On Thanksgiving Day in 1930, an old man with a cane saw the 6-year-old girl Daisy for the first time, and she couldn't forget her blue eyes.
This is the scene when the 12-year-old male protagonist first met the heroine Daisy in the movie "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button."
, a movie released in 2008, is still remembered after 12 years.
Douban score 8.9 points , 745,000 people score, showing that is "better than 98% romance movies" and "better than 98% fantasy movies" . Even at station B where young people gather, the score of this movie is as high as 9.8.
"The Curious Case of Benjamin Button" is also a work recorded in the history of film. As soon as it was released, it won three awards for best art direction, best visual effect, and best makeup at the 81st Oscar Awards in 2009, and won the best film, best actor, best supporting actress, and best director. Wait for 10 nominations.
"Baidu Encyclopedia" uses "Love Fantasy Movies" to define "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button". But it is not just for telling a good love story.
01
wears a "love" cloak
In addition to "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button", this movie is also translated as "Rejuvenation" and "Fantasy Inversion". No matter how is translated, the title cannot be separated from two characters-odd and inverse (return).
is strange, referring to the actor Benjamin Button-he was born a freak.
is almost blind because of cataracts. It is very likely that he is deaf, has severe arthritis, skin loses elasticity, hands and feet are stiff, and the function of the whole body declines. These are not symptoms of babies, but 80-year-olds who are fast entering the coffin.
He has just been born and his body is aging. Amazingly, as he grew older, he became younger and younger-no longer in a wheelchair, no crutches, and began to grow taller, his hair became more and more black...
Benjamin's "oddness" originated from His "reverse growth" means "back in time". If this movie can only be summarized in one word, it can only be "inverse".
"Time" is the narrative logic of this movie. The eternally inverted golden clock in the movie
appears repeatedly as an image.
movie screenshots | Source: B station
If "time" is the core logic of the movie, then "anti-war" is the underlying tone. The beginning of the
movie took place in the hospital. The old lady Daisy was about to die, and her daughter Caroline said goodbye to her mother. Like a revolving lantern, the old lady told a strange incident in her hometown.
In 1918, , a small town in my hometown built a railway station. They invited the best watchmaker in the south to build a magnificent clock.
Gaitu was born blind and married a Creole woman. The two had a son who joined the army when he grew up. One morning, they received a condolence letter and their son died in battle. After the body was returned, they buried their son in the family cemetery.
A few months later, the big clock was completed, and the morning when the railway station opened was unforgettable. That day, there was a huge crowd, and President Roosevelt all went. People discovered that the clock runs backwards.
in the voice of questioning, Guyto replied: I did this on purpose. Maybe back in time, the sons who died in battle can return to their hometowns to farm, work, have children, and live a long and happy life. Maybe my son can come back alive.
Gaitu disappeared since then. Some people said he died of excessive grief, and some said he went out to sea by boat.
This is a very important offer, although it only takes less than 3 minutes.
The story of the watchmaker's loss of his beloved son is the beginning of everything out of control -it can be seen as the reason why Benjamin's life "time reverses".
In fact, Benjamin's life is connected with war, or the trajectory of the times.
02
Witness to history
In 1918, Benjamin was born on the night of the end of the First World War.
His father Thomas Barton joined the war, and after returning home happily, he found that his wife had died of dystocia and his son was a "freak." Father who cannot accept reality, thinksIt was the son who brought bad luck and abandoned him at the entrance of the nursing home.
18 years later, Benjamin left the nursing home to become a crew member. In a cold winter, a tugboat stopped at the Russian port of Murmansk. Benjamin works here and lives in a small hotel called "Hermitage".
He met his first love, Elizabeth-her husband is Walter, the Chief Minister of the British Trade Mission in Murmansk, and he is also a spy .
Walter will go out every night until he returns to the hotel before dawn. Because of this, Benjamin and Elizabeth met in the evening and separated before sunrise, and could not say "I love you"-these are the rules.
One night, Elizabeth did not appear in the hotel lobby and left without saying goodbye. The next morning, in the early morning of December 7, 1941, Benjamin got news that the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor . The tugboat is called by the U.S. Navy to be responsible for maintenance and salvage.
