BOYHOOD (2014)

On 27th of October the four classes of 2n of Batxillerat went to Sitges to watch a film in English. Here is my review:

Cast: Ellar Coltrane, Patricia Arquette, Ethan Hawke, Lorelei Linklater, Jordan Howard, Tamara Jolaine, Zoe Graham, Tyler Strother, Evie Thompson, Tess Allen, Megan Devine, Fernando Lara, Elijah Smith, Steven Chester Prince, Bonnie Cross, Libby Villari, Marco Perella, Jamie Howard, Andrew Villarreal, Shane Graham, Ryan Power

Director and writer: Richard Linklater

Boyhood is a movie that was released in July 2014. Richard Linklater created a dramatic film with the remarkable fact that it took 12 years to be completely filmed. One thing you have to count on before watching the film is time. 156 minutes are not easy to watch, and sometimes it felt quite uncomfortable be sitting in the seat watching an everyday life of a child and I occasionally got distracted.

The film shows the audience the life of a boy called Mason Jr. since he is 5 years old to his first day at college. Mason Jr. is not a special kid. He likes riding his bike and playing videogames, and he often argues with his older sister. He is the son of divorced parents, Olivia and Mason. The parents married too young, she got pregnant and they broke up. Olivia had to raise her kids as a single mother while Mason wanted to pursue his musical career, and he only showed up from time to time in his cool car.  

One thing that I find essential is that events are always shown from the perspective of the kids, especially Mason Jr. However, we don’t always know what he is feeling or thinking in the moment, which gives the opportunity to the viewer to imagine and emphasize, each person in their own way, the situations he has to live through the entire movie.

I also find it appealing that the director displays us that life is terrifyingly short. While we are living our childhood, we think we have all the time in the world. Mason’s only worries were friends, school and trying to make sense of why his mother was living with abusive men. But what seems to be not much later, he already has to choose a college. As opposed, for parents’ time goes by as a flash and they suddenly realize that their children are growing and moving away.

In summary, I would recommend this film because it is unlike any film I have seen before and I found it very interesting. Nevertheless, some more editing to make the film shorter would have been a point to appreciate.

A ray of light comes through a hole in the blind. Slowly, meanwhile the last day of September progresses, the ray of light rises until it arrives at his closed eyes. Feeling the sensation of being inside an OR, Jamie wakes up, opens his eyes and sees the last vestiges of the summer. With the slow parsimony that characterizes him, he wakes up from his bed and turns off the clock which   has been ringing for hours. Yesterday he went out of his home and did a lot of things, but he can’t remember what he did.

Without paying much attention, Jamie changes the TV channels searching for a signal. All the channels show the same image: No Signal. Bored of waiting for nothing, he goes to the window and looks at the street; maybe the city view has the answer about why this day starts like a Monday, without being it. He looks through the window and, surprisingly, sees an image of the city that he has never seen before. The city is on fire, the street is full of crashed cars and people run as if they were out of their minds. Moreover, there are three helicopters crossing the sky without a determined direction or objective. It’s insane, it can’t be possible, yesterday the city was as always: horning cars, walking pedestrians  and  shining buildings. Why is New York suffering such a chaos if only one night has gone by?

Jamie decides to ask Katie about what’s happening. Katie is his girlfriend, so he calls her to know if she’s OK, if she woke up before him and knows what’s happening. Nothing, her mobile phone is disconnected or out of range. One minute of calm, he remains silent and thinks about what he can do. He decides to dress up and knock the door of his neighbour. Jamie doesn’t like him, but he’s a retired cop, maybe he knows what’s happening. After two minutes waiting at the front of the door, he decides that nobody’s in, maybe he went out when this chaos started. Maybe he should come back home and wait.

One hour has gone by since Jamie woke up. He has eaten something; it’s good to be busy. After the meal, he decides to search for something in the TV again; However, the same: No Signal image remains on TV, so he chooses to look through the window again.

While a stunned Jamie is watching through his window for the second time, a helicopter lands on the roof of the building that is in front of Jamie’s. Just as the aircraft is landing, its doors open and two soldiers get out. They are waiting for something, or someone. This “someone” is a couple of suited men who run to the aircraft; it’s obvious that the soldiers have come to save them. After them, a group of people run directly to the helicopter. They are different, they seem to be crazy, and their eyes are really open.

The helicopter tries to take off while the mad people try to catch them. They are desperate to enter it. The helicopter takes off, but it can’t go up because four mad men are clamped in the helicopter’s skid. The door opens and two soldiers appear from inside the aircraft. They try to shoot the people, but the people are faster. They hold the cannon of the guns and pull them down, making the soldiers fall down the helicopter. The guys who were in the skid enter the helicopter, and it starts whirling. Something is happening inside, and it starts to whirl without control.

The helicopter is destabilized and it heads for Jamie’s window. The aircraft is without control and Jamie is paralyzed by the fear. For a few eternal seconds, he sees his girlfriend, his mom, his dad and his friends; he knows that he won’t see them again. After that, the helicopter crashes into the building and the darkness seizes Jamie.

A ray of light rises up to his closed eyes, but this time, Jamie doesn’t open them.