ABSTRACT
Linklater, who has a fine appreciation of cinema history, had drawn some inspiration for Slacker from the 1950 French film La Ronde, which linked characters through their love affairs. This chapter elaborates the protagonist of Boyhood, Mason (Ellar Coltrane), who evolves through transitions from one year to the next that are often quite subtle, and some of which are detectable only by nuance. Rather than signaling the passage of time to his audience with obvious markers such as captions or title cards, Linklater shows Mason growing through changes in friendships, fashions, and attitudes, resulting in a canny statement on the often unpredictable ways in which young people come of age. Boyhood demonstrates the extent to which Linklater allows the quotidian growth of his protagonist to flourish on screen in subtle bursts of curiosity, arbitrary memories, and casual concerns about the meaning of life.
