A Timeless Classic about Love, Mortality and Time

Rating: 10/10 (1 March 2009)

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button is unlike any other films I've ever seen and most probably ever will. It is an absolute masterpiece and will most definitely be one of the greatest films of all time. An instant classic. It is layered with top notch acting, well-executed directing and a magical soundtrack. It explores the subject of life, love and death, the death of the ones we love, on losing and finding and how it all connects. This movie is nothing but brilliance. An epic that have left me breathless.
It is a tale of Benjamin, a man who was born old and aged in reversed, and was told from the diary read by his daughter. It is not his condition that makes him special. It is the choices that he made throughout his story. He gets to witnessed life from all angles. While he is growing younger, the people around him grow old and eventually die. He learned that in order to know how much a person meant to us, we are made to lose them. Life is not measured in minutes, but in moments. That is why he left his home, go to sea, fight in a war, find love, have a child, and in the end, start all over again.
The most curious part of the movie  for me  is its incredible attention to detail. The art of this movie is unlike anything I have seen before. It puts you directly into the period of time of what is shown on screen. Never was a movie so vastly detailed and lavishly put together as this. From the war scenes at seas, to the city during the winter, events in the cities, 1920s, 30s, 40s and so on; they will leave you speechless. Instead of just showing earlier times, we're shown historical (though with a dash of fiction) events and figures, like the WWII, President Roosevelt, some reference to Shakespeare, etc. Some of these scenes are in washed-out colours, like a footage taken straight from that time period. And especially the six "struck-by-lightning" scenes, which have no sounds, just white-and-black footage that last for about 2 seconds each. It really gives the authenticity of those moments.
Brad Pitt and Cate Blanchett, on the other hand, had proved themselves that they can't only play variety of characters in variety of movies, but also characters living their lives while spanning decades and decades...all while in a movie. They are both so empathetic that audience can feel what they are depicting; how they grow, matured and developed. I get to see it in less than three hours. It has got nothing to do with the directing skill or the screenplay  they're just highly skilled actors.
David Fincher used the three hours that was given to him very wisely. Not one scene seemed out-of-place or inappropriate. He directed the film so well that the graceful storytelling reflects his direction.
It will be a curious thing how this movie gets awful reviews.
It is a definite example of the most wonderful depiction of love, life and death. It will leave you astonished. Because what makes our life meaningful are not the choices we have made and not the things we have found, but instead, the opportunities that we strike even the ones we missed, and the ones we love and how they are gone. Life IS curious. And the Curious Case of Benjamin Button had thought me how to appreciate it.
P/S: One of the last scenes in the movie is the most beautiful and touching picture I have ever seen; An old woman, cradling a baby, and knowing that both of them are dying...