We live in a society of people who hate having to think or
concentrate, and this has unfortunately had a major impact on the film
industry. In order to cater to the majority, producers simplify movies to make
them intelligently undemanding. This has created a win-win situation for
Hollywood, since they are profiting billions of dollars off substandard movies
— and anything that exceeds an audience's lowered expectations they hail it as
a triumph. Fortunately, there remain some individuals in the business who are
unwilling to sell themselves out for money because of the amount of pride they
take in their work. With Boyhood, Richard Linklater solidified himself as being
one of those people.
Linklater filmed Boyhood for over 12 years and used the same
exact cast. The movie is a compelling story of growing up. The movie is seen through
the eyes of an adolescent named Mason (Ellar Coltrane), who literally grows up
on the screen. Both Ethan Hawke and Patricia Arquette play Mason's parents and Lorelei
Linklater stars as his sister Samantha.
Without spoiling it, I will just say: you need to see this movie. It is an impeccable specimen that demonstrates how to develop characters, how to tell a compelling story, and how to flat out direct a movie. Boyhood is a compelling magnus opus, for sure.
I agree when you said that producers simplify movies to make them intelligently undemanding. Producers will sacrifice a great plot/story if it seems as it will confuse of if they think people will loose interest in the middle. They will add little, unneeded, plot "twists" that are so mundane that would keep unintelligent people more interested than more intelligent people.
ReplyDeleteI keep hearing how good this film is and its been on my list for a while now and I can't wait to see it! I have read a lot about it and I know exactly what you mean. Although I do love watching a film every once and a while that takes no real effort to follow it, I do love watching these interesting and complex films. I find that the reason people (me included) like to watch more easy to follow films is because we don't have as much time to watch films anymore and so when we do, we want something fun and entertaining and the majority of the time that means films that require very little from us.
ReplyDeleteI am so glad you wrote about this! I saw Boyhood in theaters. I thought it looked pretty cool but wasn't really sure what to expect. It turns out that it was one of the best movies I've ever seen. It was so long yet I wasn't bored by it for a second. Mason was such a likeable character. I liked how he was just himself and didn't try to impress anyone, and of course Ethan hawke was outstanding as always. I wish they would make more movies like boyhood.
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