| The Curious Case of Benjamin Button | |
|---|---|
.png) Theatrical release poster | |
| Directed by | David Fincher |
| Screenplay by | Eric Roth |
| Story by |
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| Based on | "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button" byF. Scott Fitzgerald |
| Produced by | |
| Starring | |
| Cinematography | Claudio Miranda |
| Edited by | |
| Music by | Alexandre Desplat |
Production companies | |
| Distributed by |
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Release date |
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Running time | 166 minutes[1] |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $150–167 million[2][3][4] |
| Box office | $335.8 million[2] |
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button is a 2008 Americanromantic fantasydrama film directed byDavid Fincher and adapted byEric Roth andRobin Swicord fromF. Scott Fitzgerald's1922 short story. The film starsBrad Pitt as a man who ages in reverse andCate Blanchett as hislove interest throughout his life. The film also starsTaraji P. Henson,Julia Ormond,Jason Flemyng,Elias Koteas, andTilda Swinton.
ProducerRay Stark bought the film rights to do the short story in the mid-1980s withUniversal Pictures backing the film, but struggled to get the project off the ground until he sold the rights to producersKathleen Kennedy andFrank Marshall in the 1990s. Although it was moved toParamount Pictures in the 1990s, the film did not enter production until after Fincher and Pitt signed on along with the rest of the cast in 2005. Principal photography began in November 2006 and wrapped up in September 2007.Digital Domain worked on the visual effects of the film, particularly in the process of the metamorphosis of Pitt's character.
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button was released in the United States and Canada on December 25, 2008 to positive reviews, with major praise for Fincher's directing, Pitt's performance, production values, and visual effects. The film was a box office success, grossing $335.8 million worldwide against its $150-$167 million budget. The film received a leading 13Academy Award nominations at the81st Academy Awards, includingBest Picture,Best Director for Fincher,Best Actor for Pitt, andBest Supporting Actress forTaraji P. Henson, and won three, forBest Art Direction,Best Makeup, andBest Visual Effects.
In August 2005, Daisy Fuller is on her deathbed in aNew Orleans hospital. She tells her daughter Caroline about blind clockmaker Mr. Gateau, hired to make a clock for a train station in 1918. It ran backwards and was made as a memorial for those who lost their sons inWorld War I, like Gateau himself. Daisy then asks Caroline to read aloud from Benjamin Button's diary.
On the evening ofNovember 11, 1918, a boy is born with the appearance and maladies of an elderly man. His mother, Caroline, dies soon after childbirth and his father, wealthy manufacturer Thomas Button, abandons him on the porch of anursing home. Caretaker Queenie and cook Mr. Weathers find the baby, and Queenie raises him as her own, naming him Benjamin. As the years pass, Benjamin physically blends in with the elderly residents but has the mind of a child. Physically aging in reverse, he transitions from a wheelchair to crutches and learns to walk.
OnThanksgiving 1930, Benjamin meets seven-year-old Daisy, whose grandmother lives in the nursing home, and they connect instantly. Later, he accepts work on thetugboatChelsea captained by Mike Clark. Thomas introduces himself to Benjamin, but does not reveal his true identity. In autumn 1936, Benjamin leaves for a work engagement with the tugboat crew and travels around the world. He sendspostcards to Daisy, who is accepted into aballet company inNew York City.
InMurmansk in 1941, Benjamin becomes smitten with Elizabeth Abbott, wife of the chief minister of the Britishtrade mission in Murmansk.[5] Their affair eventually ends, leaving Benjamin heartbroken. That December, theUnited States entersWorld War II. Mike volunteers theChelsea forU.S. Navy service, and they are assigned to salvage duties. They find a near sunken U.S. transport and thousands of dead American troops. The culprit, aGermanU-boat, surfaces and fires on the tugboat. Captain Mike rams the submarine and the resulting explosion sinks both. Most of the crew perishes except for Benjamin and Rick Brody, who are eventually rescued.
In May 1945, Benjamin returns to New Orleans, reuniting with Queenie and learns that Weathers died. He reconnects with Daisy, who attempts to seduce him. However, Benjamin refuses, and she departs. Benjamin visits terminally ill Thomas and learns the details of his birth and family. Thomas gives hisbutton manufacturing company and estate to Benjamin before dying.
In 1947, Benjamin visits Daisy in New York unannounced but departs upon seeing her romantically involved with someone else. In 1954, Daisy's dancing career ends when her leg is crushed in an automobile accident inParis. When Benjamin visits her, Daisy is amazed by his appearance, but, frustrated by her injuries, she tells him to stay out of her life.
