Monday 9 February 2009

Some of those films: The Curious Case of Benjamin Button

I've just seen The Curious Case of Benjamin Button. A magic story about time, love, family, American history... About life and death. About old age, and young age. About someone aging backwards while all the people he loves grow older. About mortality, and the importance of making the most of life.
The fact that Brad Pitt's character ages backwards is actually not that important for most of the film, as he seemed to go through the same stages of life that a boy growing old would do. It's only when he becomes a father that he starts really thinking about the consequences of growing younger. I felt that was one of the problems with the film, the characters were rather uninteresting, bland, with nothing much to say. So much so, that not even great performances by Brad Pitt and Cate Blanchett could save them.
The film is beautifully shot, and the images sometimes told the story better than words... and perhaps that was the problem. During the film, I kept thinking there was something wrong, something banal, boring about it. Of course, it was only when I read that the screenwriter was Eric Roth, who also wrote the most boring film in cinema history ever (yes, Forrest Gump) that I understood. As much I was enjoying the cinematography and the acting, there were several moments when I just wanted the movie to end. I looked at my watch (of course, never a good sign) about an hour and a half into the film and thought, OMG, and the love affair hasn't even started yet!
There were, however, charming scenes, and the sad but beautiful ending made leave the cinema thinking about life, the randomness... and the beauty of it.

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