The Curious Case of Benjamin Button and Benjamins Character - Essay Example

 The film The Curious Case of Benjamin Button is about a child who was born looking old, but as years went by, he grew younger. This movie shows the entire life of Benjamin Button, from the time he was born to the time he died. In the movie, Benjamin has a very rare condition that makes him not socialize well with others. He faced many challenges, but he always had a positive attitude. It is a long movie, but every scene captivates the audience (Lipovetsky, 2009). There are dark scenes and light scenes in the movie, which bring out a wonderful theme. According to Lipovetsky, the film has very good teachings about friendship, unconditional love, and appreciating what you have. These are the basic themes of the film (Lipovetsky, 2009). Genre, Mise-en-scène, lighting, camera angle, sound, and narrative are some of the film-making techniques used in this film. This paper is going to analyze these film-making techniques used in the film, and describe how Benjamin was able to face all the difficulties in his life. According to Campsall (2002), a film’s genre hints what to expect in the film, and this film’s genre ranges between science fiction, romance and history. Science fiction is used because Benjamin’s condition at birth, and the way he lived from old to young cannot exist. Benjamin was born as tiny as a new born child, but his skin was wrinkled like an old man’s. Furthermore, his bones were weak and his internal organs were almost failing like the way old people get. By the time Benjamin was sixty years old, he looked like a teenager. The genre of this film is science fiction since none of these things are real. Romance is also a genre used in this film and it can be seen in the way Benjamin falls in love with Daisy. She developed a close friendship with him from an early age, and even though they were separated at some point, they still loved each other. The movie is set in the just after the end of the First World War, and history as a genre can be seen here. There is family who lost their child in war, and there is a time when Benjamin and a crew in a ship were in war for America. One can be able to see the livelihood of people during that time and learn a few things about history. The movie starts in a hospital, and the director only shows old Daisy lying on the bed, her daughter, and an attending nurse. Mise-en-scène is used here because the hospital’s name is not shown, and other patients are also not shown (Speidel, 2006, pp 8-9). Two people are only shown outside the nursing home when Benjamin Button is abandoned there. According to Kinoeye (2007), Mise-en-scène is used by a director for a purpose: sometimes to bring about a certain mood or to develop a character. The reason why the director put only two people where Button was abandoned could be to show the contrasting characters of the two people. One of them wanted to kill Benjamin, and the other one wanted to keep it. Therefore, the director brought out cruelty, love and acceptance between the two people. Mise-en-scène is used in many places in this film to bring out a certain mood and develop certain characters. Another place it is used is where Benjamin’s father died sitting on a bench outside. These two people are the only ones on scene, and one is able to see the affection they have for each other. Benjamin is seen as a person who is willing to forgive and forget the wrongs done to him. His father on the other hand is one who recognizes his mistakes and is ready to make amends. Lighting is another film-making technique used in the film The Curious Case of Benjamin Button. Benjamin Button was born at night, same as the time he was abandoned at the nursing home. This probably was meant to show a very sad time for Benjamin and his family. According to Chandler (2002), lighting can be used to create a romantic scene, and it is used when Benjamin and Daisy meet after aver long time. The lighting is dim, since there are distant lights, and this makes the audience get a romantic feeling. Another film-making technique used is the camera angle, and it carries a significant meaning. Superiority and weakness can be noted by a high angle point of view shot and a low angle shot respectively. The film employs this film-making technique when showing the captain of the ship Benjamin goes to work in. When he first offers Button a job, a high angled shot is used to show his superiority. When Benjamin together with Daisy asked him to give them a ride on the ship, a low angled shot was used. This probably was used to show how drunk the captain was. A significant meaning can also be created using the camera movement used in this film. According to an article called “The World of Movies”, close-up a face can be used to create emotion. A close-up to the face of old Daisy as the film begins may signify the sense of nostalgia she has. She is lying on the hospital bed, sad that she is going to die and leave her daughter behind. On the other hand, she is also happy to have shared a life with Benjamin Button. The movie starts with a close up of her face, making the audience curious of what might be wrong with her. The audience is also able to see the reaction of Benjamin’s father when he sees Benjamin for the first time. The camera shows a close up, and one can see that his father is not pleased to see him. When Benjamin’s father went to see him after his birth, the following shot is used to track his movements. The film technique called following shot is also used on Benjamin when he was on board the ship during the war. Sound is another common film-making technique, and it used in this film (Scheufele et al, pp 20-22). Sounds create certain atmospheres in different scenes (Corrigan, 2004). Benjamin was born just after World War One had ended. Outside, celebration, victory and patriotic