The Appreciation of the Beauty in the Film： The Curious Case of Benjamin Button

【Abstract】This paper appreciates the beauty in the film The Curious Case of Benjamin Buttonfrom three perspectives： technological beauty in visual effects of the film； philosophical beauty in language， which is discussed in characters’ monologues and dialogues in the film； and the eternal beauty of love， life and death.

【Key Words】beauty， technology， philosophy， life and death

The short story The Curious Case of Benjamin Button （CCBB） is written by American writer F. Scott Fitzgerald and first published in 1922. Nearly a century later， after being elaborately adapted by Eric Roth and Robin Swicord and directed by David Fincher， the film of the same name was first released in 2008 and soon was proved to be a great success for it has engendered rave reviews and earned 13 Oscar nominations. In the movie， the beauty of love， life and death are interwoven closely and perfectly presented both visually and emotionally.

I. Technological beauty in visual effects

At the beginning of the film， the main character Benjamin Button shows up as an “old baby”， which undoubtedly brings a huge visual impact to the audience.

According to Ed Ulbrich， who is the visual effects executive producer of the film， during nearly the first hour of the film， Benjamin Button “is completely computer-generated from the neck up”[1]. Without any prosthetic makeup， they “created a completely digital human head”[2] by applying certain advanced Computer Graphics technology （CG Technology）. Besides CG Technology， during the second hour of the film， Special Makeup also plays a crucial role in creating visual effects. The splendid makeup artists use their magical hands， making subtle differences on the face Benjamin or any other roles in the film， to vividly present characters at different ages.

CG Technology and Special Makeup – two great magicians co-create this prodigy， which seems to let audienceswatch a real Benjamin who lives backwards in time and be entranced by the magically changing of Benjamin’s face. Thus， we can say that high-tech methods have provided audiences with the chance to fully enjoy those amazing visual effects and the beauty in them.

II. Philosophical beauty in language

Film language is a unique tool used in the process of story narration and idea conveyance. It directly resorts to audiences’ sense of hearing and seeing， conveying its significance or standpoints by a series of visual and aural elements which are in general intuitive， specific， distinct， etc. In film CCBB， the most prominent feature is its philosophical language both in monologues and dialogues. The beauty of this philosophy runs through the whole film， making the film all the better.

The film begins in a New Orleans hospital where elderly Daisy lying on her deathbed asks her daughter， Caroline， to read her the diary of Benjamin Button， which serves as the clue of the film. Following this clue， the whole story gradually unfolds the whole story before us. Thanks to the language of the dairy， the audiences get access to his curious life and philosophical beauty in language.

In the film， the director arranges many philosophical -- sometimes witty -- monologues and dialogues， which provide audiences with achance of deep thinking. In Benjamin’s early years， he has been living in the nursing home where he has to face death every day at the very beginning of his life. This unique experience contributes a lot to his personality in late years， that is， his calmness and inner peace as facing death.

Benjamin’s foster mother Queenie once told him， “Everybody feels different about themselves one way or another. We're all going the same way， just taking different roads to get there... You're on your own road， Benjamin.”The Woman with the Dog said to him， “Benjamin … we’re meant to lose the people we love. Or else how would we know how important they are to us？’’ As Benjamin said at the Woman’s funeral， ‘‘She taught me what it meant to miss somebody”， these words not only are thought-provoking， but also pave the way for the development of plots and emotion. In addition， they help audiences better to get what meaning the film is trying to present – there is something so precious because of its shortness and fragility， so is life. Life always has an end， which is same to everyone， but what make life not same from one to another are people’s different choice， different experience and different lessons they’ve got while alive.

Such example also exists in the case of Captain Mike who plays a quite important role in Benjamin’s later years after he leaves the nursing home. Once he said， “You can be mad as a mad dag at the way things went... You can swear， curse the fates， regret everything you ever did… but when it comes to the end... You have to let it go...” Same words are repeated by Benjamin himself when he finally chooses to forgive his father Thomas button who firstly attempted to ditch his strange？appearing offspringin the nearest river and when he was interrupted， he insteadleft Benjamin on the doorstep of an nursing home. The abandonment， bitter as it is， are forgiven at last by Benjamin. Captain Mike’s words and death make Benjamin realize the philosophy of cherishing and letting-it-go， of love， life and death. It might be the reason why he chooses to forgive and accompanies his father seeing the sunrise.\"You never know what's coming for you.\" He said.The best thing we can do is make the bestuse of our journey and be thankful for the people we’ve met along the way. They are all gifts.

To analysis technically， it is often difficult to depict one’s life from cradle to grave in a single movie， yet it’s not for CCBB. In the film， lots of monologues and dialogues run through Benjamin’s whole life to keep up the pace of the plot and emotion development. As a result， it successfully avoids the paleness of the plotline， and at the same time provides audiences with space for thinking and perceiving.

III. Eternal beauty of love， life and death

Love， life and death， which are interwoven closely in film CCBB， have long been three themes for humankind. While trying to strengthen the philosophy of life and death， the film highlights the importance of love in human’s life.

Life likes a circle that ends where it starts. Especially to Benjamin’s life， which runs in reverse but starts and ends both in the form as a baby， the origin and the destination seems almost same， but they are not essentially. During over 80 long years， Benjamin has gone through so many things， gaining experience from the sea and war， harvesting a short but everlasting love with Daisy， whose arms he slept in at the last moment of his life， peaceful and happy. This kind of ending undoubtedly compensates an imperfect life with a warm solace， and relieves audiences’ heart to some degree. People may take pity on Benjamin and his tragic life， feel helpless for the lapse of time， and perceive an unavoidable sorrow deep in their hearts for the loss of life. However， it is this kind of pity， helplessness and sorrow that only becomes the premise of gaining the true meaning of one’s life. By this particular way， this film elaborately illustrates the beauty of love， life and death as well as presents us a perfect ending out of an imperfect life.

The Curious Case of Benjamin Buttonhas accomplished so much by this simple plot. From the excellent directing to the wonderful performances down to the magical ending， everything is carved elaborately. It focuses on the obvious morality issues we all deal with and also indicates the idea that everyone has tears of joy and sadness deep in his heart.In summary， the film is more than a successful commercial film but also is a film with great artistic and aesthetic value. While trying to attract audiences’ attention through fantastic visual effects and fairytale plots， the film presents its eternal beauty of love， life and death.

Notes：

[1] Ed Ulbrich： How Benjamin Button Got His Face， 2009 TED Talk， www.ted.com

[2] Ibid.