Playing with time

Rating: 7/10 (11 December 2009)

A philosophical look at life and death and the unstoppable element of time which plagues all our lives. While most people accept the fact that a minute after birth they are on a relentless journey towards old age, occasionally nature plays some unusual tricks on the new born. Call this story a fantasy if you will, there is many a baby born as ugly as hell yet lives to see vast improvements in the facial features. Such is the case here where a rejected child blossoms into the most handsome man and looking younger every day.
The film maker treats the subject gently making it clear that the man who is aging backwards so to speak is not without personal difficulties. After marriage to a lovely woman he continues to grow younger while she observes an increasing number of wrinkles in her pretty face. As a couple the future looks unpredictably complicated. We ask ourselves where will it all end?
In the Picture of Dorian Gray Oscar Wilde also grappled with time as an intriguing subject. An artist painted a portrait of Dorian and as the years passed the face in the picture grew old but Dorian himself seemed to remain forever young. Somehow or other he seemed to be cheating Nature. And so it is here. Benjamin Button is cheating Nature by becoming younger and younger as the years pass by.
How often have we all at some time or another during some happy moment we wish that time would stand still and that we could hang on to that moment forever.. An interesting thought. But time never stands still. It is a one way passage.forward.
What is the end point for a human being whose age is receding? A baby in arms with dementia who does not know his wife or mother? A difficult situation to be sure but the film makers accentuate the importance of love in human relationships.
The story itself is truly a fantasy but is compelling to watch. While not believing a minute of the story one is fascinated by the situations and one is left with an impossible question..what if..?