At this point, Benjamin's first love affair ended and he participated in World War II. In the words of Captain Mike, it is: "on the ship, it is the U.S. Navy."
A transport ship full of 1,300 people was torpedoed in half, and when they arrived at the scene, they were caught by the enemy submarine. Find. The tugboat crashed into the submarine, the captain was killed in battle, and 1,328 people were killed. At that time, Benjamin felt the cruelty of the war.
In May 1945, Benjamin returned to his hometown. On May 8, 1945, Germany was defeated by the east and west lanes, and the European battlefield ended.
A few months later, Benjamin and his father met, and his father died soon after. At this time Benjamin decided to go to New York to find Daisy. Daisy works in a dance company, her career is on the rise, and she has a boyfriend who is also a dancer. This sudden visit caused the two to quarrel.
On March 5, 1946, the former British Prime Minister Winston Churchill delivered the "Iron Curtain Speech" in the United States, officially kicking off the Cold War.
In the spring of 1962, Benjamin was 43 and Daisy was 37. She returned to her hometown. They sailed along the Florida Keys into the coast of Mexico. Here, they saw the rocket lift off.
Movie Screenshot | Source: Station B
On February 20, 1962, American astronaut John Glenn took the "Friendship 7" to orbit the Earth for the first time.
In 1968, their daughter was born and named Caroline. Before the birth of , Benjamin was always anxious and worried that the child was just like himself-also a "freak". Benjamin is worried and welcomes a new life.
In 1968, the world situation was equally treacherous. American non-fiction writer Mark Kolansky wrote a book "1968: The Year of Crashing the World". On the book summary of
, there is a passage:
1968, a year that changed the world.
1968, the United States was trapped in the quagmire of the Vietnam War, and tens of thousands of people died.
1968, students from many parts of the world walked out of campus and marched on the streets.
1968, "God may withdraw the blessing of America", Robert Kennedy and Martin Luther King were killed.
1968, the Great Famine in Biafra, 1 million civilians died of starvation.
1968, avant-garde drama and modern feminist movement flourished. Idealism in Poland and Czechoslovakia was shattered.
1968, a massacre occurred in Mexico. "Apollo 8" orbited the moon.
1968, this is the best year and the worst year. The possibilities are endless, exciting and unforgettable.
is a landmark masterpiece that records the major events that happened this year in a panoramic manner. The changes in the world of and the choices of young people have thus constructed the face of today's world. The exciting thing about
in 1968 is that countless people all over the world refused to remain silent about the many injustices in the world. If they have no choice, they will take to the streets and shout and demonstrate, which brings a rare hope to the world that where there is injustice, someone will expose it and try to change it.
——Mark Kolansky
In 1969, his daughter was one year old,Not yet old enough to know someone. Benjamin realized that, when he was younger, he could not be a good father and could not give his daughter a normal family. He sold his villa, button factory, and sailboat, left his property to Daisy, and left his wife and daughter on a motorcycle by himself.
In 1969, the world was still in chaos. On March 15, armed conflict broke out on Zhenbao Island. On September 1, Gaddafi launched the "September Revolution" to overthrow the Idriss. On September 11, the Japanese terrorist organization "Red Army" was established.
In 1981, when my daughter was 13 years old, Benjamin came back once, saw the grown-up daughter and Daisy who was aging, and left again.
In the last ten years of his life, Benjamin returned to his teenage years with pimples on his face. Benjamin did not remember who he was or where he came from, and was sent back to the nursing home by the Child Welfare Bureau. Daisy saw Benjamin playing the piano, but Benjamin didn't know Daisy anymore. was probably around 1990 at this time.
The early nineties of the twentieth century was also an important point in time. The disintegration of the Soviet Union in 1991 marked the end of the Cold War.
is about 2000, Benjamin became a toddler. Daisy grabbed his little hand, and the two of them walked in the shade.
Movie Screenshot | Source: Station B
At the same time, the world has entered the 21st century, and the new century is also like a toddler.
