Film vs. Short Story Analysis– The Curious Case of Benjamin Button In reviewing the Paramount film adaptation of The Curious of Benjamin Button, directed by David Fincher and screenplay by Eric Roth, with the original story by F. Scott Fitzgerald, one may conclude that there are more differences than there are similarities. The film version does maintain the main premise of the story, in that, it tells the tale of a man born old that grew up to be young, a story on aging. I will attempt to provide you with my view of the two mediums regarding their characters, settings and elements in the film that enhance or distract from the story. First, let’s review the characters in the main story, of which there are few in the literary story …show more content…
The film version contained two mothers’, actually; the birth mother who dies giving birth to him that we later find out was named Caroline, her maiden name being Murphy. We catch a brief glimpse of her just after the birth when she makes the father promise that Benjamin would have a place in his life. Of course he is upset and he looks at what may be a monstrosity for a son, blaming the child for her death and dumps Benjamin on the stairs at the old folk’s home where an African-American woman, named Queenie, becomes his surrogate mother. Here is a loving and nurturing individual that raises him in the film where there is no loving or nurturing female in the literary story. Now in the literary story Benjamin has a grandfather who at the start was antagonized, became to enjoy his grandson’s company. It is a brief account of his grandfather but a meaningful one as this was the first one who gave him a sense of acceptance. The film version gave him acceptance through Queenie and we never get to know a grandfather; though one could say the patrons at the old folk’s home could have been grandparent surrogates for Benjamin. The patrons at the old folks home taught him many things but his experience living there taught him not to fear death and what loss was about which, in a sense, desensitized the character so that when Queenie passes he is not visibly upset. The last characters that I will discuss will be the love
In the beginning scene when his father enters the room, the camera continues to focus on Benjamin while his father’s image is blurred sitting in front of Benjamin and blocking most of his face. His mother later enters the room and stands in front of the camera completely obscuring Benjamin. These scenes shows that his parents are constantly getting in Benjamin’s way of his feelings and he cannot see past the image of his parent identity like he is destine to become them. Although he tells his father that he wants to be “different”, Benjamin does not have control of his own life. When Benjamin does not want to come down to see the guests and he “needs to be alone for a while” because he is ‘worried about his future’ his parent does not even care a bit and insist that he goes down stair because they are eager to show him to the guest. As he head toward the steps, there was portrait of a clown at the top of the stairs symbolizing that he is headed to a social circus as if he was in a costume putting on an act like they are show casing him for entertainment and no one takes him seriously.
Benjamin is obviously not your typical baby, not that long after he is born he starts to sneak his father’s Havana cigars and reads the encyclopedia. His father tries setting him up on play dates, which he does not like. Benjamin best friend for the beginning part of his life is his grand father because no one else would talk to him. His parents try sending him to kindergarten and he is kicked out for he keeps falling asleep. Ultimately no matter how hard Mr. Button believes his son is normal which he is not and has fatuous “silent agreement with himself to believe in his son’s normality” (Fitzgerald
Benjamin learns a great deal about life and society through the story. Such as learning to deal with judgement and comments from society and also learning more about himself as a person. This made me realise that I should also focus less about what others judge me on and focus more on how I can challenge myself and grow bigger as a person.
