Con 13 nomination all'Oscar,
Il Curioso Caso di Benjamin Button mi pare raccolga molto più di quanto non meriti. Anche tenendo conto del fatto che ormai ci sono più categorie che film in concorso.
Il problema principale, è che da una storia breve di
Scott Fitzgerald sarebbe probabilmente stato saggio trarre un film
breve, e non un mezzo polpettone da 166 minuti.
Nella
New Orleans del 1918 nasce un bambino con l'aspetto e gli acciacchi di un ultra-ottantenne. Morta la madre di parto, il padre lo abbandona sulla soglia di una pensione per anziani dove una giovane donna lo accudirà facendolo crescere tra i vecchi ospiti, fintanto non sarà pronto per trovare la sua via nel mondo.
Passano gli anni, ed il bambino si sviluppa... ringiovanendo fino a diventare quel figaccione di
Brad Pitt.
Pur afflitto dalla sua singolare condizione (l'essere Brad Pitt, mica il ringiovanire!), riuscirà a vivere la vita e ad innamorarsi di una ragazzina (che nel mentre cresce normalmente, come ovvio) conosciuta quando lui assomigliava ad un settantenne alto un metro e quaranta.
I momenti topici del film non mancano e sono molto efficaci (nel rappresentare l'inizio e la fine delle varie fasi della vita), quel che convince meno è quanto c'è stato messo in mezzo per riempire il tutto: troppo lungo e non particolarmente ispirato. Troppe volte si ha la sgradevole sensazione che lo scrittore
Eric Roth ci stia propinando
Forrest Gump II - Back For The Money.
Gli stessi dialoghi in certe occasioni risultano un po' stucchevoli, ed in un film in larga parte narrato la cosa si sente.
Niente da dire sulla qualità della regia di
Fincher, così come sulla fotografia. Buona la musica.
La tiratissima, lucidatissima ed inceronatissima
Cate Blanchett e Brad Pitt fanno pure il loro lavoro, anche se nel caso di lui mi pare che la candidatura ll'Oscar rientri nella categoria "ehi, per tre quarti di film ha tanto trucco addosso/aggiunto-al-computer che non lo si riconosce:
PRESTO, CANDIDIAMOLO ORA PRIMA CHE TORNI NORMALE!"
Insomma: se ne sono già viste anche troppe, di candidature così. O magari sono io che ho copiosamente le mie cose...
Per il resto - per carità - commuoverà a dovere, poco da dire.
Voto: 6.5. Troppe nomination.
Tags: drammatico, fantastico, mistero, romantico, amore, nascita, morte, ringiovanimento, prima guerra mondiale, seconda guerra mondiale, New Orleans, Parigi, ballo, balletto, narrazione, flashback, incidente, sesso, bordello, bottoni, fabbrica, nave, rimorchiatore, arte, diario, nostalgia, sentimenti, figlia, parto, piano, ospedale, guerra, abbandono, affido, sterilità, crescita, maturazione, vita, David Fincher, Cate Blanchett, Brad Pitt, Forrest Gump II - Back For The Money.
Curious Case of Benjamin Button, The (2008)
Curioso caso di Benjamin Button, Il
Regista: David Fincher Scrittore: Eric Roth,
Eric Roth Genere: Drama, Fantasy, Mystery, Romance, Drama
Valutazione: 8.3/10 (59769 voti) [#120 nella top250]
Durata: 166 min
Paese: USA
Lingua: English
Cast:Trama:On the day that Hurricane Katrina hits New Orleans, elderly Daisy Williams nee Fuller is on her deathbed in a New Orleans hospital. At her side is her adult daughter, Caroline. Daisy asks Caroline to read to her aloud the diary of Daisy's lifelong friend, Benjamin Button. Benjamin's diary recounts his entire extraordinary life, the primary unusual aspect of which was his aging backwards, being born an old man who was diagnosed with several aged diseases at birth and thus given little chance of survival, but who does survive and gets younger with time. Abandoned by his biological father, Thomas Button, after Benjamin's biological mother died in childbirth, Benjamin was raised by Queenie, a black woman and caregiver at a seniors home. Daisy's grandmother was a resident at that home, which is where she first met Benjamin. Although separated through the years, Daisy and Benjamin remain in contact throughout their lives, reconnecting in their forties when in age they finally match up. Some of the revelations in Benjamin's diary are difficult for Caroline to read, especially as it relates to the time past this reconnection between Benjamin and Daisy, when Daisy gets older and Benjamin grows younger into his childhood years.
