Director: David Fincher
Production Company: Paramount Pictures
Cast: Brad Pitt, Cate Blanchett, Tilda Swinton, Taraji P. Henson, Julia Ormond, Jason Flemyng, Elias Koteas
Rating: PG-13 for brief war violence, sexual content, language and smoking.
By Gregg Tubbs
UMC.org—According to a famous quip from It’s a Wonderful Life, “Youth is wasted on the young!” In The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, we meet a man whose youth comes after an unbelievable accumulation of life experiences—whose wisdom grows in a body that defies time. His is a life running backwards, reversing beginnings and endings. Throughout this sweeping, lyrical, melancholy journey of a man growing young, we learn that “For everything, there is a season” (Ecclesiastes 3:1) and that there is no “normal” life—just the one God gives us.
“I was born under unusual circumstances,” says Benjamin Button as he begins to tell the story of his life. The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, adapted from a short story by F. Scott Fitzgerald, is the tale of a man who ages backwards. Born as an infant who has all the physical afflictions of a man in his eighties, Benjamin grows younger as he physically matures.
The film reunites Brad Pitt (as Benjamin) and director David Fincher, who worked together previously on Fight Club and Se7en. Centered in New Orleans this sprawling, magical tale begins in 1918 at the end of World War I and ends on the eve of Hurricane Katrina in 2005. If Benjamin Button overtly resembles Forrest Gump in its detailed examination of a single unusual life, it’s no coincidence. The screenplay is by Eric Roth, who also scripted Forrest Gump; and like Gump, Benjamin Button is in turns fantastical, wistful, comic and tragic.
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Queenie (Taraji P. Henson) takes in the very young and very old infant, Benjamin. Copyright © 2008 Paramount Pictures Corp. and Warner Bros. Entertainment.
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Pitt gives a marvelous performance as Benjamin, aided by incredible effects and makeup as he transforms from age 80 to 18. Cate Blanchett shines as Daisy, the love of his life, whom he first meets as a little girl and to whom he is again drawn when they both reach middle age. Much like
Forrest Gump, this story is rich in period detail and thrusts its main character into historical events and distant locales where he encounters colorful and (usually) lovable characters. Benjamin begins life as an old man whose wizened face hides a child’s naïveté and curiosity; and as the years fall away, his youthful, innocent appearance belies the wisdom and melancholy seen in his eyes. Throughout, Pitt gives an understated but playful performance, showing Benjamin’s indomitable spirit as he gamely tackles the unusual trajectory of his life.
An old adage says, “If you want to hear God laugh, tell him your plans.” Benjamin’s life is so out-of-synch with the expected cycle of life that he must make his way without plans or a blueprint. Queenie, Benjamin’s adoptive mother, always told him, “You never know what’s coming.” Given the unpredictability of his life, he learns to appreciate life as a series of valuable moments, each to be cherished. Because he was not expected to live long, Benjamin grew up with the expectation that each day might be his last and therefore saw each day as a gift. Though he lived his life backwards, important moments—like his first steps, his first kiss and the birth of his first child—are no less special and meaningful.
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Like two trains going in opposite directions, Benjamin (Brad Pitt) and Daisy (Cate Blanchett) meet in the middle and make a life together for a short time during the 1960s. Copyright © 2008 Paramount Pictures Corp. and Warner Bros. Entertainment.
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The passage of time and the impermanence of things are dominant themes in the movie. Because he grows younger as those he loves grow older, relationships are even more fleeting for him. This sense of impermanence and impending loss is made particularly acute by Benjamin’s reversed childhood. Abandoned as a baby on the steps of a retirement home, Benjamin grows up in an environment where those around him experience the same challenges of old age (poor eyesight, decreased mobility, etc.), so he is accepted and taken to heart by the elderly residents. Being raised in a retirement home also meant that he grew accustomed to the passing of loved ones, even as he grew younger and more vital. Even Daisy, the love of his life, is shrouded by impermanence. Perhaps that is why they so relish the brief period in the 1960s when they, like two trains going in opposite directions, meet in the middle and make a life
together for a short time.
Perhaps most poignant is the way the film depicts life as circular, ending much as it begins. We come into the world as small, helpless and dependent on others, and often that’s how we also end. In Benjamin Button we also see how connected we all are, how often we must depend on others just as others depend on us. By observing a life lived backwards, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button helps us appreciate life as it is: a series of precious moments—often unexpected, sometimes sorrowful and occasionally nearly perfect—which are fleeting, but are also gifts to be cherished.
Study Questions
- How would you like to grow younger with each day? Would you trade places with Benjamin?
- Why do you think his father abandoned him? Would you be able to forgive him as Benjamin does?
- Benjamin’s adoptive mother, Queenie, tells him throughout his life, “You never know what’s coming for you.” Do you agree? How did this help prepare Benjamin for his unusual life?
- What role did faith play in the story? Who had the most faith? In the revival meeting, do you think faith helped Benjamin take his first steps?
- How was the unusual train station clock connected to Benjamin? Why do you think it washed away in the flood?
- Did this movie help you appreciate the individual moments in your life? Which past moments mean the most to you?
- Read Ecclesiastes 1:1–11. How can you relate this text to the film?
- Read Ecclesiastes 3:1–8. How does this passage relate to the film? How is it different from the previous passage?
- Benjamin has several father figures in the film. How many can you identify? How did each one help shape him?
- What is the symbolism of the hummingbird? What about the man repeatedly struck by lightning? What other symbols did the film contain?
Resources
Official The Curious Case of Benjamin Button site
Theatrical Trailer
