《The Curious Case of Benjamin Button》　本杰明·巴頓奇事　相遇的瞬間已是永恒

No.066　《The Curious Case of Benjamin Button》　本杰明·巴頓奇事　相遇的瞬間已是永恒

英文導讀

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button is a 2008 American fantasy-drama film directed by David Fincher. The screenplay by Eric Roth and Robin Swicord is loosely based on the 1922 short story of the same name by F. Scott Fitzgerald.

In May 2005, actors Brad Pitt and Cate Blanchett entered negotiations to star in the film. In September 2006, actors Tilda Swinton, Jason Flemyng and Taraji P. Henson entered negotiations to be cast into the film. The following October, with production yet to begin, actress Julia Ormond was cast as Daisy's daughter, to whom Blanchett's character tells the story of her love for Benjamin Button. Brad Pitt had collaborated with many of his co-stars in previous films. He co-starred with Ormond in Legends of the Fall, with Flemyng in Snatch, with Harris in Ocean's Twelve, with Blanchett in Babel and with Swinton in Burn After Reading.

The film stars Brad Pitt as a man who ages in reverse and Cate Blanchett as the love interest throughout his life.

I was born under unusual circumstances. And so begins "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button," about a man who is born in his eighties and ages backwards: a man, like any of us, who is unable to stop time. We follow his story, set in New Orleans from the end of World War I in 1918, into the 21st century, following his journey that is as unusual as any man's life can be.

Todd McCarthy of Variety gave the film a positive review, calling it a "richly satisfying serving of deep-dish Hollywood storytelling." Peter Howell of The Toronto Star says: "It's been said that the unexamined life is not worth living. The Curious Case of Benjamin Button suggests an addendum: a life lived backwards can be far more enriching" and describes the film as"a magical and moving account of a man living his life resoundingly in reverse" and "moviemaking at its best." Rod Yates of Empire awarded it five out of a possible five stars. Kirk Honeycutt of The Hollywood Reporter felt the film was "superbly made and winningly acted by Brad Pitt in his most impressive outing to date." Honeycutt praised Fincher's directing of the film and noted that the "cinematography wonderfully marries a palette of subdued earthern colors with the necessary CGI and other visual effects that place one in a magical past." Honeycutt states the bottom line about Benjamin Button is that it is "an intimate epic about love and loss that is pure cinema."

The film was released in North America on December 25, 2008, and on February 6, 2009 in the United Kingdom, to positive reviews. The film went on to receive thirteen Academy Award nominations, including Best Picture, Best Director for Fincher, Best Actor for Pitt and Best Supporting Actress for Taraji P. Henson, and won three, for Best Art Direction, Best Makeup and Best Visual Effects.

獲獎情況

2009年第81屆奧斯卡：最佳視覺效果、最佳藝術(shù)指導、最佳化妝獎，并榮獲最佳影片提名、最佳導演提名、最佳男主角提名、最佳女配角提名、最佳改編劇本提名。

影片信息

導演：大衛(wèi)·芬奇

編?。喊鹂?middot;羅斯、羅賓·史威考德

主演：布拉德·皮特、凱特·布蘭切特、塔拉吉·P·漢森、蒂爾達·斯文頓

類型：劇情、愛情、懸疑、奇幻

制片國家（地區(qū)）：美國

上映日期：2008-12-25（美國）

片長：166分鐘

又名：《奇幻逆緣》《返老還童》《班杰明的奇幻旅程》

劇情簡介

電影一開始，一位病危的老婦睜開了她的雙眼。老婦叫作黛茜（凱特·布蘭切特飾），她讓女兒凱若琳（朱莉婭·奧蒙德飾）為她閱讀一本日記。這本日記的作者叫本杰明·巴頓（布拉德·皮特　飾）。故事采用倒敘的方式展開。

本杰明出生在第一次世界大戰(zhàn)停戰(zhàn)時期，他的身體怪異，生來便像個80多歲的老人。這樣的他，被父親當作怪物，父親將他遺棄在了養(yǎng)老院。無法生育的黑人女護工奎妮收養(yǎng)了他，并為他起名本杰明。本杰明在養(yǎng)老院與老人們一起生活。