All three of these characters struggle with improper parent figures and have to develop ways to be their own individual. The books display how harmful society and those contain within it can be affected. They example how improper teachings, the perspective
When directors choose to adapt a novel or short story to fit the silverscreen, they often face the arduous task of keeping the author’s original plot in tow as well as, putting forth a believable product. In the case of Scotts Fitzgerald’s short story, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, director, David Fincher and screenwriter, Eric Roth chose to scrap the original framework of the story and start anew. Although Fincher and Roth keeps the basic idea of Benjamin Button’s existence the same, their screen adaption tells a more sincere version of how it would feel to live life in reverse. However, both the director and screenwriter acknowledge that Benjamin’s tale cannot be told without giving the audience an explanation for why he is born
The nursing home that Benjamin knew as a boy always welcomed him back home. Benjamin returned to New Orleans in 1945 and back to his mother Queenie. Daisy visits with him after his return; both are nearing the same age in appearance. At this point Daisy tries to seduce Benjamin but Benjamin refuses her efforts. Its as though Benjamin is aware of his own age, Scheidt (2017) mentions that during middle age
F. Scott Fitzgerald wrote the phenomenal book known as The Curious Case of Benjamin Button. David Fincher directed the accolade-winning movie adaptation. I inspected and analyzed the two forms of media thoroughly on Benjamin Button, for this book report. The book and the movie elucidated the life of Benjamin Button and his difficult condition. His age was regressing! This is an inherent problem that consumes him. Later, we see how Benjamin Button with full knowledge of his affliction, lived life to the fullest before his death. In this report, I will compare and contrast the book and movie. Although the book and the movie were parallel stories, they were two different entities.
Shown in the story Benjamin has a faint line of support from his father, and unconditional love from his grandfather as they reminisce over happy days. Benjamin Button’s father tries to persuade himself that his son's condition is normal to go on with his life. Proved by this quote shown in the story “ Roger Buttons silent agreement with himself to believe his sons normality.” As shown in the movie Ben's father ran in fear due to the reputation and responsibility facing him, dropping him off at the doorstep of a nursing home with a new mother called by the name Queenie. Benjamin Button faced neglect at the time Yale College denied his right to earn a education.
Near the end of the novel the narrator realises the limitations in the depiction of character and event:
Characters: Although there were a reasonable amount of characters in the story, there were only two that were important and consistent throughout the book. The others didn’t have much of an impact into the story.
The obligation, superiority and tragic flaw are shown by the main character because they are explained thoroughly through the book, therefore making them facts. The goodness and realization aspects are assumed by some readers based
The second character that I found interesting was Kurtz. At a first glance, Kurtz seems to be like the guy that everyone looks up to. Throughout the story, it becomes clear that he is very manipulative though. Despinte his charisma and the bright light he is viewed in, he uses that to the loss of knowledge of others. That is, Kurtz is a great writer, but instead of using that talent to inform people about the wrong that is happening in Africa, he pads all of his words so that people can not see the true gruesome deeds being done there. Kurtz plays an important role in the conclusion of the story. He dies leaving behind a complicated construct of injustice, corruption, and intrigue. His actions caused nothing good and were more or less intended to degradingly exploit the African natives.
Set apart from the parameters of normal human society, Benjamin Button, a man who was born to age backwards, falls in love with a young girl, Daisy, who ages forwards. Benjamin’s story is read aloud to Daisy by Caroline, her daughter, as she lay on her deathbed. In scenes set with peculiar curiosity and subtle fantasy, Benjamin embarks on an unusual journey to grasp the meaning of life and find his own sense of identity. Benjamin and Daisy’s paths cross many times before their unorthodox romance reaches fate and picks up in the middle. As he grows younger and Daisy slows with age, Benjamin discovers the rich futility of love as time causes the two to fall out of sync once again. Although its final plot ends like any other love story, David Fincher’s The Curious Case of Benjamin Button is arguably the next great cinematic breakthrough with its unique emotional paradoxes, ingenuitive digital effects, and complex subplots. This movie was challenging to evaluate because never before has a film combined subplot ingenuity so seamlessly with the delicate techniques of innovative film making and traditional cinematic endings.
The story’s two major characters are both considered as a stereotype character. Their roles were easily known as the author clearly discussed their parts and physiognomies in the story.
In 2008, David Fincher made a movie adapted from the short story “The Curious Case Of Benjamin Button” by F. Scott Fitzgerald. Both the movie and the book follow the life of the main character Benjamin Button. The theme of the story remains the same; man who is born old and ages backwards. The movie differs from the short story immensely because Benjamin is introduced differently, has a different love interest and a different child.