The Cinema of Richard Linklater: Walk, Don't Run

by Rob Stone

From Slacker (1991) to The School of Rock (2003), from Before Sunrise (1995) to Before Sunset (2004), from the walking and talking of his no/low-budget American independent films to conversing with the philosophical traditions of the European art house, Richard Linklater's films are some of the most critical, political, and spiritual achievements of contemporary world cinema. Examinations of Linklater's collaborative working practices and deployment of rotoscoping and innovative distribution strategies all feature in this book, which aspires to walk and talk with the filmmaker and his films. Informed by a series of original interviews with the artist, in both his hometown and frequent film location of Austin, Texas, this study of the director who made Dazed and Confused (1993), A Scanner Darkly (2006), and Bernie (2011) explores the theoretical, practical, contextual, and metaphysical elements of these works along with his documentaries and side-projects and finds fanciful lives and lucid dreams have as much to do with his work as generally alternative notions of America, contemporary society, cinema, and time.Â

Genres: Film

224 pages, Paperback

First published April 30, 2013

About the author

Rob Stone is Senior Lecturer and Head of Media and Communication at the University of Swansea.

Reviews

[Depaul University Libraries · Rating 5 out of 5]

Richard Linklater is one of my favorite filmmakers of all time. His work is often simple and low-budget, yet profound and beautiful at the same time. Linklater brilliantly captures the energy, angst, and spirit of undefined rebellion that is “youth” in films like Dazed and Confused, Slacker, and subUrbia; films that simultaneously celebrate and critique “Generation X.” Similarly, in the Before Sunrise trilogy and Waking Life, Linklater highlights the philosophically inquisitive and romantic characteristics of 20-somethings who “came of age” in the 90s - offering the films as a subtle refutation of the criticism that this generation is lazy and apathetic. Perhaps nostalgia and my personal biases contribute to my love of Richard Linklater’s films, but I truly believe he is a genius and one of the best modern filmmakers. Apparently I am not alone in this belief; in the new book The Cinema of Richard Linklater: Walk, Don't Run, Rob Stone offers a comprehensive study of Linklater’s work and demonstrates that while they may be disguised in his signature “slacker aesthetic,” Linklater's films are actually quite complex and provocative. If you are a fan of Richard Linklater’s movies, be sure to check out The Cinema of Richard Linklater,, available at the Loop campus library, 791.430233 S8797c2013.

--Geoff P.

(Originally posted in the DePaul University Libraries Full Text: http://bit.ly/1dEZIY3

[Dan · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm using this book for an upcoming course I'm teaching on Linklater. Most of the director's films are exhaustively studied. My only complaint would be that the films aren't covered by individual chapters which makes the assigning of readings a bit more complicated. Great work otherwise. Would love to see an update with more about Before Midnight and Boyhood.

[Ross Maclean · Rating 4 out of 5]

I’ll confess it’s been a while since I’ve read something quite so academic in style when it comes to film writing, so I’m a bit rusty. But in spite of a relatively dry academic approach, this was an invigorating read that brought out aspects of Linklater’s career that I hadn’t considered — or at least not given this level of consideration. Time and place (particularly the context it places Linklater’s own quasi-independent and geographical status in) are presented as key concerns, bolstered by interviews with Linklater. Its fragmentary, non-linear approach leads to a bit of repetition across the chapters but the way it thematically ties together strands from across his films is intricately done.
NB. A mild shame that I read the first edition that brings us to just shy of the release of Before Midnight and Boyhood, which clearly would have expounded on the aforementioned themes, and places a somewhat undue prominence on then-recent relatively minor works.

[Christopher · Rating 2 out of 5]

Richard Linklater is a great American film director, at least in his independent efforts like Slacker and the Before Sunrise trilogy, and not when he is merely turning in piece work for major Hollywood studios like the Bad New Bears remake. This book by Rob Stone is a survey of Linklater’s career and filmmaking approach. The book first appeared in 2013, but a second expanded edition was published in 2018.

I should note that I read the first edition, which had the bad luck of being almost immediately obsolete: right after the book appeared, Linklater premiered the critically acclaimed Before Midnight, and his masterpiece Boyhood followed a year later, not to mention still later films. While Stone knew by the time he finished the first edition’s manuscript that Before Midnight had been shot in secret in Greece, he had not been able to see the film or learn anything about its plot. Linklater had disclosed aspects of Boyhood over the twelve years he was shooting it, and Stone does cover what was known about the project, but nowhere near the actual finished product.

I plan to get ahold of the revised edition eventually, but I don’t expect it to change my overall rating. Stone’s book is a frustrating piece of work. Stone’s audience here is not so much film buffs as Stone’s fellow academics, and he is highly concerned with impressing them with his knowledge of theory. So much of this book is simply Stone going off into inane philosophizing, repeating the words "Bakhtian carnival", “derive” and “durée”, to the point where Linklater’s own work is just being cruelly exploited or the thread to it is nearly abandoned entirely.

So, Stone’s aim at academic street cred was a real slog and unpleasant. Still, I admit that I learned a lot about Linklater’s life and work, and Stone does helpfully explore how Linklater is able to work in such drastically different worlds as independent filmmaking and Hollywood family movies without, in the filmmaker’s opinion, compromising his values. However, I probably would have been happier if I had ignored Stone’s text entirely and just gone straight to the bibliography, where I could be pointed to interviews with Linkater and press coverage of his work that would have taught me all these facts in a more enjoyable way.

[Dylan Kiewel · Rating 4 out of 5]

never knew linklater was so sophisticated! well at least to rob stone he is. stone might zip into intellectual la la land a little more than is warranted but all in all the digressions usually land in a way that made me have a deeper understanding for Linklater's cinema. i gave boyhood another go last nite and it still repulses me, buttt i cant wait to check out or recheck out most of dicky boy's other joints. especially scanner darkly. linking linklater (ha) to bergson, baudrillard, and especially the situationists was a potent comparison, encourages a deeper swim into the man's oeuvre, hope to check out more of rob's stuff!

[Nunya · Rating 4 out of 5]

A really good collection of essays, essentially, on the work of Linklater. Really digs into that tension between slacking and hard work that typifies Rick. Really like it’s exploration of the role of time, and of the ‘dérive’. Had some good stuff to say about the idea of local/regional/indie film making vs mainstream.

It’s an academic work, so there’s the usual left-wing political and philosophical stuff in there, as well as some language I found to just be a bit of a slog, which is why this isn’t five stars.

[Isabel Rute · Rating 5 out of 5]

Recomendo a todos que gostem de cinema e, em particular, do Linklater. Aprendi muito e "transportei-me" para o universo "linklateriano" que tanto adoro. E ainda tenho tanto a descobrir!

[John Ledingham · Rating 4 out of 5]

this is a cool academic-philosophical treatment of linklater's work. one i think his work deserves. but also kind of a turgid read because of it. i didn't read this cover to cover, but i read the bits on plow and slacker and the before movies and waking life and i loved the author's linking it all up to debord's derive and jocye. similar literary terms i'd always seen the man's work on. one of my favorite directors. a nice book to own, and surely one i will return to. thanks for writing rob.