It's been a great year for Boyhood, Richard Linklater's study of the growth of a young boy to man, shot over the course of almost 12 years from 2002 to 2013. It's been widely appraised by every critic on the planet. It's been hotly tipped for Oscars, and will probably win at least one for Linklater. However, if you happen to live in this part of the world, this will be of little relevance. We understand that the price set by the studio (Universal Pictures International, for those taking notes) was excessive to distribute it in a region where, let's face it, nobody much would go to see it, as it lacks the obvious appeal of exploding stuff and robots.
It’s a shame when more than one local distributor tells you that they bid not once, not twice, not three times, but four times for the film. And Universal insisted their inflated price was the fair one, even without an exploding robot.
So far, the film has won the British Independent Film Award for Best International Film, the Silver Bear for Best Director and an LA Critics Award for best film, among others.
The predictable path now the film has won awards is that the studio will up the price, especially with hotly-tipped Oscars looming, and the film will swiftly become a worthless, six-month old commodity to cinema distributors. One to release in Ramadan 2017, maybe?
While people may jump to blame censors or regional distributors, on this occasion, there is no one but the studio to blame.
cnewbould@thenational.ae
