My Curious Case on Benjamin Button

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
directed by: David Fincher
starring: Brad Pitt, Cate Blanchette, Tilda Swinton, and Taraji Henson
Rated: PG-13 for brief war violence, sexual content, language and smoking.

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button is a brilliant movie that, in my opinion, is also one of the most unique films I have ever seen. “A more tragically existential, 1920s-60s version of Forest Gump with elements from Tim Burton film” is a good description, but even it falls short; the film is that different. Even the film’s plot is as difficult to sum up, since the movie simply follows the life of a man who ages backwards. However, his life is as full and unusual as his circumstances.

Something that is not difficult to describe is the splendid imagery of Button, a combination of director David Fincher’s artistic imagery and Claudio Miranda’s breathtaking cinematography, which gives each frame a beautiful appearance. Add the performances of Brad Pitt, Cate Blanchette, and Tilda Swinton, and your story suddenly becomes an epic tale.

However, just as Button was plagued by unusual circumstances, so was his movie. With its extremely slow pace and un-driven plotline, Button feels as if it is a ten hour film instead of it’s two hours and forty seven minute runtime. We don’t lose interest in the story, but, because of the gigantic scale of the film, it feels slightly overbearing and repetitious. I mean, was it really necessary to have twelve scenes dedicated to Pitt and Blanchette making out? Perhaps, since we live in a culture that equates physical love with real love. However, this view of “love” only ends up confusing the film, which then has to show an adulterous relationship (which is a selfish act) to communicate that the characters still love each other, even though their previous actions of not living together was a clearer, selfless, depiction of love, since it was for the good of others rather than themselves; they trade a selfless act for a selfish act, and still try to describe it as true love.

This fairy-tale’s message about life and death comes across as confusing as it’s morality. Unlike the film The Bucket List, which displays personal pleasure from reaching one’s existential goals, Benjamin Button depicts a more realistic picture of existentialism, which doesn’t always end with the “happily ever after” one expects when it discovers completion. Each character in the film is unable to completely follow their passions: the mother who can’t have children, the artist who is forced to be a sailor, the actor who must work as a servant, the dancer who can no longer dance, and, of course, the lover who must live without. Button, however, claims that happiness is not found in that passion, but in the journey of life, itself. The emphasis on joy isn’t in finding success, but in simply living your life. And, although it is meant to derive a sense of hope and happiness from life, it instead leaves the audience wondering if there is more to life than this.

Overall, Benjamin Button is a breathtaking and literary film, one that should get Fincher a Best Director Oscar nomination, one that captures our attention with the story about life and death, and counters the joys of life by pointing out how nothing lasts, and what a shame that is. Unbeknown to Button, some things last beyond our time.