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| Poster artwork for the fantasy drama film The Curious Case of Benjamin Button. |
Ageing
Youthfully by Linh
Director David Fincher and screenwriter Eric Roth have
created a visually sumptuous film with The
Curious Case of Benjamin Button to the extent that it hardly bears any
resemblance to the F. Scott Fitzgerald short story upon which the film is based.
With so much artistic licence and time taken to bring the film from the page to
the screen, The Curious Case of Benjamin
Button could be regarded as a contemporary re-telling of F. Scott
Fitzgerald’s short story.
Eric Roth, who wrote the screenplay for Forrest Gump, has brought the same
elements of historical events, interesting additional characters and
tragi-comic moments to The Curious Case
of Benjamin Button. There are numerous alterations made for the film, with
only the title and the extraordinary condition of ageing backwards, linking the
film to the book.
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| BABY BEN: Benjamin Button as a new born baby on the steps of the nursing home in the film The Curious Case of Benjamin Button. Image: Paramount Pictures, Warner Brothers. |
The film is set in New Orleans, Louisiana with Benjamin
Button born in 1918 on the day the Great War (World War I) ended. It was a
joyous moment in American history, but not so for Benjamin who was born looking
all wrinkled, with arthritis and dementia; the doctor describes him as a
septuagenarian in a baby’s body, and his father abandons him on the steps of a
nursing home. He is taken in by Queenie, one of the nurses at the aged care
home, and she raises him as her own child in the midst of the plethora of
quirky residents in their twilight years.
Although he fitted in physically and was happy and felt
safe, Benjamin still feels lonely. He immediately falls in love with the five
year old Daisy who befriends him despite her Grandmother’s disapproval. Throughout
the years of Benjamin’s life, he experiences the joy of love, the sadness of
death, he inspires and touches the lives of people whom have gone on to
accomplish personal achievements.
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WALK
LIKE A MAN: Queenie (Taraji P. Henson) encourages seven
year old Benjamin Button to take his first steps in the film The Curious Case of Benjamin Button.
Image: Paramount Pictures, Warner Brothers.
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A truly magnificent cast is assembled for The Curious Case of Benjamin Button and
they all bring something special to their characters. Brad Pitt was a curious
choice but a fine one for the lead character. Pitt is transformed onscreen
using CGI and special effects make-up to achieve the ageing process of the
body. In the earlier scenes, his cracked and quivery voice is convincing as an
elderly man, while in the later scenes Pitt aptly brings the voice to a deep
and smooth baritone.
Benjamin Button doesn’t seem to do much in the film, and
those he meets in his life tend to be more active and energetic than he.
Perhaps that’s the reason Pitt downplays the character and delivers a very
passive and gentle performance of a man whose quiet dignity and gentle
understanding of humanity is endearing.
Cate Blanchett beautifully portrays the lover and mother
of Benjamin Button’s daughter with passion and spunk. Blanchett radiates
warmth, charm and grace as she twirls or leaps across the screen in her scenes
of dancing in the moonlight, on stage at New York’s Majestic Theatre and at
dance auditions. She is a competent dancer and her interpretive style has smooth
fluidity and is beguiling. Blanchett also ages in the film and is seen as a
twenty-six year old to an 89 year old with extensive special effects make-up on
her face, neck and hands.
British actress Julia Ormond plays Benjamin Button’s
daughter, Caroline, aged in her forties and nursing her dying mother at a New
Orleans hospital as a violent storm approaches the city. Although Caroline
doesn’t appear much in Benjamin’s life, Julia Ormond gives her character a
commanding presence in the majority of the film as she reads aloud Benjamin’s
diary to her mother.
Other standout performances of note include Taraji P.
Henson as the irrepressible and loveable Queenie; Jared Harris is fittingly
jolly and whose laughter is contagious as the tattooed Captain Mike; Tilda
Swinton, who looks a little like Cate Blanchett, is marvellous as the married
woman, Elizabeth Abbott, whose affair with Benjamin is sweet but short-lived;
and little Elle Fanning as the seven year old Daisy is so adorably convincing.
