Boyhood (2014)

9.30pm, Monday, TG4

“Dad, there’s no real magic in the world, right?”

In a business where formula and franchise are celebrated, it’s not easy for lm-makers to nd an original way to tell a story. Richard Linklater managed it with Boyhood. Taking a leaf from Michael Apted’s seminal TV series, Up, Linklater’s remarkable drama chronicles the fortunes of a Texas family through the eyes of one boy (Ellar Coltrane) as he moves from childhood to adulthood.

So far, so unremarkable, but here’s the thing: where other directors would have used di erent actors at di erent stages of the youngster’s transition from boy to man, Linklater chose only seven-year-old Ellar Coltrane. He proceeded to shoot the movie over the course of 12 years, taking the youngster into his own college years. The director also cast his own daughter, Lorelei, as Ellar’s sister, much to the annoyance of the young girl who lost interest in the project and begged her father to ‘’kill her o ’’. Though the movie took 12 years to complete, Linklater only shot for a total of 45 days, reassembling his cast when time and schedules and permitted. Linklater cast regular collaborator Ethan Hawke as the father, while Patricia Arquette took on the role of the mother (apparently the director pleaded with the actress not to have plastic surgery during the period of the lm shoot). Arquette’s commitment to the project was rewarded with a well-deserved Oscar, BAFTA, SAG and Golden Globe for Best Supporting Actress. ‘’Boyhood proves there are still great roles for women over 40,’’ quipped Globes co-host Amy Poehler, ‘’as long as you get hired when you are under 40.”