In 1962, Daisy returns to New Orleans and reunites with Benjamin. Now of comparable physical age, they fall in love. Queenie dies, and Benjamin and Daisy move in together. In 1967, Daisy, who has opened a ballet studio, announces she is pregnant. Their daughter, Caroline, is born in the spring of 1968. Believing he cannot be a proper father due to his reverse aging, Benjamin sells his assets, leaves the money for Daisy and Caroline, and leaves to travel alone during the 1970s.
Benjamin, physically a young man, returns to Daisy in 1980. Now remarried, Daisy introduces him as a family friend to her husband Robert and daughter Caroline. She later visits him at his hotel, where they have sex and part once more. In 1990, recentlywidowed Daisy is contacted by social workers who found Benjamin, who is now physically apre-teen. He was living in a condemned building, was taken to the hospital in poor physical condition, and his diary had her name in it. Benjamin displays early signs ofdementia, so Daisy moves into the nursing home in 1997 and cares for Benjamin for the rest of his life as he regresses into infancy.
In 2002, Gateau's clock is replaced with a properly working moderndigital clock and in 2003, Benjamin dies in Daisy's arms, physically an infant but chronologically 85 years old. Back in 2005, having revealed that Benjamin is Caroline's father, Daisy dies.Hurricane Katrina floods a storage room holding Gateau's clock, which keeps ticking backwards.
ProducerRay Stark bought the film rights to doThe Curious Case of Benjamin Button in the mid-1980s, and it was optioned byUniversal Pictures. The first choice to direct it wasFrank Oz, withMartin Short attached for the title role, but Oz could not work out how to make the story work. The film was optioned in 1991 bySteven Spielberg, withTom Cruise attached for the lead role, but Spielberg left the project to directJurassic Park (1993) andSchindler's List (1993). Other directors attached werePatrick Read Johnson andAgnieszka Holland. Stark eventually sold the rights to producersKathleen Kennedy andFrank Marshall, who took the film toParamount Pictures, with Universal still on as a co-production partner. By summer 1994, Maryland Film Office chief Jack Gerbes was approached with the possibility of making the film inBaltimore. In October 1998, screenwriterRobin Swicord wrote for directorRon Howard an adapted screenplay of the short story, a project which would potentially star actorJohn Travolta.[6] In May 2000, Paramount hired screenwriterJim Taylor to adapt a screenplay from the short story. The studio also attached directorSpike Jonze to helm the project.[7] ScreenwriterCharlie Kaufman had also written a draft of the adapted screenplay at one point.[8] In June 2003, directorGary Ross entered final negotiations to helm the project based on a new draft penned by screenwriterEric Roth.[9] In May 2004, directorDavid Fincher entered negotiations to replace Ross in directing the film.[10] In a 2014 interview withEmpire,Peter Jackson claimed to have been offered the film "five or six years" before Fincher but turned it down.[11]
In May 2005,Brad Pitt andCate Blanchett entered negotiations to star in the film.[12] In September 2006,Tilda Swinton,Jason Flemyng andTaraji P. Henson entered negotiations to be cast into the film.[13] The following October, with production yet to begin,Julia Ormond was cast as Daisy's daughter, to whom Blanchett's character tells the story of her love for Benjamin Button.[14] Pitt had collaborated with many of his co-stars in previous films. He co-starred with Ormond inLegends of the Fall, with Flemyng inSnatch, withJared Harris inOcean's Twelve, with Blanchett inBabel and with Swinton inBurn After Reading.
ForBenjamin Button,New Orleans,Louisiana and the surrounding area was chosen as the filming location for the story to take advantage of the state's production incentives, and shooting was slated to begin in October 2006.[15] By filming in Louisiana and taking advantage of the state's film incentive, the production received $27 million, which was used to finance a significant portion of the film's $167 million budget.[16][17] Filming ofBenjamin Button began on November 6, 2006 in New Orleans. In January 2007, Blanchett joined the shoot.[18] Fincher praised the ease of accessibility to rural and urban sets in New Orleans and said that the recovery fromHurricane Katrina did not serve as an atypical hindrance to production.[19]
In March 2007, production moved toLos Angeles for two more months of filming.Principal photography was targeted to last a total of 150 days. Additional time was needed at visual effects houseDigital Domain to make the visual effects for the metamorphosis of Brad Pitt's character to the infant stage.[20] The director used a camera system calledContour, developed bySteve Perlman, to capture facial deformation data from live-action performances.[21]
Several digital environments for the film were created by Matte World Digital, including multiple shots of the interior of the New Orleans train station, to show architectural alterations and deterioration throughout different eras. The train station was built as a 3D model and lighting and aging effects were added, using Next Limit's Maxwell rendering software—an architectural visualization tool.[22] Overall production was finished in September 2007.[23]
The score toThe Curious Case of Benjamin Button was written by French composerAlexandre Desplat, who recorded his score with an 87-piece ensemble of theHollywood Studio Symphony at the Sony Scoring Stage.[24]
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button was originally slated for theatrical release in May 2008,[25] but it was pushed back to November 26, 2008.[26] The release date was moved again to December 25 in the United States, January 16, 2009 in Mexico, February 6 in the United Kingdom, February 13 in Italy[27] and February 27 in South Africa.
