Der seltsame Fall des Benjamin Button

Ein meisterhaft ausgefeilter Pfeil, der aber zu gerade und ZU LANGE in Richtung Ziel fliegt. Außerdem wurde er aus Zutaten hergestellt, die wir schon längst kennen. Das magische erste Drittel von Der seltsame Fall des Benjamin Button, in dem man eine ehrliche Güte und beeindruckende Tricks findet, hat mein Herz gestreichelt. Der digitale Brad Pitt ist ein besserer Schauspieler als die reale Version. Der Rest des Films ist aber ein bisschen langwierig. Er hat entweder nichts zu bieten oder bietet Dinge, welche die Geschichte von Benjamin nicht braucht. Im Großen und Ganzen ist es ein schöner Film, aber nicht der Film des Jahres. Für so einen süßen Mainstream ist David Fincher zu schade. Paradoxerweise ist dieser Film sein uninteressantestes Werk, das nur wenige Anreize für eine Diskussion bietet. (01.02.2009)

After a second screening, I was able to fully appreciate this moving meditation on life and death. It just confirmed for me the well-known truth that great films are to be enjoyed in the darkness of the cinema, with quality sound and image, and that it is for films like this that the big screens are made. The film flew by so that the 2 and a half hours felt like half an hour, I lost track of time and enjoyed the hypnotically captivating symbiosis of image and music. Then the emotions surfaced naturally, I would have set a lot of the thoughts expressed there in stone, and I guess it's true that the more you have experienced and the more you realize the transience of time, the more the film speaks to you internally (my mother was bawling like a baby). Cinema magic. Thanks, David. (09.02.2009)

David Fincher has better stuff under his belt, but Benjamin Button is a memorable film nonetheless. It’s a sentimental tale about life and death that in 160 minutes portrays a completely ordinary story affected by unusual circumstances. But there’s power in simplicity, it allows the film to reveal the meaning of all the symbols that fill its runtime, delivering by the end an emotional load that mixes sadness, melancholy and fatality in precisely calculated proportions, one that will bring tears to the eyes of the more sensitive viewers… The firm director’s hand and the dreamy atmosphere are only secondary reasons to grant it 5 stars. Gorgeous. (31.01.2009)

This film is an honest piece of craftsmanship, into which Fincher has put a lot of his unmistakable ideas, and yet they don't really attract attention and thus leave enough room for the story. The story itself could actually be told in a moment. It’s not that I was bored - the director can tell a story engagingly enough for that, but this is his first film that completely missed the mark for me emotionally. Maybe that’s because of the fact that Cate Blanchett just doesn't "fit" in the film for me and she flutters a bit behind the excellent Pitt, and also because of the lengthy runtime, which is just too long given the amount of plot. Some people obviously think that a perfect style can carry a film. I give it a weaker four stars. (03.01.2009)

Im Gegensatz zu Forrest Gump ist Der seltsame Fall des Benjamin Button keine Lobpreisung eines außergewöhnlichen "Irren", sondern eine Ad-Absurdum geführte Metapher der Unbarmherzigkeit der dahifließenden Zeit, die sowohl vereint, als auch teilt und keine Geiseln nimmt ... Wir werden auf keinen so grundlegenden Teil der großen Geschichte stoßen, welche der Hauptheld auf die typische schweik-Art in einem Kokon des weisen Herumirrens umfahren würde, denn Benjamins Reise ist nachdenklicher, einfacher, weniger episch. In dieser Hinsicht ist unser Streifen hier viel näher an Burtons Big Fish, wir haben es hier nicht mit einer Metapher für eine große Gesellschaft zu tun, sondern mit der Metapher eines Lebens, eine Zeit, in welcher die Zeiten der anderen Charaktere frei miteinander verflochten werden. Die Einzigartigkeit des Alltags, die Suche nach dem idealen Gleichgewicht, die schicksalhafte Verkettung verschiedener Zeitachsen und das außerordentlich versöhnliche Bild des Alters, all dies kettet sich frei um das Bild einer Uhr angeordnet, die rückwärts geht. Fincher erzählt hier ein Märchen, in dem jedoch keine harmonischen Töne dominieren, sondern die Töne der Melancholie und eine Art versöhnlicher Erkenntnis, dass alles vergeht und es keine Rolle spielt, in welche Richtung die Zeit vergeht. Die Endlichkeit ist unveränderlich. Vielleicht habe ich anfangs mehr Persönlichkeit gemisst, obwohl der Sinn für Details, die wunderbar pastellfarbenen visuellen Aspekte sowie das fantastische Tempo der Erzählung in der Tat bewundernswert sind. Aber darum geht es hier nicht. Der seltsame Fall des Benjamin Button ist eine Hollywood-Blockbuster, er philosophiert hollywoodtechnisch (beleidigt nicht), Hollywood rührt (beleidigt nicht). Die Stimmung wird durch das Fehlen einer Art epischer Idylle ausgeglichen. Der seltsame Fall des Benjamin Button ist ein Film über Sterblichkeit, jedoch keineswegs über Unsterblichkeit ... Deshalb kann er etwas mehr als ein gewöhnliche Liebesgeschichte bewirken - nämlich das Gefühl tiefer Teilhabe hervorrufen. Bei mir jedenfalls ist eben das dem Film gelungen, obgleich seine Weisheiten ein wenig typisch rentnerlich sind. (15.02.2009)

