mrkwooThe Curious Case Of Benjamin Button (2008)
January 7th 2009 13:49
Official Trailer
The Curious Case Of Benjamin Button is a glorious and enchanting tale about an ordinary man born in strange circumstances. Don't be foolled though, this is not a fairytale love story, but highly unusual metaphor exploring the great tragedies of our existence, mainly in love and loss. The story, which is based on F. Scott Fitzgerald's short story of the same name, is about a boy who was born 86 years old on the day the Great War ended, and is abandoned by his recently widowed father. A poor black retirement home carer raises him as her own, and the "boy" gradually grows younger as time goes by. The reason why is never attempted to be explained. The film follows his entire life through the recitation of his diary by the daughter (Julia Ormond) of his one-time lover Daisy (Cate Blanchett), who is dying on her death bed in New Orleans just before Hurricane Katrina is about to hit. And as you'd expect, Benjamin's life is quite eventful, full of many lessons of life, love and more importantly, of loss. The phrase, "nothing lasts" is continually uttered throughout the film.
Benjamin Button (Brad Pitt) is such a soulful character, and although he isn't especially captivating to watch, his innocent curiosity of that of a boy, combined with the weary demenour of an old man possesses a gentle quirky charm that makes him sweet and endearing, despite the many mistakes he makes in the duration of his life. It's an intriguing sight to watch him grow younger, and although it seems his life only gets better for him as he grows more youthful and vivacious, this actually makes his life more tragic. Not only does he have to watch his loved ones grow old and eventually die, he also gradually loses the ability to remain in love as his youth forces him to become more selfish and immature. Along with this, his loved ones will eventually have to watch him disappear into the body of a child. It makes you think that his mental deterioration is not too different to what we will ultimately face, but the deterioration of his relationships are much more heartbreaking than we will ever have to endure.
Many personalities fly in and out of Benjamin's long and interesting life, with each person making their unique mark on him. Pitt and Blanchett, who are happily reunited after Babel (playing a remarkably different kind of lovers) and give amazing perfomances as always, with more credit given to Pitt. I think this is his best performance yet. The supporting cast add wonderful colour to this already stunning palette. Tilda Swinton is an emotionally repressed wife of a British spies, once youthful and thrillseeking but now resigned to a life of missed opportunities and regrets. Queenie and Tizzie, Benjamin's adoptive parents, add much needed warmth and humour. Caroline, Daisy's dutiful daughter, acts as the rock of the film, keeping the viewer with a firm foot on reality, not get too taken away by the melodrama of Benjamin's story as her mother lay dying before her in the present. Ormond is empathetic and though she has little to work with in terms of her character development, she gives it complexity and depth without detracting from the main focus of the film, which is Benjamin.
Every moment in the film, both in Benjamin's world and Caroline's world, possess tinges of sadness, with the inevitability of their ending and their ultimate loss from history in time. The love these people share will not last forever, nor will their memories of these moments. There's such a poignancy in every utterance, every action made by the characters, as each know this truth all too well.
The technical aspect of the film was, to be frank... absolutely incredible. Fincher always has an almost unparalleled attention to detail, and it's certainly no exception here. Every time period is captured in a breathtakingly beautiful and truly authentic looking way that hasn't been seen before. They made sure it looked like each scene was taken straight out of somebody's memory. There's a effortlessly smooth quality in the camera movements but never failed to capture the flinchingly gritty and traumatising pain of the real world, like the war battle scenes, immediately followed by an admirably stunning Hollywood-esque cinematic beauty. The special effects, transforming Brad Pitt and Cate Blanchett into their respective ages was in itself amazing, done with such technical seamless skill I didn't think possible. The added touches to the images to evoke the cinematic stylings of the past were lovely embellishments.
From a young woman's perspective, the film really made me appreciate Brad Pitt's physical attractiveness in a more profound way than ever before. Watching him gradually grow from an ailing old man to his current state of bona fide hunk[/l] was in its most basic, superficial level, so satisfying. But this makes you realise how amazing Brad Pitt's performance is. As you are completely mesmerised by his physical transformations, only when he starts to look as he truly is now, do you remember who is portraying him, and why most girls went to see the movie in the first place.
Despite the very long running time, I felt the end was a little rushed. It was like the writers decided to press the fast forward button after a long while of patience, which ultimately undercut the intended impact and emotion of the end of both Benjamin and Daisy's life. It seems such a shame, when such painstaking detail was put into the film, only to not have it completely pulled off at its conclusion. However, I was still blubbering at the end. I was touched by the sentiment of Benjamin's parting words. Imagine what a mess I would have been if the ending wasn't as disappointing.
[I]The Curious Case Of Benjamin Button was truly memorable, an outsanding cinematic triumph and stellar performances all round. This should sweep out at the Oscars. 9/10
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