On its opening day, the film opened in the number two position behindMarley & Me, in North America with $11,871,831 in 2,988 theaters with a $3,973 average.[2] However, during its opening weekend, the film dropped to the third position behindMarley & Me andBedtime Stories with $26,853,816 in 2,988 theaters with an $8,987 average. The film has come to gross $127.5 million domestically and $208.3 million in foreign markets, with a total gross of $335.8 million.[2]
The film was released on DVD on May 5, 2009 byParamount Home Entertainment, and onBlu-ray and 2-DiscDVD byThe Criterion Collection. The Criterion release includes over three hours of special features, and a documentary about the making of the film.[28]
As of November 1, 2009, the film had sold 2,515,722 DVD copies and had generated $41,196,515 in sales revenue.[29]
The review aggregatorRotten Tomatoes reports that 72% of critics gave the film positive reviews based on 256 reviews, with an average rating of 7.10/10. The consensus reads: "Curious Case of Benjamin Button is an epic fantasy tale with rich storytelling backed by fantastic performances."[30] OnMetacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 70 out of 100, based on 37 reviews, indicating "generally favorable reviews".[31]Yahoo! Movies reported the film received a B+ average score from critical consensus, based on 12 reviews.[32] Audiences surveyed byCinemaScore gave the film a grade A− on scale of A to F.[33]
Todd McCarthy ofVariety magazine gave the film a positive review, calling it a "richly satisfying serving of deep-dish Hollywood storytelling."[34] Peter Howell ofThe Toronto Star says: "It's been said thatthe unexamined life is not worth living.The Curious Case of Benjamin Button suggests an addendum: a life lived backwards can be far more enriching" and describes the film as "a magical and moving account of a man living his life resoundingly in reverse" and "moviemaking at its best."[35] Rod Yates ofEmpire awarded it five out of a possible five stars.[36][37] Kirk Honeycutt ofThe Hollywood Reporter felt the film was "superbly made and winningly acted by Brad Pitt in his most impressive outing to date." Honeycutt praised Fincher's directing of the film and noted that the "cinematography wonderfully marries a palette of subdued earthen colors with the necessary CGI and other visual effects that place one in a magical past." Honeycutt states the bottom line aboutBenjamin Button is that it is "an intimate epic about love and loss that ispure cinema."[38]
A. O. Scott ofThe New York Times states: "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, more than two and a half hours long, sighs with longing and simmers with intrigue while investigating the philosophical conundrums and emotional paradoxes of its protagonist's condition in a spirit that owes more toJorge Luis Borges than toFitzgerald." Scott praised Fincher and writes "Building on the advances of pioneers likeSteven Spielberg,Peter Jackson andRobert Zemeckis, Mr. Fincher has added a dimension of delicacy and grace to digital filmmaking" and further states: "While it stands on the shoulders of breakthroughs likeMinority Report,The Lord of the Rings andForrest Gump,Benjamin Button may be the most dazzling such hybrid yet, precisely because it is the subtlest." He also stated: "At the same time, like any other love—like any movie—it is shadowed by disappointment and fated to end."[39]
On the other hand, Anne Hornaday ofThe Washington Post states: "There's no denying the sheer ambition and technical prowess ofThe Curious Case of Benjamin Button. What's less clear is whether it entirely earns its own inflated sense of self-importance" and further says, "It plays too safe when it should be letting its freak flag fly."[40] Kimberley Jones of theAustin Chronicle panned the film and stated, "Fincher's selling us cheekboned movie stars frolicking in bedsheets and calling it a great love. I didn't buy it for a second."[41]Roger Ebert of theChicago Sun-Times gave the film two and a half stars out of four, saying that it is "a splendidly made film based on a profoundly mistaken premise. ... the movie's premise devalues any relationship, makes futile any friendship or romance, and spits, not into the face of destiny, but backward into the maw of time."[42]
Peter Bradshaw inThe Guardian called it "166 minutes of twee tedium", giving it one star out of five.[43]Cosmo Landesman of theSunday Times gave the film two out of five stars, writing: "The film's premise serves no purpose. It's a gimmick that goes on for nearly three hours ...The Curious Case of Benjamin Button is an anodyne Hollywood film that offers a safe and sanitised view of life and death."[44] James Christopher inThe Times called it "a tedious marathon of smoke and mirrors. In terms of the basic requirements of three-reel drama the film lacks substance, credibility, a decent script and characters you might actually care for."[45] Derek Malcolm of London'sEvening Standard felt that "never at any point do you feel that there's anything more to it than a very strange story traversed by a film-maker who knows what he is doing but not always why he is doing it."[46]
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At the81st Academy Awards,The Curious Case of Benjamin Button received a leading 13Academy Award nominations, includingBest Picture,Best Director for Fincher,Best Actor for Pitt, andBest Supporting Actress forTaraji P. Henson, and won three, forBest Art Direction,Best Makeup, andBest Visual Effects.