music were being played. The sound and sights of fireworks is also present in the film depicting a celebratory atmosphere. People were also outside cheering and celebrating the end of the war. Sound, as film-making technique, is used to show the happy mood people had during that time. The sound of Benjamin as baby crying is also used in the film. It can mean that it is a normal child crying, or in distress due to his condition. When Benjamin’s father was being chased by a police officer after trying to throw Benjamin in the river, fast harmonic music is played. This creates tension in the scene and makes the audience anxious of what is going to happen next. The police officer also blows a whistle, and this sound shows that he is calling for assistance from other law enforcement. The sound of the whistle used can also be used to show techniques used by police officers in the line of duty. The film ranges from sadness to happiness, and musical sounds are used to bring out emotions in these different scenes. At the hospital where old Daisy was sleeping, thunder and lightning sounds can be heard. This is also an example of sounds used to create an atmosphere, and it showed that there was a storm coming. Narrative is also another film-making technique that is used in the film The Curious Case of Benjamin Button. When the movie starts, Daisy lying on the hospital bed narrates a story of a man who lost his son during at war. According to Campsall, narratives are stories, and the story told in the movie gives the audience a hint of what to expect. This film is mostly a narrative and the audience is told about events that already happened. Daisy tells her daughter to read a diary that contains the life of Benjamin Button. This means that the audience begins to hear the story of Benjamin through the narration of Daisy’s daughter. As the film progresses, Benjamin’s voice can also be heard narrating his story. He talks about the events at the time of his birth and the gratitude he had for his mother. He also talks about the affection he felt for Daisy, and his life ambitions. This film-making technique is used to connect different stories. It is also used to explain what and why something is occurring. These things may not be understood without the use of narratives. The film The Curious Case of Benjamin Button has many teachings apart from the great number of film-making techniques it uses. Love is first seen in the film between Daisy and her daughter. In Daisy’s story love between a father and son is seen. After losing his son in war, the father makes a clock that goes backwards. This showed that he wanted to turn back the hands of time and have his son again. There is also love between Benjamin’s father and mother. The mother sacrificed her life so that Benjamin’s father could have a child. His mother also makes the father promise to be pleased by Benjamin. This shows the love that the mother had for Benjamin despite of his condition. Love can also be seen in the film between Benjamin and Daisy whose love developed from childhood until the time of death. When Benjamin leaves to go and start his own life, he sends postcards to Daisy from all the places he has visited. The woman who took care of Benjamin at the nursing home also shared a good relationship based on love. They had mixed feelings about Benjamin, but decided to raise him. Furthermore, they were unsuccessfully trying to have a child of their own for a long time, but the love they had for each other kept them together. Friendship is also another teaching given by the film. The love between Daisy and Benjamin began as friendship. There is also friendship between the captain and Benjamin. The captain takes Benjamin and Daisy on a ride on his ship when they requested him. In conclusion, Benjamin’s character is a very important part of the film. He faced many difficulties due to his condition, but he still had the will to go on. At the nursing home, he accepted who he was and respected the old people. He did not seclude himself because of his condition, but enjoyed the company of people. This is probably because of the love given to him by the mother who raised him. He was very adventurers, and this is shown when he went against his mother’s wishes and went out with a friend. He also joined a ship crew and toured the world with his friend the captain. Button was also very loving and forgiving, and this is shown when he forgave his father. His father abandoned him when he was born due to his condition. When he came back and asked for forgiveness, Benjamin showed respect for his father by not getting angry. He instead forgave him, and granted his wishes of going to seat at the beach. This film is very interesting and the techniques used in its production are excellent. Works Cited A guide to teaching citizenship through film. The World in the Movies. BFI, 2009. Bordwell, David. Film as an Art: Creativity, Technology and Business. Film Art and Filmmaking. Print. Campsall, Steve. Analysing Moving Image Texts: ‘Film Language’. Media - GCSE Film Analysis Guide (3) – SJC, 2002. Print. Chandler, Daniel. The 'Grammar' of Television and Film, 2012. Print. Film Making Techniques. Web. April 29th 2012 http://www.centralmanclc.com/Learning/Media/FilmMaking/ Kinoeye. Does style determine meaning? The scope and importance of Mise en scene Criticism. Warwick Blogs, 2007. Lipovetsky, Josh. The Curious Case of Benjamin Button – Essential Themes. Film Insight- Analyzing Movies Since 2008. 2009. Web. April 29th 2012 http://filminsight.net/2009/02/20/the-curious-case-of-benjamin-button-essential-themes/ Speidel, Suzanne. Film Form and Narrative. Chapter 3, 2006. Print. Scheufele, Christine, et al. The English Patient – Novel and Film. 2008. Print. Corrigan, Timothy. A Short Guide to Writing about Film. 5th. ed. New York: Longman, 2004. Print. ISBN: 0-321-09665-7. Read More