In 2002, the railway station removed the big clock and replaced it with a new electronic clock.
Movie Screenshot | Source: Station B
In the spring of 2003, Benjamin passed away in Daisy’s arms as a baby.
Movie Screenshot | Source: B station
Although local areas are still tense, overall, peace and development have become the main theme of the historical process.
The big clock with the brand of World War I was removed and replaced with an electronic clock-symbolizing the world has entered a new era. The image of
"baby" symbolizes hope.
03
Another Benjamin
movie "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button" is adapted from Fitzgerald's novel of the same name.
Three years later, the writer wrote a work "The Great Gatsby" that really made him famous in the literary world. The
novel collection "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button: Fitzgerald's Short Stories" (Lixin Accounting Publishing House) contains 6 stories, the first one is "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button". Although
has the same name, the movie and the novel are completely two stories. The background of the
novel was set during the Civil War. Benjamin was born in a hospital and talked as soon as he was born, begging his father to take him out of the hospital because "it is too noisy here, it can't make me sleep well."
father did not throw away Benjamin.
He went to the mall to buy a prom dress worn by a 16-year-old boy, helped him put on the clothes, and took him home.
Benjamin, as a baby, would secretly smoke his father's cigar and sneak into the study downstairs to read "Encyclopedia Britannica". In short, he spoke and acted like an old man.
was 5 years old, Benjamin went to kindergarten, passed the Yale University entrance examination at 18, and worked in his father's hardware wholesale company at 20. There is a passage in the original
:
In these 20 years, Mr. Patton has become more and more intimate with his son, and he is willing to walk with him. Now, in the eyes of outsiders, the 50-year-old himself and the one who no longer dyes his hair The son is like a pair of brothers.
In August 1880, the 20-year-old Benjamin met the general's daughter Hilgar Moncrief for the first time at the ball.
6 months later, the two got engaged. After
got married, his wife gave birth to a son.
Benjamin started running the company and his family wealth has increased 15 times in 15 years. Benjamin sponsored his father-in-law to publish the 12-volume History of the Civil War.
In 1898, a war broke out between the United States and Spain. Benjamin, who became increasingly dissatisfied with his aging wife, joined the war and was awarded a captain. After retired from the army, Benjamin, who seemed to be about 20 years old, entered Harvard and completed his studies.
In 1920, Benjamin's first grandson was born. Five years later, his grandfather Benjamin went to kindergarten with his grandson.
"At this time, Benjamin likes to draw pictures, make chains, andIn his eyes, this is the most attractive game in the world. "Z2z
, Benjamin died as a baby a few years later. Z2z
It is said that Fitzgerald was inspired by a sentence of Mark Twain. Z2z
Mark Twain once said: "If we can be 80 years old Born when I was born, and then slowly move towards 18 years old, then life will be extremely happy. "Z7z
Life would be infinitely happier if we could only be born at the age of eighty and gradually approach eighteen.
The two versions retain Benjamin’s setting of "reverse growth" and are also based on war.
Related.
Fitzgerald was born in 1896, his father was a furniture dealer. In 1908, due to business failure, life became increasingly difficult.
In 1917, Fitzgerald participated in the First World War, and was discharged in 1919. Later, he worked as a scribe and worked as an amateur creative. Z2z
, whether it is "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button" or "The Great Gatsby", has the mark of war in the works. Z2z
Benjamin in the movie is abandoned, and Daisy After giving birth to a daughter, Benjamin left again after giving birth to a daughter. Benjamin in the novel was not abandoned, getting married and having a child in one go. Benjamin in the
movie loved Daisy all his life, even if wrinkles climbed up her forehead. Benjamin in the novel, yes The old and declining wife was tired, and felt that his wife was not worthy of her radiant self, and determined to join the war. Benjamin in the
movie died in Daisy’s arms. In the novel Benjamin was hated by his wife and his son regarded him as a burden , Fully taken care of by a nanny.