Taraji P. Henson won Best Actress at theBET Awards for her role in the film combined with two other performances inNot Easily Broken, andThe Family That Preys.
The film won all four awards it was nominated for at the7th Visual Effects Society Awards, the categories of "Outstanding Visual Effects in a Visual Effects-Driven Feature Motion Picture," "Best Single Visual Effect of the Year", "Outstanding Animated Character in a Live Action Feature Motion Picture," and "Outstanding Compositing in a Feature Motion Picture."
| Award | Category | Recipient | Result | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Academy Awards | Best Picture | Kathleen Kennedy,Frank Marshall and Ceán Chaffin | Nominated | |
| Best Director | David Fincher | Nominated | ||
| Best Actor | Brad Pitt | Nominated | ||
| Best Supporting Actress | Taraji P. Henson | Nominated | ||
| Best Adapted Screenplay | Eric Roth andRobin Swicord | Nominated | ||
| Best Art Direction | Art Direction:Donald Graham Burt; Set Decoration:Victor J. Zolfo | Won | ||
| Best Cinematography | Claudio Miranda | Nominated | ||
| Best Costume Design | Jacqueline West | Nominated | ||
| Best Film Editing | Kirk Baxter andAngus Wall | Nominated | ||
| Best Makeup | Greg Cannom | Won | ||
| Best Original Score | Alexandre Desplat | Nominated | ||
| Best Sound Mixing | David Parker,Michael Semanick,Ren Klyce andMark Weingarten | Nominated | ||
| Best Visual Effects | Eric Barba,Steve Preeg,Burt Dalton andCraig Barron | Won | ||
| American Society of Cinematographers | Outstanding Achievement in Cinematography in Theatrical Releases | Claudio Miranda | Nominated | |
| Austin Film Critics Association | Best Supporting Actress | Taraji P. Henson | Won | |
| British Academy Film Awards | Best Film | Kathleen Kennedy Frank Marshall Ceán Chaffin | Nominated | |
| Best Director | David Fincher | Nominated | ||
| Best Adapted Screenplay | Eric Roth | Nominated | ||
| Best Actor | Brad Pitt | Nominated | ||
| Best Makeup & Hair | Jean Black Colleen Callaghan | Won | ||
| Best Cinematography | Claudio Miranda | Nominated | ||
| Best Editing | Kirk Baxter Angus Wall | Nominated | ||
| Best Production Design | Donald Graham Burt Victor J. Zolfo | Won | ||
| Best Costume Design | Jacqueline West | Nominated | ||
| Best Music | Alexandre Desplat | Nominated | ||
| Best Visual Effects | Eric Barba Craig Barron Nathan McGuinness Edson Williams | Won | ||
| Broadcast Film Critics Association | Best Film | The Curious Case of Benjamin Button | Nominated | |
| Best Director | David Fincher | Nominated | ||
| Best Actor | Brad Pitt | Nominated | ||
| Best Actress | Cate Blanchett | Nominated | ||
| Best Supporting Actress | Taraji P. Henson | Nominated | ||
| Best Cast | The Curious Case of Benjamin Button | Nominated | ||
| Best Screenplay | Eric Roth | Nominated | ||
| Best Composer | Alexandre Desplat | Nominated | ||
| Chicago Film Critics Association | Best Picture | The Curious Case of Benjamin Button | Nominated | |
| Best Director | David Fincher | Nominated | ||
| Best Screenplay, Adapted | Eric Roth | Nominated | ||
| Best Cinematography | Claudio Miranda | Nominated | ||
| Best Original Score | Alexandre Desplat | Nominated | ||
| Directors Guild of America Awards | Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Motion Pictures | David Fincher | Nominated | |
| Golden Globe Awards | Best Motion Picture Drama | The Curious Case of Benjamin Button | Nominated | |
| Best Director - Motion Picture | David Fincher | Nominated | ||
| Best Actor - Motion Picture Drama | Brad Pitt | Nominated | ||
| Best Screenplay | Eric Roth | Nominated | ||
| Best Original Score | Alexandre Desplat | Nominated | ||
| Houston Film Critics Society Awards | Best Picture | The Curious Case of Benjamin Button | Won | |
