Boyhood

I went to see Boyhood knowing as much as everyone else: Directed by Richard Linklater, Boyhood was shot over the course of 12 years following the fictional life of a boy named Mason. I had heard interviews, read articles and heard the odd word of mouth review from coworkers, but nothing could have prepared me for how it affected me or has continued to stay with me.

As I'm come to expect from Linklater, the film was beautiful. It took its time with scenes, letting both the conversation and the moment play out. Just like in real life, the scene doesn't necessarily stop when you think it should. It meanders until the characters have either gotten their point across or the moment has passed. I love this about his films.

Starting as a six year old, we meet Mason, his mother Olivia, (Patricia Arquette) and his older sister, (Lorelei Linklater, Richard Linklater's daughter) living in Texas. Divorced from Mason's father, (Ethan Hawke), Olivia moves her children to Houston to start over, go back to school and try to turn their luck around. Over the course of the next several years, we see the family move a few times, we see Olivia get married, abused and divorced, married and divorced again. We see Mason discovering a relationship with his real father and understand the importance of family. We see Mason starting high school, dropping his voice an octave, gaining facial hair. We meet his new friends, we feel the angst of the public boy's bathroom. We're with him when he meets his girlfriend, when he loses his girlfriend, when he discovers photography and when he sets off for college.

It was about an hour and a half into the movie when I realized that I was so engrossed in it, that I hadn't stopped to think about anything outside of the theater. I wasn't applying anything to my life, I wasn't comparing or making it part of my own story. I just got wrapped up in it and it was such an enjoyable few hours in the theater. It wasn't until we see Mason driving down the empty road to college for the first time, that I heard a girl sitting next to me sobbing and I stopped to realize that these memories are a part of everyone's individual history. I remember that drive myself, only it was a station wagon and I remember the song playing on my blown-out speakers vividly. I remember smiling the entire way there, knowing that something huge was happening in my life and being wholly and completely ready for it.

I remember those pretentious conversations had with friends in late night diners, talking music, parents, technology-ruining devices, and who we "truly are and truly want to be." Mason's rants on the world around him and his own ideals and viewpoints felt so tender and honest that I thought back to my own innocent thoughts on the world around me.

There's a big jump between 18 and all that lies ahead. Looking back on that time in your life, you believe that anything is possible and at the same time, unthinkable that your life is ahead of you. Watching Boyhood as an adult, I found myself relating more to the mother's character, (quite possibly Patricia Arquette's best role to date). After watching the entire film and seeing Mason age and his family age and change with him, she finally breaks down watching him pack for college. She cries and says that time has passed so quickly, she just thought "there would be more of it." For Mason, he can't relate, but for her, (and us) we know that time can go by in the blink of an eye. That afterwards, all you have is the memory of it.

Yet the last scene of the film has really stuck with me. Mason meets his college roommate and quickly skips orientation to go hiking with a few new friends. He's sitting on a rock, looking out at a great expanse of desert, talking to a cute girl about the exact moment he's experiencing. He's happy, he's grateful and he's excited for what's ahead. He briefly glances at the camera, a cracked, shy smile on his face before it cuts to black.

That scene moved me so much, not only because three hours had just passed and I could've sat for another two, but because without knowing what was in store for Mason, you kind of did know. You know because you yourself went through it:. You went to college, you made friends, you discovered so many new things and you slowly and painfully became the adult you are today. And all of those experiences and memories have made up this imperfect person and perfect person you are.

Barf.

Anyway, I really got nostalgic leaving the theater and spent a lot of time thinking about my childhood and teenage years. What I would have changed had I known what I know now. The friends I made and lost, the relationships that I toiled through, the music that I once loved and the beliefs that I held so dearly and inevitably changed so much. I'm so grateful that I went through all of them and more than that, I'm so grateful that I'm done with them. Being an adult is pretty great, but being an adult with great memories is even better.

Whatever, go see Boyhood.