When director Richard Linklater decided to make “Boyhood,” shooting a bit of footage each year to authentically capture a young man growing from first through twelfth grade, he knew he had to keep things fresh if it was going to be interesting. And when we caught up with him in Berlin in February, he shared some of that process.
“You know, every year I had a year to think up the next part, based on everything that had gone before. So by year four, I’ve got three years that I can look at, that are edited, that we’ve been working on, and I can feel where it’s going and where it wants to go. I was stuck with this kind of architecture but yet within that the décor, the details were always being reworked, being found. That’s kind of how I work on any movie, there’s always a strong outline, a structure and then within that structure, a certain looseness to work with the actors,” he explained. “It makes you keep working—the night before, I want to have the great idea that keeps the scene interesting. I want to leave myself open to that.”
And the result is a unique film that brings together Ethan Hawke, Patricia Arquette and young lead Ellar Coltrane for a film that takes slices of life and combines them into a portrait of youth, growing up and learning to grapple with life’s obstacles. It’s a film we called “a remarkable accomplishment that won’t be forgotten anytime soon,” and no surprise, it’s one of our Most Anticipated Films of the summer.
“Boyhood” opens on July 11th.