| Best Director | David Fincher | Nominated | ||
| Best Actor | Brad Pitt | Nominated | ||
| Best Actress | Cate Blanchett | Nominated | ||
| Best Supporting Actress | Taraji P. Henson | Nominated | ||
| Best Screenplay | Eric Roth | Nominated | ||
| Best Cinematography | Claudio Miranda | Won | ||
| Best Score | Alexandre Desplat | Nominated | ||
| Las Vegas Film Critics Society Awards | Best Art Direction | The Curious Case of Benjamin Button | Won | |
| Best Cinematography | Claudio Miranda | Won | ||
| Best Costume Design | Jacqueline West | Won | ||
| London Film Critics' Circle | Best Film | The Curious Case of Benjamin Button | Nominated | |
| Director of the Year | David Fincher | Won | ||
| British Supporting Actress of the Year | Tilda Swinton | Won | ||
| Screenwriter of the Year | Eric Roth | Nominated | ||
| MTV Movie Awards | Best Female Performance | Taraji P. Henson | Nominated | |
| National Board of Review | National Board of Review: Top Ten Films | The Curious Case of Benjamin Button | Won | |
| Best Director | David Fincher | Won | ||
| Best Adapted Screenplay | Eric Roth | Won | ||
| Satellite Awards | Best Adapted Screenplay | Eric Roth Robin Swicord | Nominated | |
| Best Art Direction and Production Design | Donald Graham Burt Tom Reta | Nominated | ||
| Best Cinematography | Claudio Miranda | Nominated | ||
| Best Costume Design | Jacqueline West | Nominated | ||
| Saturn Award | Best Fantasy Film | The Curious Case of Benjamin Button | Won | |
| Best Director | David Fincher | Nominated | ||
| Best Writing | Eric Roth | Nominated | ||
| Best Actor | Brad Pitt | Nominated | ||
| Best Actress | Cate Blatchett | Nominated | ||
| Best Supporting Actress | Tilda Swinton | Won | ||
| Best Music | Alexandre Desplat | Nominated | ||
| Best Make-Up | Greg Cannom | Won | ||
| Best Visual Effects | The Curious Case of Benjamin Button | Nominated | ||
| Scream Awards | Best Fantasy Actor | Brad Pitt | Nominated | |
| Screen Actors Guild Awards | Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Leading Role | Brad Pitt | Nominated | |
| Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Supporting Role | Taraji P. Henson | Nominated | ||
| Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture | The Curious Case of Benjamin Button | Nominated | ||
| St. Louis Gateway Film Critics Association Awards | Best Film | The Curious Case of Benjamin Button | Won | |
| Vancouver Film Critics Circle Awards | Best Director | David Fincher | Won | |
| Visual Effects Society Awards | Outstanding Visual Effects in a Visual Effects-Driven Feature Motion Picture | Eric Barba Edson Williams Nathan McGuinness Lisa Beroud | Won | [58] |
| Best Single Visual Effect of the Year | Eric Barba Lisa Beroud Steve Preeg Jonathan Litt for "Benjamin's Secret" | Won | ||
| Outstanding Animated Character in a Live Action Feature Motion Picture | Steve Preeg Matthias Wittmann Tom St. Amand David McLean for "Benjamin Button" | Won | ||
| Outstanding Compositing in a Feature Motion Picture | Janelle Croshaw Paul Lambert Sonja Burchard Sarahjane Javelo for "Benjamin Comes Together" | Won | ||
| Washington D.C. Area Film Critics Association | Best Art Direction | The Curious Case of Benjamin Button | Won | |
| Writers Guild of America Awards | Writers Guild of America Award for Best Adapted Screenplay | Eric Roth Robin Swicord | Nominated |
Those who preceded Mr. Roth in the attempt include Robin Swicord (Practical Magic), Charlie Kaufman (Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind) and Jim Taylor (Sideways).
Chaffin said Pitt and Blanchett finished their scenes in Mandeville earlier Tuesday morning at the Lewisburg set. Monday, the pair and other cast members filmed scenes outside of Madisonville, she said.[permanent dead link]
