The Curious Case of Benjamin Button

“Life can only be understood backwards, but it must be lived forwards.”

“The Curious Case of Benjamin Button” is an inventive film directed by David Fincher which narrates the life of a man who ages in reverse, descending through time from a newly born octogenarian to fatal infancy. While the film is based on the novella written by F. Scott Fitzgerald, the short story is merely an inspiration for the movie, with only the title and plot in common; a man whose life is lived backwards. From the relationship Benjamin Button (Brad Pitt) shares with his soul mate Daisy (Cate Blanchett) and father to the general plot of “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button”, Benjamin’s life in the film is far from analogous to that in the short story. So to say you have already read F. Scott Fitzgerald’s story and can predict Fincher’s portrayal on the big screen, you are mistaken.

Without Daisy, the film would be no longer than the novella itself. The love affair between Daisy and Benjamin in the movie is undoubtedly the most significant difference from the book. Their sporadically romantic friendship is what fuels Benjamin in his younger life, but after they both ‘meet in the middle,’ reaching the same age, they know they will only grow further apart from one another. While their relationship is at the heart of Fincher’s motion picture, the ‘Daisy’ in Fitzgerald’s portrayal is played by Hildegarde Moncrief. As opposed to an understanding wife, Hildegarde remarks to Benjamin that it is not “very considerate” to be aging backwards and he is “simply stubborn.” While Benjamin and Daisy are able to overcome their physical age barrier, Hildegarde and Benjamin gradually fall apart as she becomes “too settled in her ways, too content, and too sober in her taste” for Benjamin.

Mr. Button (Jason Flemyng), Benjamin’s father, has a meager relationship with his son, playing an almost insignificant role in the film. We see him in the opening scene, appalled by his son’s physiognomy of an...