Linklater is among the best, and most important, directors working today. Everything he touches is gold, imo. Sounds like a very fruitful and important project. Can’t wait to see it. I know it will be good, as everything he does is good.
Slight correction: it follows the boy for 12 years—from age six (kindergarten) through age 18 (12th grade). Sounds fascinating.
It probably took a stern commitment, but it probably didn’t take that much time. Even if the movie is three hours long, extended over a ten year time period that would be only 18 minutes for each year. Considering that Linklater makes films on such extremely small budgets, making an 18 minute short every year is nothing.
I wonder if he adjusted the production values for each year so that you see a progressing of film technology.
" It’s just so brilliant. I’m so excited about it. We do a short film once a year, and I’ve been working with this little kid for five years now. It’s just one of those things, all year Rick and I brainstorm some little short story about childhood. I play the kid’s father; he shoots some stuff without me, but we shoot these little riffs about taking the kid to school or whatever, but it’s going to be this non-narrative film where you see all the moments of childhood. When it starts, the kid is six and when it’s over…it starts in first grade and it ends senior year of high school. I’m just growing up with this little kid; he’s not so little anymore. What’s also going to be amazing is that by the time it comes out in 2013 or something…one of the scenes involves taking him to a Harry Potter book signing. By the time the movie comes out, that’ll be a period piece. We really did it. We just went to a Barnes & Noble, and just shot it with all the kids dressed up like Harry Potter. And we did another scene–this is fun about working with Rick–we just walked into the Astrodome. I took the boy to watch Clemens pitch, and we wrote these monologues about what a genius Roger Clemens is. By the time the movie comes out, he’ll be in the Hall of Fame; he’ll have resigned from the Yankees unceremoniously. Not only is the subject matter hopefully good, delving into watching a human being grow up and how we shift and change, and what we are that’s consistent and not consistent, but it’s also a movie about time. It’s going to be incredible; I’m just excited about it. Every time Rick shoots one that I’m not in, I get disappointed [laughs]"
@Matt
Sorry about that mistake – guess I just misread it from the article.
So it’s like a one man, one film 7 Up? That’s neat.
Thanks, Matt, for the clarification. I read the original “it began filming in 2002 and is set for a 2013 release, and follows the life of a boy for 12 years (6th through 12th grade” and thought to myself, "Did the boy keep failing maths?’
At any rate, this seems like something Linklater could pull off as a personable and personal project. Movies like this are always a risk because, frankly, the kid could move away (I mean far away), die, all sorts of things could happen, life happens over twelve years, but if they keep managing to go through with it then you got yourself a movie like Hoop Dreams or the aforementioned 7 Ups that just does not come out that often because of sheer commitment to doing it.
I still wonder what the “plot”, really, is like. It’s about the kid growing up over the years and his relationship with his family, sure, but as Linklater seems to be making the family fictional and the kid act as someone else, it seems like it goes beyond just documenting development and aging.
—PolarisDiB
Yeah. It’s sounds to me that, by definition, it has to be very episodic. And I think it’s going to be not just about the passage of time, but changing perspectives over time. The Harry Potter thing, of course, but also, if you follow baseball at all, the Roger Clemens thing is funny/tragic. Hawke can in 2007 say ,“by the time the movie comes out, he’ll be in the Hall of Fame.” Later that year the Mitchell Report comes out, linking Clemens to banned substances use. In February 2008 he testifies before Congress. Then just a couple of weeks ago, Clemens was indicted by a grand jury for making false statements to Congress about his use of performance-enhancing drugs, and now his prospects for making it into the Hall of Fame are anything but certain.
been hella looking forward to this for some years now. can’t believe it’s maybe less than two years away… anyone know if everything is still going according to plan?
Still apparently going as planned as of June, so . . .
When Linklater’s good, he’s real good. I’m excited.
sounds as boring as life.
Sounds interesting – I wish it was a documentary, though. I’m gonna check out Hoop Dreams and 7 Ups now!
Hoop Dreams is amazing
I like the idea of it being a fictional Hoop Dreams
but i guess thats just speculation at this point
Maximilian Bercovicz
I thought this would be interesting to discuss considering nothing before has been done quite like this.
I’ve heard it began filming in 2002 and is set for a 2013 release, and follows the life of a boy for 12 years (6th through 12th grade, from what I’ve read) in addition to his relationship with his parents.
What do you guys think about a commitment like this (both by Linklater and Ellar Salmon, who plays the boy “Mason”)? I know it’s had a lot of impact on Linklater’s career, as it’s certainly taken up a hell of a lot of his time as a filmmaker.