Movie: The Curious Case of Benjamin

Everybody passes three stages in their life, to be born, live and die. David fincher recently directed a new drama which tells a tale of an infant that was born in a strange appearance as an 86 years old man. The baby suffers the frailties of an old man. It even more looks like a wrinkled monster than a cute baby people often see. It lives his life in reverse, to be younger each year goes by and becomes an infant at the end of his life. Time it passes turn its age backwards.

Its mother passed away not long after giving birth. When the father knew the condition of the baby, he banished the baby and put it to a nursing home with 18 bucks under its worn out blanket. Luckily, it was founded by Queenie (Taraji P Henson) and her husband Tizzy, who work for the nursing home. They love the baby very much and take care it as their own child, since Queenie could not give Tizzy a child. They gave the baby's name: Benjamin.

The fate has been put on him. Although a doctor has made a verdict that Benjamin would not live longer, day by day, his health condition was better and better. When many old people grow older, Benjamin goes younger. He met Daisy (Elle Fanning), a young girl who also lived in the nursing home. She made his life brighter while passing every weekend together with Benjamin. Daisy became a special one in his heart.

A few years later he worked on a tug boat and sails to many countries. He lived far away from Daisy. In 1962, he met Daisy and they live together. Not long after that, Daisy gave birth, they named it Caroline. Benjamin made up his mind to leave Daisy and the baby because he realized that he could no longer to be Caroline's father due to his reversing age.

Many years passed by, the memory still remains in Daisy's heart. When Daisy (Cate Blanchett) is dying in a hospital, she asks her daughter, Caroline (Julia Ormond) to read Benjamin's diary which kept by Daisy. By reading the diary, Caroline finally knows that Benjamin is his father. She is really disappointed with her mother who never tells about her father, moreover when she finds that her father always express his love for Caroline by sending her a postcard in each of her birthdays.

The story goes until Benjamin meets Daisy when he becomes a teenager. He experiences an alzheimer symptom as he frequently forgets his memory with Daisy. But she still takes care him with love until somedays, when he turns back into a baby, he dies in Daisy's arms . He is not able to grow younger. So Ironic!

David Fincher takes the story from short story written by F Scott Fitzgerald in 1920, It takes a long time to finish up the movie. But, in Academy awards 2009 which will be held in Kodak Theathre, Los Angeles, USA, the movie is success to bring 13 nominations in Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor, Best Original Score,Best Visual Effects, Best Supporting Actress, Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Film Editing, Best Cinematography, Best Art Direction, Best Costume Design, Best Makeup, and Best Sound Mixing.

After watching this movie, we may think that it is quite impossible when a woman grows older while her couple grows younger. Their daughter grows up as his father returns back to a baby. Fincher well directs the movie so that the people who watch the movie will not get bored and the impossibility turns into an interesting movie to watch . The actors and actresses act perfectly, making the movie is hard to be forgotten.



Genre: Drama, Fantasy, Mystery, Directed by: David Fincher, Produced by : Kathleen Kennedy, Cean Chaffin, Frank Marshall, Written by: Eric Roth, Starring: Brad Pitt, Cate Blanchett, Taraji P Henson, Julia Ormond, Tilda Swinton, Eric West, Elias Koteas, Joshua DesRoches, Elle Fanning, Shiloh Jolie-Pitt.