the curious case of benjamin button:

the film definitely holds your curiosity about benjamin button. it moves through the motions of growing up with this strange character who doesn't exactly live in the same universe as everyone else. the audience is drawn to what life would look like if you grew younger everyday.

in an interview with "living in cinema", directer david fincher explains how he imagined the two characters of benjamin and daisy as two halves of a whole-- two people who are meant to be with each other. what's interesting is that their time together is defined through their time apart. benjamin and daisy live separate lifestyles until they find the right timing to be with each other.

although a love story at it's core, i appreciate how thematically layered the story is. it wrestles with life, death and acceptance. as we grow younger with benjamin, we certainly don't view life by its minutes but by its moments. as the story plays out episodically through the different stages of benjamin's life, we learn that he holds a unique quality of acceptance. this allows him to truly appreciate what is given and taken away. through his patience, benjamin values every moment in his life.

i like how the filmmakers did not let the story fall into it's own gimmickry. it stays away from being too picture-perfect. the filmmakers knew when to step out of the fantasy tale by cutting back to old daisy in the hospital room. this modern day element allows the audience to stay grounded in reality-- thinking about what might happen next before falling back into more episodes of benjamin button's life. in the end, we find all the pieces and episodes come together as a whole in the end-- just like the relationship between benjamin and daisy.

it surprises me to see this film being unfairly compared to forrest gump. could it be because eric roth wrote both films? i recognized a small similarity with its structure in storytelling however, the curious case of benjamin button still holds a completely different narrative and vision. if comparisons are to be made, this story excels artistically because of its mature and introspective viewpoint on humanity.