令人不可思議的是，本杰明逆向發(fā)育，身體隨著年齡的增長變得稍有活力。慢慢地，他擺脫輪椅，學會了走路。就這樣，本杰明在養(yǎng)老院里度過了他的童年，并遇上了富勒太太的孫女黛西（凱特·布蘭切特飾）。慢慢成長的本杰明成為了一名船員，一直隨船出海周游，期間他不斷給黛西寄回明信片，從而開始了情緣。

在日本偷襲珍珠港之后，他所在的船被美軍征用，在一次打撈過程中，他們的船與敵軍相遇，他成了全船唯一的幸存者。這次的經(jīng)歷使他對人生、生命有了全新的認識。

隨著本杰明的成長，他變得越來越年輕，在他的身體40歲的時候，他和自己的父親相認，并且繼承了父親的遺產(chǎn)。而此時，黛西在一次表演時候發(fā)生意外，離開了芭蕾舞臺。然而，這一次，兩人的相見并沒有什么進展。

1962年春，黛西回到養(yǎng)老院，與本杰明重逢，兩人組織家庭，并開始了激情的婚姻生活，這時本杰明的身體變成了30多歲的性感男人，他們擁有一個女兒。隨著本杰明的成長，他逐漸意識到，自己最終將會變成一個小孩子。為了不拖累黛西，他把財產(chǎn)留給黛西之后，選擇一個人離去。

十多年后，兩人再次相見，然后他給黛西寄來準備交給女兒的提前填寫的明信片。數(shù)年后，本杰明·巴頓體型變成小孩，回到療養(yǎng)院中倒頭便睡，記憶開始衰退。警察在其背包上找到其日記，并把其交給黛西。于是，黛西像照顧自己的孩子一樣照顧他。最后在2003年，本杰明·巴頓變成嬰兒，躺在黛西懷中閉上眼睛。此時，作為回憶人的黛西躺在醫(yī)院里，在颶風卡特里娜吹襲美國南部之時，悄悄離開了人世。

制作花絮

本片改編自斯科特·菲茨杰拉德寫于1922年的同名短篇小說。

電影制作方和Levi's品牌服裝有緊密的合作。為突現(xiàn)其真實性，該影片大量采用了Levi's的懷舊系列。

布拉德·皮特的小女兒在本片串演了小角色，出演本杰明和黛西的女兒。

本片是泰德·漢森生前出演的最后一部電影。

重點學習

The film stars Brad Pitt as a man who ages in reverse

在英語中，reverse作為名詞解時，有“背面，反面；相反”的意思，所以文中in reverse是“相反，向相反方向，倒（退），逆（行、轉(zhuǎn)等）”的意思，比如：But what if that same process could be run in reverse, like a movie run backward?（但是，如果相同的過程逆向運行會怎樣，像一部倒放的電影？）

The film went on to receive thirteen Academy Award nominations

文中的went on to是go on to的過去時態(tài)，是“接著，繼續(xù)去；轉(zhuǎn)入；延續(xù)到”的意思，比如：If you want to go on to visit Britain, you can now do it without flying or taking a ferry.（如果你想去游覽英國的話，你現(xiàn)在可以不用乘飛機或是搭乘擺渡去英國了。）

單詞時間

loosely[?lu:sli] adv. 寬松地；放蕩地；輕率地

negotiation[ni?ɡ?u?i?ei??n] n. 談判；轉(zhuǎn)讓；[口語]順利的通過

unusual[??n?ju:?u?l] adj. 不尋常的；與眾不同的；不平常的

backwards[?bækw?dz] adv. 倒；向后；逆

storytelling[?st?:ri?teli?] n. 講故事，說書；講故事（或說書）的技藝

addendum[??dend?m] n. 附錄，附件；補遺；附加物

resoundingly[ri?zaundi?li] adv. 成功地；轟動地

superbly[sju:?p?:bli] adv. 雄偉地；壯麗地；上等地；莊重地

impressive[im?presiv] adj. 感人的；令人欽佩的；給人以深刻印象的

intimate[?intim?t] adj. 親密的；私人的；精通的

pure[pju?] adj. 純的；純粹的；純潔的；清白的；純理論的