As I discussed earlier with regard to “Revolutionary Road,” Claire and I are going to try to predict which screenwriter will win the award for Best Adapted Screenplay. Now, I should be perfectly clear, we have absolutely no qualifications to do this, but so what. While I don’t know which screenplay I’ll pick to win, I know it won’t be for “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button.”
I read the story of the same name by F. Scott Fitzgerald before I saw the movie not worrying that it would ruin the story; the previews already tell the story of a baby born old and growing younger in body. In any event it was irrelevant, the only thing adapted from the short story to the movie was the title, that’s it. Not a single fact is the same. Moreover the concept is different. In the Fitzgerald story, the baby is born mentally and physically old and both aspects of his life grow younger. The story familiar to all of us who read The Confessions of Max Tivoli by Andrew Sean Greer of goola baby born physically old and mentally young, then grows younger in body but matures mentally with age, that is the ”Benjamin Button” movie plot line. Mr. Greer explains that he didn’t know of the movie or the short story and the movie didn’t know of him until his book was published, which explains why the movie wasn’t named after Max. However, it doesn’t explain why the movie is entirely different from the short story, yet still used its title. If this concept intrigues you, I recommend the Tivoli book, it’s a nice read. Read the rest of this entry »
Claire
Kim
