Saddest love story ever filmed, but there is also a positive message

Rating: Null/10 (26 January 2009)

If one were to condemn this masterful piece of film-making as far-fetching, as some critics have done, one may as well condemn all science fictions, all fantasies and all films that require a little imagination to appreciate, such as "Big Fish".
There is indeed a lack in symmetry, if you really want to be particular about it, in the three elements (not two, as some may think) of Benjamin Button's lifeline. In his mental development, he is normal  born as a baby, develops and matures like any other human being and ages (loss of memory etc), "becoming like a baby again" as we describe many normal elderly person. In terms of SIZE, he is normal through most of his life, born as a baby, grows up and bigger. It's only when he gets really advanced in age that he begins to gradually shrink, all the way back to the size of a baby, and dies. Strangest is his physical conditions (not counting size)  he is born like an 80 year old man (cataract, failing heart, malfunctioning internal organs etc) and rejuvenate as he grows up and dies  and it is not totally clear here in the movie  as a normal, healthy baby. Accept all these, or go see another movie.
Distracted by this bizarre abnormality, we easily lose sight of how sad a love story this is. We have been moved in movies where lovers are separated by death or other circumstances, some as strange as what happens in "Somewhere in time". We have also been touched by stories of sacrifices where one lover doesn't want to be a burden to another, such as "An affair to remember" (but that has a happy ending). Benjamin Button (Brad Pitt) and Daisy (Cate Blanchett ) face all of these problems but sadly for them, they know all along that there is no way out of their doomed fate.
Again, the bizarre abnormality distracts the audience, and even critics, from seeing the beauty of this love story. Don't let the outward appearance blind you. Inside, it's a normal development of a normal love affair of two normal persons through their normal age. As kids (and Daisy sees Benjamin as a kid, despite his appearance) they share a normal infatuation. In their early twenties, they are true to their character  Daisy flirty and reckless while Benjamin introvert and more matured. That is why in one of the most beautiful seduction scenes that you'll ever seen in any movie  Blanchett's bewitching dance to the background of the ethereal mist of the lake  Benjamin remains unyielding. It's when they meet again at their forties, after so many things have happened, that they have reached a maturity of knowing that despite their doomed fate together, they have only one life to live, together. "Sleep with me" she says. "Absolutely" he replies. Not cryptic one-liners to get few cheap laughs. There's poignancy there. They have finally decided to make the best of their time together, despite the certainty of the tragic end awaiting. Think back at this towards the end of the movie and you'll feel the immense sadness.
But that's not all. This movie is so rich that I could almost borrow Hemingway's book's title to describe it: "A moveable feast". The sequence of a relationship with a diplomat's wife (wonderfully played by the inimitable Tilda Swinton) has such a feeling of other-worldliness, transporting you to a dream-like world that seems to exist only after midnight. The absolution a father who abandoned him as a baby is punctuated by a stunningly beautiful sunrise scene. The fateful accident that ends Daisy's career as a dancer is brilliantly recounted by unveiling a series of haphazard events heading towards a collision course (literally). Equally brilliant is the ending montage, parading characters that Benjamin has encounter throughout his life, with a message that is subtly whispered (where a lesser director would have shouted out)  whatever happens, make the best of your life.
I'm not even going to say anything about the makeup and special effect which is going to win an Oscar that is more deserving than any that have come before. And in addition to the original music, the use of familiar songs is at its best: "If I love you" (from "Carousel") as background for Daisy's performance that mesmerizes Benjamin, "My prayer" as background to montages depicting a short period of Benjamin's carefree life (sailing etc), and "Twist and shout" for the scene where Benjamin and Daisy finally throw away their inhibitions and come together.
Brad Pitt has been working hard on un-Pitt-ness, most noticeably in "Burn after reading" where, despite the familiar face, he is all but recognizable in a new persona of an idiot. In Benjamin, we first see a child in the body of an old man. As he grows younger outside and older inside, he retains much of his childlike innocence. As the ageing process creeps up inside, and he looks younger every day, he feels more and more the heavy burden crushing down, the burden of how to reconcile his destined doom with his love for Daisy. Pitt has done all these, and well. As to Cate Blanchett's, she'll be charming, surprising and delighting and the cinematic world for a long time to come, long after everything has run out of praises to heap on her. Then there is the marvellous support cast, Julia Ormond and Taraji P. Henson the best among them. Enough said. A movie as fine as this one you don't get every day.