The Academy Awards are coming up in a couple of weeks, and one of this year's frontrunners: Boyhood, is breaking new ground- but not in the way that you might think. Perhaps because each year of Mason Jr.'s life was filmed during the actual time period it was set in, or perhaps because Richard Linklater & Ethan Hawke are incredible at capturing reality, Boyhood is one of the only movies I can think of that accurately represents what it means & feels like to grow up in the modern world. The reason I say "one of the only movies" and not "the sole movie" is because of Spike Jonze's 2011 short film: Scenes from the Suburbs. In truth, there are a lot of parallels between Boyhood and Scenes, they even share actors, but what makes Jonze's film a cut above is its cohesiveness.
Like most of Jonze's work, he starts with a seemingly straightforward story, then adds his own quirky, often sci-fi, twist. In this case, the suburbs inhabited by the main characters is in the midst of a war, meaning occupation by armed soldiers and the separation of neighborhoods into heavily-guarded communities. We are given no explanation as to what the war is about or what led us to this point, and the war is rarely touched upon. Of course, I'm projecting, but I'd say Jonze's purpose with this film is not to tell a compelling story of war (as most box-office hits do), but to show the effects of war on the innocent bystanders, more specifically, children. It's understandable why most people have drawn a connection between the film and the U.S. occupation in Afghanistan.
The film takes its name and its soundtrack from Arcade Fire's 2010 album The Suburbs. My only criticism is that I wish the music played a more prominent role- oftentimes it seems to have no connection to the story, or it just serves as background noise as the characters talk. The album includes some beautiful lyrics courtesy of Win Butler and Régine Chassagne, and considering their incredible relation to the plot at hand, they should be featured more overtly.
Like most of Jonze's work, he starts with a seemingly straightforward story, then adds his own quirky, often sci-fi, twist. In this case, the suburbs inhabited by the main characters is in the midst of a war, meaning occupation by armed soldiers and the separation of neighborhoods into heavily-guarded communities. We are given no explanation as to what the war is about or what led us to this point, and the war is rarely touched upon. Of course, I'm projecting, but I'd say Jonze's purpose with this film is not to tell a compelling story of war (as most box-office hits do), but to show the effects of war on the innocent bystanders, more specifically, children. It's understandable why most people have drawn a connection between the film and the U.S. occupation in Afghanistan.
The film takes its name and its soundtrack from Arcade Fire's 2010 album The Suburbs. My only criticism is that I wish the music played a more prominent role- oftentimes it seems to have no connection to the story, or it just serves as background noise as the characters talk. The album includes some beautiful lyrics courtesy of Win Butler and Régine Chassagne, and considering their incredible relation to the plot at hand, they should be featured more overtly.
I remember seeing this film ages ago and loving it absolutely, but the reason I've put off writing about it for so long is because I have such a hard time articulating why I enjoy it so much. I think I've finally put my finger on it. I'm sure people older or younger than me by a considerable amount wouldn't like this movie as much as I do, and while that might make it a weaker movie overall, I attribute that fact to Jonze's hyperrealistic ability to capture what it means to be a teenager in the 2010's, and that experience will be and had been very different for each generation. Sam Dillon (Kyle), Zoe Graham (Zoe), and Paul Pluymen (Winter) are all great in their respective roles. They seem so natural and at ease in each scene, as if the cameras didn't existed in their constructed world at all.
I can understand why people would dislike this movie. There's little to no narrative, just loosely connected scenes over the course of the summer that show rapid change at some times, and no change at all in others. But for me, who was some version of Zoe one or two years ago, watching Scenes is like watching a piece of my own life. The dialogue scenes with talk of the ordinary, filled with tiny details, are particularly my favorite, because we remember the big events, but it's so hard to remember the average. This film gives it all back to anyone who's forgotten what it felt like to grow up.
I can understand why people would dislike this movie. There's little to no narrative, just loosely connected scenes over the course of the summer that show rapid change at some times, and no change at all in others. But for me, who was some version of Zoe one or two years ago, watching Scenes is like watching a piece of my own life. The dialogue scenes with talk of the ordinary, filled with tiny details, are particularly my favorite, because we remember the big events, but it's so hard to remember the average. This film gives it all back to anyone who's forgotten what it felt like to grow up.