Why do people pretend Linklater's a good writer?

It's unbelievable to me. The Before series was ONLY dialogue and somehow it still slipped by. There are some really deeply moving bits throughout the trilogy (the entirety of the second and the second half of the third), but the dialogue is bad. Am I the only one who hears all of this as being really... written? None of these characters talk like real people. I can appreciate Boyhood for the experiment it was, but the problems were even more glaring in that one. It was like film student/dumb philosophy type stuff throughout the entire flick. Particularly his teen years. I sometimes wondered if it was intentional. Were we supposed to be laughing at what an obnoxious prick this guy was from the moment he turned 13? I'm sure there were some moments sprinkled in, but it couldn't have been throughout.

You have to appreciate that he's a risk taker and he's done some good work, but let's call a spade a spade.

Well I think the writing in Before Sunrise is great, and feels natural to me, which is why it works as a romantic film. Not seen Boyhood.

I think Linklater feels written, but I thats not a value judgement like you make it in your pretentiously worded thread. To assume that naturalism is the end goal of Linklater (or an end goal of cinema) is to confine him to a binary that he doesn't fit in.

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Mubi

The Before series had bad dialogue? I vehemently disagree. Linklater captured the discursive nature of an ordinary relationship so exceptionally well. Most conventional romantic dramas are so superficial, so shallow and so bluntly unrealistic in how their characters communicate. They're riddled with cliche after cliche, and don't even bother going beyond the tedious, monotonous conceptional notion of 'finding' or 'falling' in love. They're very elementary, in my opinion. The Before films adopted more of an Bergman-like sensibility where existential and meaningful conversations actually became the key platform to explore the dynamics of the relationship being depicted. It explicates on real things and the remarkably written dialogue is reflective of that.

It's the other way around for me. I think Sunrise definitely feels written and even forced at times. Sunset is the most natural to me, not just because of the writing and dialogue but the characters as well. Midnight is somewhere in between.

How many threads are you going to start with questions that presuppose reality? Leo's not even on my radar, so he can't be overrated, and I've never met someone who pretends to like Linklater. Logical flawz.

I'd like you to name some films/writers who make films that don't feel written. The thing about film is that it is a stylized version of reality. No one in any film talks like real life because, shockingly, films aren't real life.

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I was going to write my own take on Linklater, but this is pretty much perfect.

I'll just sit back, Matteo got this!

I like the writing very much in all three. I guess the last one isn't the best, writing wise, but it was still good to put out.

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By the way, I've had similar conversations in trains in Europe, walking, etc... It didn't seem forced or even written to me.

I think I've discussed this with you before, but I think all three are very well written. The second one is excellent too, especially the ending. I'm a little surprised you don't think too much of the first one, I think I can relate to it more because of my age and the stage I'm at in my life. It seems very real to me and part of me kind of wishes it was a stand alone film, even though the others are great too.

Everytime I read this specific argument about writing I can't help but roll my eyes. Since when does every kind of art have to reflect reality?

There's nothing wrong with dialogue in a theater piece or a film being more refined ("written") than in real life, even when the piece is trying to aim for some kind of realism content-wise.

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I like the first one, I just don't think Linklater entirely succeeded, especially character-wise. I feel as though in the first film, Jesse and Celine aren't mature enough for their age, whereas in the second installment they're at their most mature, intelligent and self-aware, and I could relate to them much more

Linklater does "slice of life" fantastic.
Seems like everyone seems to disagree. I think mlaturno should stop making stupid threads every time a thought or question pops into his head.

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Of course the writing in Before Sunrise is forced. If you meet a girl on the train while traveling through Europe, nothing needs to be said. You just take her into the bathroom and get it done.

I think he's one of the best writers of dialogue working today, and that's not me pretending. Certainly the natural performances he always gets from actors help the characters feel authentic, but his dialogue is a big part of it to. Much like Quentin Tarantino and Aaron Sorkin, Richard Linklater is a writer who could keep me listening to his dialogue for hours on end.

Linklaker's films are fantastic and I have fondly liked every film by him I have seen so far. The dialogue is far from bad, it's actually pretty incredible.

the only film I didn't care of his was his most watched "Dazed and Confused"

Would you guys recommend "Walking Life"? - I have it, I know its animation, I've heard it['s the greatest thing, and I've heard it's the most depressing (which doesn't bother me)... I guess I ask because I have a queue over over 50 films and I never know what to watch next.

Huh, just looking for Linklater threads and I'm kinda surprised I didn't clown on this OP when I had the chance. Oh well.

Anyway, Waking Life is definitely one of the better Linklater films. I'd be hard-pressed to consider it depressing unless you get really easily bummed out by films that talk about death and existentialism (which the film acknowledges early on is not necessarily a pessimistic philosophy). It's kind of hard to really think of Linklater as a person who makes "depressing" films (though there are a few where he does go darker than usual).

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Mike Leigh

As for the Sunrise films, I'm no great fan of its dialogue, but I don't think anyone who is is pretending to like it. That's always a ridiculous take, no matter what film we are talking about.

Dazed and Confused is easily the best Linklater has come in approximating the way people really talk. No contest.

Waking Life isn't remotely depressing. Probably the opposite, even if it does deal explicitly with our mortality. If anything, it offers the viewer different ways to approach and think about existence that can wrestle it from the sense that everything is meaningless. Much needed. It put me in a good place when I watched it years ago.