February 27, 2009
By Theresa Smith
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Director: David Fincher
Cast: Brad Pitt, Cate Blanchett, Tilda Swinton, Taraji P Henson, Jared Harris, Rampai Mohadi
Classification: 13 M
Running time: 166 minutes
Rating: ****
This magical journey is a visual feast which will make you question your own attitudes towards life, death and the supposed immutability of time. An ultimate flight of fancy, the film's plot is loosely based on the F Scott Fitzgerald short story about a man who is born old and grows younger as he moves forward through time
The point is to allow Benjamin to stand outside of the linear way we normally view life |
. It's a pretty sci-fi concept which actually takes a backseat to the effect Benjamin Button (Pitt) has on the people around him.
The strong performances and stunning art direction outweigh any nitpicking about the validation of the plotline. It's not about how it is physically possible to chronologically live backwards, the point is to allow Benjamin to stand outside of the linear way we normally view life, so as to more closely examine ideas which stand outside of time: joy of life, sadness, loss and love.
In his travels Benjamin meets many people and the story is as much about his effect on them as the other way around. There are all those who act mother and father to him in some way, like the earthy, practical Queenie (Henson), who raises child Benjamin and the Shakespeare-quoting Tizzy (Mahershalalhashbaz Ali).
Then there are the people who introduce him to new ideas, like Harris's grizzly, tattooed surrogate father, tugboat captain Mike, who launches Benjamin into the rough and tumble side of life, or Ngunda Oti (local actor Rampai Mohadi), who introduces him to the idea of "the other"
Pitt sinks his teeth into the role of a lifetime |
.
Swinton is a glamourous English butterfly in the frozen waste of Murmansk who gives Benjamin his first kiss and so much more, while Blanchett is luminous as Daisy, who learns that no-one is perfect forever.
Pitt sinks his teeth into the role of a lifetime, simultaneously allowing Benjamin to stand outside of events while trying to immerse himself in the experience of life. The baggage Pitt brings to the role as an ex-himbo (a male version of a bimbo) enhances the weird effects of Benjamin ageing backwards… something all Hollywood starlets would give their eye teeth for.
The sumptuous cinematography is mesmerising, sometimes slipping into images which have more in common with rich oil paintings or Art Deco collages than simple celluloid film strips have a right to be.
This is a departure for director David Fincher from his earlier darker work (Sev7en and Fight Club), but cinephiles will immerse themselves in the gorgeous images and the idea that loving someone doesn't always mean being with them 24/7.
If you liked… Forest Gump… then you will like this.
The reel lowdown
Best bit: The boat trip around the Caribbean.
Worst bit: Is the clock bit in the beginning necessary?
Best line: Benjamin Button: "Our lives are defined by opportunities, even the ones we miss."
  
 
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