade and ends with him going off to college. But the dilemma is that kids change so much that it is impossible to cover that much ground. And I am totally ready to adapt the story to whatever he is going through.".

In `Before` series, Richard Linklator made three movies by shooting the same cast every 9 years and 18 years in total. In 'Boyhood', Richard Linklater and his crew got together annually to film Linklater's script about a boy who will eventually grow up into a college freshman. Linklater's method behind production was essentially to make several 10- to 15-minute short films over the course of 12 years, each depicting a year in the life of the boy, and then edit them together as a feature film.

None of the actors were contractually obligated to return to the film each year due to the De Havilland Law under California Labor Code, which makes it illegal to contract employees for more than seven years of work. Had Richard Linklater died during the 12-year shoot, Ethan Hawke would have taken over the directorial duties. Richard Linklater asked her not to have any plastic surgeries, since it wouldn't make sense for her character. All of these episodes are because of the 12 year shooting period.

Richard Linklater casted his daughter Lorelei Linklater because she was always singing and dancing around the house and wanted to be in his movies. At about the third or fourth year of filming, she lost interest and asked for her character to be killed off. Linklater refused, saying it was too violent for what he was planning. Lorelei eventually regained her enthusiasm and continued with the project.

Linklater thought Patricia Arquette was the only actress he ever thought of for the part of Olivia as she had been a mom in a very young age while there are big changes in actors circumstances: both of Ethan Hawke and Patricia Arquette experienced divorce and remarriage and got new babies.

According to Richard Linklater, Everybody Wants Some (2016) is a continuation of Boyhood in terms of beginning right where it ends with a guy showing up in the ending. I am looking forward to it.