Richard Linklater has always been interested in the passage of time, a subject that was dealt with in Before Sunrise, Before Sunset, and Before Midnight, and that is developed brilliantly in Boyhood. In his latest film, Linklater shows 12 years in the life of one family. We see the main character, Mason (Ellar Coltrane); his sister, played by the director’s daughter, Lorelei; and their divorced parents (Patricia Arquette and Ethan Hawke). The film was made over 39 days spanning the course of 12 years, with the same adolescent children aging before our very eyes. Boyhood is unique in the history of American cinema: it contradicts the typical "magic of film," manages without makeup tricks, and defines anew the boundary between documentary and fiction. The narrative contains a fascinating family drama; it is a film about a painful coming-of-age, full of nostalgia for the irretrievably lost period of boyhood. It also confirms Linklater’s mastery when it comes to telling stories about ordinary people and their day-to-day affairs, solidifying his position as one of the most important independent American directors.
Urszula Śniegowska
Berlin IFF 2014 - Best Director; SXSW FF 2014 - Louis Black/Lone Star Award; Seattle IFF 2014 - Best Film, Best Director
Born in 1960 in Texas, Richard Linklater is a director and screenwriter. Known for his description of the world of young losers (Slacker, Dazed and Confused, SubUrbia) and (recently) of male-female relationships as recounted in the lethally quick dialogue between Julie Delpy and Ethan Hawke in Before Sunrise, Before Sunset, and Before Midnight. Initially experimented with form and then also followed mainstream esthetics, at least in the film School of Rock. Has won numerous awards in the United States, is an activist on the part of independent filmmakers, and is the founder and chairman of the Austin Film Society.
1991 Slacker
2001 Tape / Taśma
2008 Ja i Orson Welles / Orson Welles and I
2011 Bernie
2013 Przed północą / Before Midnight