Death's Honesty
In Leslie Bennett's Vanity Fair profile of Cate Blanchett, the actress talks about the Benjamin Button grim-reaper factor. Director David Fincher told her it would be "about death," she says, "and I think that's great." And so do most of us, I believe. We alI think it's pretty darn cool when a movie comes along and tries to get us to confront our mortality.
"We've enshrined the purity, sanctity, value, and importance of bringing children into the world," says Blanchett, "[and] yet we don't discuss death. There used to be an enshrined period where mourning was a necessary part of going through the process of grieving; death wasn't considered morbid or antisocial. But that's totally gone. Now we're all terrified of aging, terrified of death. This film deals with death as a release. I hope it's a moment of catharsis."
"It's sort of like a repository for your grief, about whatever you grieve about -- the loss of loved ones, the missing of opportunities, whatever," Fincher tells Bennetts,. "You hope it will leave people feeling hopeful about certain things, and sad about certain things."
Posted by Jeffrey Wells on December 30, 2008 at 10:28 AM
comment #1
Sabina E
says ...
She is so right on the spot-- many people have such an irrational fear of aging and death.
Death is natural and it happens to everyone. We need to accept that. We cannot stop aging either-- it's natural and part of the process.
I am appalled by society's anti-aging attitude toward older women (and older men, too). What's with the anti-aging creams, botox, and plastic surgery? STOP THE MADNESS!!!!
Posted by Sabina E
at December 30, 2008 10:58 AM
comment #2
Sabina E
says ...
by the way, that's a really love photo of Cate. love her.
Posted by Sabina E
at December 30, 2008 10:59 AM
comment #3
Sabina E
says ...
*lovely photo, my bad
Posted by Sabina E
at December 30, 2008 11:00 AM
comment #4
arturobandini2
says ...
More importantly: How do we rate her feet? On a 0-10 scale, I'd say 8 or 9. Nice arch, toes a little shorter than Meg Ryan's.
Posted by arturobandini2
at December 30, 2008 11:01 AM
comment #5
Edward Havens
says ...
But what does Jeff's hat think about death?
Posted by Edward Havens
at December 30, 2008 11:18 AM
comment #6
p.Vice
says ...
This staggeringly shallow quote throws Fincher under the bus. A film "about death" isn't possible if it's not interested in the 70 or 80 years before that moment comes. Deathdeathdeathdeathdeath does not a movie make. I bet he's one of those assholes who complained that Spielberg pulled his punches in Schindler's List by having a shower instead of a gas chamber.
Also, how interesting that the film is supposedly "about death" but fails to provide Benjamin with any kind of reaction (much less examine it) when his mammy croaks. Or his dad. Or Mr. Weathers. Or anyone else. Or at the end when the daughter runs out of the room and never comes back to see that mom's a goner.
Posted by p.Vice
at December 30, 2008 12:08 PM
comment #7
CitizenKanedforChewingGum
says ...
"A film "about death" isn't possible if it's not interested in the 70 or 80 years before that moment comes. Deathdeathdeathdeathdeath does not a movie make."
Yet the only film you seemed to like this year was Synecdoche, NY. That film seemed pretty obsessed with death to me...
"Also, how interesting that the film is supposedly "about death" but fails to provide Benjamin with any kind of reaction (much less examine it)"
How exactly should one react to death? It's completely irrational. And furthermore, meaningless...mourning someone is never going to bring them back. In a way it's selfish, just a way of coping so WE can go on with our lives in their absence. So Ben's lack of a reaction *is* sort of a reaction in and of itself. Kind of zen-like -- and for someone born in such a state as he was, I bought it. Also, the film *does* examine it throughout its duration. It seems to say that treasure the moments you share with someone, because ultimately that's all that you have in this world and you never know when it will be taken away from you. Not particularly deep stuff, but film has always been a better medium for showing not telling...
Btw, I think a lot of people that had serious problems with this film are reacting to Eric Roth's passive characterization of Ben Button (he did the same thing in Forrest Gump). The idea's a bit Rorschachian, really...throw out a very loose personality who seems to "float" through the film without really asserting his authority in any situation, and it becomes easier for you to imagine yourself directly *in* his shoes. All I can say is it worked for me -- I think the key is that the central concept of the film was strong enough to support the "black hole" at its center. Forrest Gump -- not so much.
Posted by CitizenKanedforChewingGum
at December 30, 2008 12:54 PM
comment #8
BurmaShave
says ...
I don't like feeling that way about Bob Dylan.
Posted by BurmaShave
at December 30, 2008 1:57 PM
comment #9
Chase Kahn
says ...
It's not in Benjamin's character to mourn death outwardly -- especially in the first act when he has no idea how long he has or what his illness entails.
Would we really be up for a sniffle-fest every time someone died in the film? It happens about every 25 minutes...
Posted by Chase Kahn
at December 30, 2008 2:24 PM
comment #10
AllieAnne
says ...
I saw "Benjamin Button" on Sunday. I cried from beginning to end but never felt manipulated. It was just what I needed and then I felt pretty good afterward. Definitely a moving experience ... The only problem (?) was someone noticed my swollen eyes in the ladies' room afterward and said "Oh, I know! It's so sad that the dog died!"
Posted by AllieAnne
at December 30, 2008 2:52 PM
comment #11
MindlessObamaton
says ...
Cate: Sexy f'n pic, you're a completely hot MILF.
Please, honey, TCCOBB has about as much to do with death as a greeting card does. Really. the "death film" of the year, for me, is SYNEDOCHE, NY. That was an amazing film about mortality. Not BB's faux weighty/schmaltzy crap. the more I think about the film now, the more it falls apart.
Posted by MindlessObamaton
at December 30, 2008 5:13 PM
comment #12
MartinBlank
says ...
When a movie with no stars about people wasting away in a nursing home, unvisited by family, existing from day to ignoble day and shitting into bags and bedpans until they die, with no cutesy Bucket List or Patch Adams angle ... when a movie like that cracks $300 mil domestic, then we can talk about moviegoers wanting to confront aging and death.
Posted by MartinBlank
at December 30, 2008 6:25 PM
comment #13
BurmaShave
says ...
Post where I insist SYNECDOCHE is a piece of shit #47
Posted by BurmaShave
at December 30, 2008 11:16 PM
comment #14
CitizenKanedforChewingGum
says ...
"Not BB's faux weighty/schmaltzy crap. the more I think about the film now, the more it falls apart."
I dunno. The more I think about Synecdoche, the more I really think it tries way too hard. I know that is a fucking odd thing to say, but sometimes for a big theme (like death) to move me I think you just need to drop all that post-modernist bullshit at the door and stick to a straighter narrative. Again, I can't believe I am saying this because I am a fan of S, NY but even as a staunch defender, I have to submit that it becomes a muddled mess towards the end (and like all Kaufman films, it is ultimately *about* Charlie Kaufman more than anything else), whereas TCCoBB just kept building and building towards (what I thought was) a spectacular climax. I was outwardly moved by that film, and that is indeed a rare occasion.
To be clear, I'd put both on my year's top 10 list, but if someone tells me they hate Kaufman's film, I dunno...I kind of understand.
Posted by CitizenKanedforChewingGum
at December 31, 2008 2:13 AM
comment #15
janee
says ...
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Posted by janee
at May 19, 2011 5:47 AM