While the movie is only about him and not them, I have no major objections. But after that I have several. I’d sum it up with a sad sigh, that although the creators decided to use nothing else from Fitzgerald’s story other than the title (which, on the one hand, is not surprising), and instead blatantly (but unadmittedly) ripped off Greer’s Confessions of Max Tivoli, they could at least have stuck to it in their portrayal of Max and Alice’s relationship. Oops, sorry, I meant Benjamin and Daisy’s relationship, of course. This bittersweet, albeit tasteful lemonade could not equate to Greer’s condensed broth filled with melancholy and sadness. I know, I know, comparing a book to a movie is unfair, but this time it was Roth who started it. If he has to "borrow" ideas elsewhere, he should at least do it with some style. Not in this haphazard way, substituting the best part with a cold romance we’ve seen a hundred times before. ♫ OST score: 3/5 (02.03.2009)

I have a lot of respect for David Fincher, not just because of this magnificent drama. It's incredible the way he can present a film to the audience. The story is original. Brad Pitt’s performance makes this film really unique and unbeatable!! 100% for the great cast, the idea, and the way it’s presented. (11.02.2011)

I know that the movie is about the relentless passage of time, fateful encounters, and mutual passing in life. But with all due respect to the luxurious cast, budget, and technically precise direction, this is the only Fincher film that bores me and, above all, almost evokes no emotions in me. I am indifferent to the fate of the protagonist and in such cases, I cannot give it more than two stars. Overall impression: 45%. (01.01.2013)

Personally, I didn't expect to be so taken with Button but it was a joy to watch his life story. I have a feeling that David Fincher took the same meticulous approach as he did in Zodiac and just grafted it into a fairy tale about a guy who is growing younger and making his way through life despite being so peculiar. This acting recital from Brad Pitt (I stopped being shocked about the Oscar nomination) shines through the mask, and the completely natural special effects are perfectly complemented by red-head Cate Blanchett. It occurs to me to compare it with Zemekis's Forrest Gump but The Curious Case of Benjamin Button triumphs over dumb escapades with subtle humor and minimalism. Again, compliments to Fincher and also to Pitt. P.S.: It really pays to see it in a movie theater. (14.02.2009)

Benjamin Button ist definitiv ein Film, den man sich mehrmals ansehen sollte. Je nach Gemütslage schätzt man die einzelnen Komponenten, Fitzgeralds Thema, das aufwendige Schauspiel von Pitt und Blanchett oder Tilda Swintons perfekte kleine Performance, die gut die Hälfte des Films für sich beansprucht. Ich habe ein Faible für die Atmosphäre des New Orleans der Vorkriegszeit und bin froh, dass Fincher ihr auf diese Weise Tribut gezollt hat. (21.03.2013)

A highly intelligent, expertly directed, and unobtrusively presented romance. Fantastic camera work, lighting, and music score, and an overall captured feeling that plays a similar crucial role as in Blade Runner, The English Patient, or 1492. A mesmerizing audiovisual gem that, however, failed to captivate me, which I consider a lamentable lack. The question is, where the mistake lies. (08.03.2009)

Now I have no doubts about the directorial genius of David Fincher; he can manage to film tragic life stories with the same verve as suspenseful and raw detective stories. This film exudes an amazing atmosphere that only Zemeckis's Forrest Gump can match, and the 160 minutes flow as quickly as water between the fingers. Brad Pitt gives his best performance so far and easily carries on his shoulders the whole weight of a sad story that unwillingly leads to an unhappy ending. The work of the make-up artists is also amazing, they really played with Pitt's face, and in the first half you can hardly recognise the features of Hollywood’s biggest hearth-throb. It may seem that the story is just attacking the viewer's feelings, but in this case it attacks them so unobtrusively and, most importantly, effectively that I was glad to sacrifice a tear. One of my Top 20 films. (09.04.2012)

What can be so great about a film where one character ages backwards? Haven't we seen this before? Of course! Arabela... However, this is based on the work of Francis Scott Fitzgerald, who is definitely not some B-list writer, but one of the most acclaimed writers of the last century. Furthermore, incredible names have come together in the adaptation - David Fincher, Brad Pitt, and Cate Blanchett. David Fincher has shown that the new millennium is his era. Films like "Se7en" and "Fight Club" hinted at what he is capable of, and now he is selling it fully. "The Social Network," "The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo," these are all films that will not leave you indifferent. Especially not "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button," which can confidently be counted among such brilliant films as "Forrest Gump" or "Big Fish." Beautiful imaginative stories where we experience the incredible lives of amazing, albeit fantastic characters. Beauty and sadness come together in a wonderful story. More: http://www.filmovy-denik.cz/2012/04/frost-vs-nixon-bos-vs-kung-fu-trocha.html (16.02.2013)

A story told beautifully, sensitively, and with tremendous experience about the impermanence of life, but also about love and self-sacrifice. The important thing is that David Fincher doesn't push the envelope (and there are plenty of moments to push the envelope in the almost three-hour running time), he doesn't try to wring emotions out of the viewer, but instead philosophically and sometimes a bit sentimentally contemplates life. Brad Pitt is no longer a mere commercial icon, but a mature and really good actor. There's no point in going on about Cate Blanchett, she's simply amazing from beginning to end.)) The formal aspect is excellent, starting with the music and ending with the set design, I would especially like to highlight the almost "chamber" music score, which serves its purpose perfectly. It's good to know that David Fincher has a soul as well as balls. :) (09.01.2010)