Boyhood (2014) - The Way It Is.

★★★☆☆

‘Boyhood’, an indie production of nearly 3 hours, takes like 12 years to finish filming a boy growing up into an adult. It’s not a documentary though, because it’s got a proper script and there’s acting going on. It’s merely a drama but absolutely not a good one since there’s nothing dramatic or thrilling or melancholy to feel involved, regardless of this boy really living his own life or just imitating someone else’s.

Just because it’s daring and never-before-done doesn’t mean it’s good and memorable. To me, 12 years of filming is but a gimmick. The story itself is nothing special unless you feel like nothing special is something special. Not saying it’s so bad but it’s certainly not the Best Picture as the Golden Globes rewarded it. The only thing it’s done perfectly well is the editing that enables the film to pace smoothly and naturally without a moment of suddenness. You don’t feel like going through fragments of the boy’s life despite the fact that it’s done in 12 years of fits and starts. It’s like special effect without using special effect at all. That, I guess, is the real magic of the film!

I don’t know. ‘Boyhood’ makes me sigh over the fragility and recklessness of modern relationships, love and marriage and stuff, instead of thinking how precious or influential a boyhood could be to an adult like me. We keep changing partners, looking for new relationships, one after another, and moving on and on, so as to feel lifted and alive again, without having any idea how to seek real peace as a matter of fact. To be honest I find some of the scenes in the film rather awkward though it may not seem like a big deal to some open-minded or brainwashed. No matter what, the film’s right about one thing: it’s not that we seize the moment. It’s the moment that seizes us. Think about that!