This is another Benjamin.
z6
7zHummingbird and clock
In the movie, "Hummingbird" is also an important image. Z7z
"Hummingbird" first appeared in Russia, and Captain Mike told the locals about the nautical story. The
hummingbird is not an ordinary bird. Its heart rate is 1200 beats per minute and its wings vibrate 80 beats per second. If the wings stop vibrating, they will die after 10 seconds. The
statement about "hummingbirds" has also become a classic Lines. The second time
"Hummingbird" appeared after the captain's death in battle.
Benjamin threw a lifebuoy to the sea-although it was an unconscious move, it exposed his heart-he wanted to save someone. The captain who lost his life. The
lifebuoy smashed into a splash. At this time, a hummingbird appeared on the sea-it shouldn't have been here. Screenshot of the
movie | Source: Station B
can be understood as the captain turned into a hummingbird, and life Another gesture continues. The treatment of
is romantic. When the hummingbird appears, the cruelty and coldness of war and the pain of life and death are comforted. The similar treatment of
has also appeared in Chinese literary works, the most classic It belongs to the butterfly of Liang Zhu. Although life can't stay together , Can still be with you after death- conforms to the classic model of my country's classical love dramas, and satisfies people's psychological expectations for a "happy ending".
In fact, hummingbirds and people mirror each other. Everyone who lives hard, like a hummingbird, is desperately fanning his wings just to survive. At the end of the
movie, the daughter walked out of the ward. The heavy rain beat the window, and a hummingbird flapped its wings outside. Daisy said "Good night, Benjamin" and closed her eyes. The "hummingbird" that appeared in this scene of
can be understood as Benjamin came to welcome Daisy; it can also be understood as Daisy will also turn into a hummingbird.
There is a saying that hummingbirds have no feet and fly all their lives.
Actually, hummingbirds have two feet. But the feet can only support the body and cannot walk. Indeed, he has been flying all his life.
This is reminiscent of the "footless bird" in the Wang family movie "Forrest Gump".
Legend has it that there is a footless bird that flies over the forest, because there is no foot, no rest, no end, tired and can only rest in the wind. A footless bird can only land once in a lifetime, and that is the time of death.
Benjamin’s life was unfortunate. His biological mother passed away and was abandoned by his father. He looked like an old man in his youth.
But he was lucky again and met a kind-hearted adoptive mother.
That night, as the nanny Queenie, , like the hostess of the big family, announced to everyone in the lobby: "Listen, everyone, we have a new guest. We have to stay here for a while."
Screenshot | Source: B station
Thanksgiving in 1930, when he was 12 years old, Benjamin met the man who changed his life, Daisy. From that day on, Benjamin would never forget her blue eyes.
Movie screenshots | Source: Station B
He used to have many women, who came and went like flowing water. He also has a lover and a daughter whom he loved all his life. When
reaches old age, his body is getting younger and younger, traveling around the world and experiencing life like a young man of seventeen or eighteen. When
was about to die, Benjamin was sent back to his relatives, and finally slept in the arms of his lover Daisy as a baby. Isn't life like
happy? When the movie
ended, the abandoned big clock was abandoned in the warehouse, the water was overflowing, and the clock was still turning.
movie screenshot | Source:
water at station B, symbolizing time, rolling forward, covering everything, including the big clock with the meaning of "anti-war". The
movie "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button" has countless interpretations. When we are watching this movie, please don't forget the watchmaker who lost his beloved son at the beginning of the movie.
In front of everyone, on the high platform, he once said a shocking sentence:
may go back in time, the sons of
who died in battle can return to their hometowns,
farm, work, have children, and live a long and happy life. .
Maybe my son can come back alive.
If time can be turned back, look at the sea and the river, there will be no war.
is written at the end after
watched the movie, I checked the film reviews online and found that many of the ideas were not mentioned. For example, turning the clock back so that Benjamin's "reverse growth" can be attributed to "love" or "the miracle of love." The analysis of
did not convince me, so I decided to write some myself.
To this end, I also specially found the original reading.
is actually very short, and the stories between the two are quite different. Only the settings of "reverse growth" and "rich second generation" are consistent. This makes me more determined. At the end of
, whether it is a movie or a novel, I recommend everyone to take a look.