Trivia random: In 1998, Ron Howard was set to direct, with John Travolta in the lead.
Citazione random: Daisy: Have you slept with a woman before?::Benjamin Button: Never on a Sunday.
Filmography links and data courtesy of IMDb.
Roth, Eric (I)
Data di nascita: 22 March 1945
Ultimi lavori: Trivia random: As a youngster, was considered a potential tennis prodigy (as a doubles specialist).
Filmography links and data courtesy of IMDb.
Blanchett, Cate
Nome di battesimo: Blanchett, Catherine Elise
Data di nascita: 14 May 1969
Altezza: 5' 8½" (1.74 m)
Coniuge: Andrew Upton::(29 December 1997 - present) 3 children
Ultimi lavori: Biografia:Cate Blanchett graduated from Australia's National Institute of Dramatic Art in 1992 and, in a little over a year, had won both critical and popular acclaim. On graduating from NIDA, she joined the Sydney Theatre Company's production of Caryl Churchill's "Top Girls", then played Felice Bauer, the bride, in Tim Daly's "Kafka Dances", winning the 1993 Newcomer Award from the Sydney Theatre Critics Circle for her performance. From there, Blanchett moved to the role of Carol in David Mamet's searing polemic "Oleanna", also for the Sydney Theatre Company, and won the Rosemont Best Actress Award, her second award that year. She then co-starred in the ABC Television's prime time drama "Heartland" (1994), again winning critical acclaim. In 1995, she was nominated for Best Female Performance for her role as Ophelia in the Belvoir Street Theatre Company's production of "Hamlet". Other theatre credits include Helen in the Sydney Theatre Company's "Sweet Phoebe", Miranda in "The Tempest" and Rose in "The Blind Giant is Dancing", both for the Belvoir Street Theatre Company. In other television roles, Blanchett starred as Bianca in ABC's "Bordertown" (1995), as Janie Morris in "G.P." (1989) and in ABC's popular series Police Rescue (1994). She made her feature film debut in Paradise Road (1997), and, in 1998, she played the title character in Elizabeth (1998), winning numerous awards for her performance, including the Golden Globe for Best Actress in a Drama. Cate was also nominated for an Academy Award for the role but lost out to Gwyneth Paltrow. 2001 was a particularly busy year, with starring roles in Bandits (2001), The Shipping News (2001), Charlotte Gray (2001) and playing Elf Queen Galadriel in the "Lord Of The Rings" trilogy.
Trivia random: Was originally going to play the role of Anna in Mike Nichols's latest film Closer (2004/I), but due to her second pregnancy she had to drop out, so it was recast with Julia Roberts instead.
Citazione random: "I loved making it, I had a ball - cowboys and Indians. This is the thing, I love doing things which I'd never envisaged before. And so getting me on the back of a horse, with Tommy Lee Jones and shooting guns and chasing Indians, it's just not something that I would have expected myself to be doing." [On working with Ron Howard in The Missing (2003/I).]
Filmography links and data courtesy of IMDb.
Fitzgerald, F. Scott
Nome di battesimo: Fitzgerald, Francis Scott Key
Data di nascita: 24 September 1896
Data di morte: 21 December 1940
Altezza: 5' 8" (1.73 m)
Coniuge: Zelda Sayre::(3 April 1920 - 21 December 1940) (his death) 1 child
Ultimi lavori: Biografia:"There are no second acts in American lives," wrote F. Scott Fitzgerald, who himself went from being the high priest of the Jazz Age to a down-and-out alcoholic within the space of twenty years, not before giving the world several literary masterpieces, the most famous of which is The Great Gatsby (1924). He was born in 1896 to a mother who spoiled him shamelessly, leading him to grow up an especially self-possessed young man. While he was obsessed by the image of Princeton he flunked out, less interested in Latin and trigonometry than bathtub gin and bright young things. The brightest was an unconventional young lady from Montgomery, Alabama named Zelda Sayre. Fitzgerald invoked the jealousy of numerous local boys, some of whom had even begun a fraternity in Zelda's honor, by snagging her shortly before the publication of his first novel, This Side of Paradise. The novel was a huge success, and Fitzgerald suddenly found himself the most highly-paid writer in America. During the mid-to-late 20s, the Fitzgeralds lived in Europe among many American expatriates including Gertrude Stein, Cole Porter, Ernest Hemingway and Thornton Wilder. He wrote what is considered his greatest masterpiece, 'The Great Gatsby', while living in Paris. It was at the end of this