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The One With The Curious Case

A real movie-blog. Haven't had one of those in ages, but I suppose I hadn't really seen any films that would call for one either. Until now.



I'd wanted to see The Curious Case of Benjamin Button for a while, and of course wasn't surprised at all, when a while ago I couldn't really help it and could no longer wait for the cinema release and found it online. Don't get me wrong, I'm still going to see it, I hope, possibly with Ciara, when it does come out, but I just couldn't wait.



Many people criticized that film and with some I have to agree. Yes, it is a tad too long; it is paced, in some instances, rather poorly (i.e. one part is being unnecessarily dragged while the other crushed), but all in all, it was hardly enough to destroy it for me and to all those who either failed to see or could not agree with the messages in it, all I have to say is – you either lack basic insight or you were asleep through most of it because they're right there for the taking, and although sometimes are obvious, are very well presented and no less important. And the acting, of course, is superb. Putting Brad Pitt and Cake Blanchette opposite each other once again was brilliant; they repeated their Babel triumph flawlessly and maybe to a greater extent. The supporting roles were also wonderfully acted. But honestly, Brad Pitt just seems to be getting better and better, and when I saw this year's Oscar nominations, I had to admit that – for a second there – I actually allowed myself this tiny hope that this year the award might actually go to someone who deserves it (although he is up against Sean Penn, in which case, ouch).



The film is based on a short story, telling about a man that is born, like the trailer says, under unusual circumstances: he is aging backwards. Born in his 80's, Benjamin Button is growing steadily younger while everyone around him is getting older. What sort of life is that, you will probably ask. But here is the interesting thing – in all aspects that mattered, no different from yours or mine.



The movie begins with old Daisy (Blanchette), on her deathbed, making her daughter read Benjamin's diary, but before that, we are told the story of a blond clockmaker who loses his son in WWI and consequently, in the end of the war, builds a clock that ticks backwards. It is at the same time that Benjamin is born. Why did he do that? According to him, he wanted time to go backwards for his son, for all the young lives lost in that terrible war; he wanted them to have a chance to live their lives differently. But of course, it didn't bring his son back, nor anyone else, but it did give birth to that special baby who was to test that theory – would life be different if allowed to go backwards instead of forward? And we don't even need to get to the end of the movie to find that no, it wouldn't make a difference. He was born, he grew up, he lived, he laughed, he cried, he experienced, he met people, he lost people, he fell in love, he had a child… he died. We are all given a span of time in the end of the day, however long or short, and we use it up to the best of our ability and all, with the slightest variations, go through the same things until it runs out. Nothing changes. The interesting thing is that time did not move backward for Benjamin. No matter how many clocks you make, time does not move backward. As he repeatedly stated himself, he was only different on the outside, only young in appearance. He was not getting younger underneath, but older, like everyone else. A person is made through his experiences; what life puts him through. And as time went along, Benjamin grew up and, amazingly, grew old.



"It's a funny thing about coming home," he says, "feels the same, looks the same, smells the same… you realize what's changed is you."



He did not only share human experiences, but also notable human fears, although at times taken to the extreme. He refused to become too attached to people, as we see from his relationship with his sister and adoptive father; only his adoptive mother was central to him, and even she died while he was away somewhere, which means that the older he became, the less attempts he made to remain in touch – the same mistake we all make. His relationship with Daisy lacked real commitment because he always lived under a shadow of personal failure and finally left her and their daughter because of it. "You were right," she tells him years later, "I couldn't have raised you both." And yet she held a candle to his memory in her heart until the day she died and in the end, even if he no longer knew her, she did care for him till his death. I suppose they both loved each other in their own way, but they made the mistake that so many people make, especially today: they felt it was safer to go through life shrouded in fear instead of consummating those emotions and so opening up to failure. Did it matter that one of them was "aging backwards"? Not in the slightest bit.



All in all, this film hardly teaches us what's important in life. It does, however, urge us not to turn our backs on it when we stumble across it. It urges us to fight circumstances, even if they're against us, and realize ourselves against all odds. And most importantly: to cherish our memories and the events and people that made them because, in turn, they make us. There are no miracles in life, unless we create them.



It opens here in Ireland on February 6 and whenever in other countries. Give it a go.

Mood: Inspired
Listening to: "Pirates of The Caribbean" OST