The
Curious Case of Benjamin Button contains many curious
moments that would be easily missed if viewers weren’t attentive. Some of the
curiosities include the appearance of time pieces throughout the film (watches,
clocks, calendars, dates in Benjamin’s diary), why Benjamin’s narration
regarding the birth of his daughter turns from third person to the second
person – “She was perfect”…..“I left before you got to know me”, and how
Benjamin was never seen writing in a diary or even seen with his diary, yet the
entire film is structured according to the thoughts and events of Benjamin’s
life.
Obviously, the answers are explained in the film,
metaphorically, visually or through character observations. It’s almost
impossible not to be affected by the sheer beauty of the film’s productions and
dream-like quality. The Curious Case of
Benjamin Button allows us into the life a man who takes every opportunity
to live life to its fullest and not waste a moment.
It also reminds us that life and time are so precious,
that unlike money, it cannot be saved up and be spent later. Once it’s gone,
it’s gone forever. A brilliant film and Oscar-worthy for its direction,
screenplay and performances.
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TIMELESS
TALE: Benjamin Button (Brad Pitt) and Daisy (Cate Blanchett)
form a strong bond in the film The Curious
Case of Benjamin Button. Image: Paramount Pictures, Warner Brothers.
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Director:
David Fincher
Writers: Eric
Roth (screenplay), Robin Swicord (screenplay), F. Scott Fitzgerald (short story)
Cast:
Brad Pitt, Cate Blanchett, Julia Ormond, Taraji P. Henson, Tilda Swinton, Elias
Koteas, Elle Fanning, Jason Flemyng, Jared Harris
Producers:
Kathleen Kennedy, Frank Marshall, Jim Davidson, Ceán Chaffin, Marykay Powell,
Peter Mavromates, Tommy Turtle
Cinematographer: Claudio Miranda (Director of Photography)
Original
Music Composer: Alexandre Desplat
Film
Editors: Kirk Baxter, Angus Wall
Production: Donald
Graham Burt (Production Designer), Michele Laliberte, Kelly Curley, Tom Reta,
Randy Moore, Scott Plauche (Art Directors), Victor J. zolfo (Set Decorator)
Costume
Designer: Jacqueline West
Running
Time: 2 hours and 40 minutes
Curious
Comparisons:
Book: Benjamin Button is born in 1860 in Baltimore,
Maryland.
Film: Benjamin
Button is born in 1918 in New Orleans, Louisiana.
Book: Benjamin Button is born with sparse, white hair and
a long smoke-coloured beard, and could speak fluently and coherently.
Film: Benjamin Button is born looking runt-sized,
excessively wrinkled, fragile and crying.
Book: Benjamin Button’s mother is only mentioned briefly
in the first chapter and described as being ‘healthy’ after childbirth.
Film: Benjamin Button’s mother died shortly after giving
birth.
Book: Benjamin Button has a son named Roscoe who resented
him for his youth and is embarrassed to be seen with his father.
Film: Benjamin Button has a daughter named Caroline whom
he never really knew.
Book: Benjamin Button’s father raised him as best he
could, just as he would if Benjamin were not ageing backwards.
Film: Benjamin Button’s father abandoned him and left him
at the nursing home because he thought his child was a monster.
Book: Benjamin Button’s father is named Roger and is
president of Roger Button and Co., a successful wholesale hardware store.
Film: Benjamin Button’s father is named Thomas and is
owner of Button’s Buttons.
Book: Benjamin Button’s lover (he meets while in college)
whom becomes his wife is named Hildegarde Moncrief.
Film: Benjamin Button’s lover (he meets her as a seven
year old) whom becomes the mother of his child is named Daisy.
Book: Benjamin Button’s life ebbs away in a baby’s crib.
Film: Not telling. Go and watch the film.
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