period (1924-1930) that his marriage to the highly strung, demanding and mentally unstable Zelda Sayre began to unravel. Zelda was diagnosed with schizophrenia and spent much of the rest of her life in a variety of mental institutions. Fitzgerald turned more and more to alcohol. In 1930, a major crisis came when Zelda had a series of psychotic attacks, beginning a descent into madness and schizophrenia from which she would never recover. Much of Fitzgerald's income would now be dedicated to keeping his wife in mental hospitals. Emotionally and creatively wrung out, he wrote Tender is The Night (1934), the story of Dick Diver and his schizophrenic wife Nicole, that shows the pain that he felt himself. In the mid-1930s, Fitzgerald had a breakdown of his own. He had become a clinical alcoholic, something he would detail in his famous The Crack-Up series of essays. With Zelda institutionalized on the East Coast, it was Hollywood that proved to be Fitzgerald's salvation. Although he had little success in writing for films, which he had already attempted several times before, he was paid well and gained a new professional standing. His experiences there inspired The Last Tycoon, his last and unfinished novel which some believe might have been his greatest of all. Fitzgerald died at the home of his mistress, writer Sheilah Graham, of a heart attack in 1940, believing himself to be a failed and broken man, but never knew that he would one day be considered one of the finest writers of the 20th century.
Trivia random: Was named after Francis Scott Key who was a distant relative of his.
Citazione random: No grand idea was ever born in a conference, but a lot of foolish ideas have died there.
Filmography links and data courtesy of IMDb.
Pitt, Brad
Nome di battesimo: Pitt, William Bradley
Data di nascita: 18 December 1963
Altezza: 5' 10¾" (1.80 m)
Coniuge: Jennifer Aniston::(29 July 2000 - 2 October 2005) (divorced)
Ultimi lavori: Biografia:Brad Pitt was born in Oklahoma and raised in Springfield, Missouri. His mother's name is Jane Etta Hillhouse. His father, William (Bill) Pitt, worked in management at a trucking firm in Springfield. He has a younger brother, Douglas (Doug) Pitt and a younger sister Julie Neal Pitt. At Kickapoo High School, Pitt was involved in sports, debating, student government and school musicals. Pitt attended the University of Missouri, where he majored in journalism with a focus on advertising. He occasionally acted in fraternity shows. He left college two credits short of graduating to move to California. Before he became successful at acting, Pitt supported himself by driving strippers in limos, moving refrigerators and dressing as a giant chicken while working for "el Pollo Loco."
Trivia random: Was a journalism major in college with an advertising focus.
Citazione random: [Viasat magazine, 5/01] Fame is a bitch, man.
Salario massimo: $30,000,000 ($10m salary + backend participations), per Ocean's Eleven (2001)
Filmography links and data courtesy of IMDb.
Fincher, David
Nome di battesimo: Fincher, David Leo
Data di nascita: 28 August 1962
Altezza: 6' 0½" (1.84 m)
Coniuge: Donya Fiorentino::(1990 - 1995) (divorced) 1 child
Ultimi lavori: Biografia:David Fincher was born in 1962 in Denver, Colorado, and was raised in Marin County, California. When he was 18 years old, he went to work for John Korty at Korty Films in Mill Valley. He subsequently worked at ILM (Industrial Light and Magic) from 1981 - 1983. Fincher left ILM to direct TV commercials and music videos after signing with N. Lee Lacy in Hollywood. He went on to found Propaganda in 1987 with fellow directors Dominic Sena, Greg Gold and Nigel Dick. Fincher has directed TV commercials for clients that include: Nike, Coca-Cola, Budweiser, Heinekin, Pepsi, Levi's, Converse, AT & T, and Chanel. He has directed music videos for: Madonna, Sting, The Rolling Stones, Michael Jackson, Aerosmith, George Michael, Iggy Pop, The Wallflowers, Billy Idol, Stevie Winwood, The Motels and, most recently, A Perfect Circle. As a film director, he has achieved huge success with Se7en (1995), Fight Club (1999) and, most recently, Panic Room (2002).
Trivia random: Was originally considered to direct Spider-Man (2002).
Citazione random: I don't know how much movies should entertain. To me, I'm always interested in movies that scar. The thing I love about Jaws (1975) is the fact that I've never gone swimming in the ocean again.
Filmography links and data courtesy of IMDb. 
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