First of all, as a follow up to this post, upon aging considerably I have received a letter from the Voter Registration – I can vote!
Now this vote means I can get a person running in my district to speak in the Legislative Council for me. Make laws, tell the government it’s incompetent and absolutely ridiculous, you know, stuff like that. But I’m still a lesser citizen, because people like my dad get two votes (geographical constituency + functional constituency). Please do not ask me why this is the case (actually, I do know, but it’ll take too long to explain. Basically, it just takes one man to mess up an entire voting system), please do not tell me this is unfair or whatever, because remember this is Hong Kong, with a real age of 11 years. Being a former British colony, we are already doing so, so well (at least we don’t have to look at the Queen to pass our reform bills. Looking at you, Canada).
But yes, it is quite ridiculous indeed. I will fight for “one man ONE vote”. Not necessarily universal suffrage, unless I see the political maturity of HK’s citizens grow exponentially within the next two years, and the media start reporting things that are not outrageously fabricated (oh you have no idea). I will fight when the time is right and when I am more than a teenage girl squealing with delight upon receiving notes from the government (i.e. when I have to pay taxes. Oh the horror).
Speaking of aging – Benjamin Button. (SPOILER ALERT) I must begin by saying how incredibly biased I am while I write this review – F. Scott Fitzgerald is one of my favourite writers, along with Nick Hornby and, inevitably, Roald Dahl. Anything inspired by them, I watch, I cry, I praise.
To be fair, though, I’m aware this movie is not so much based on the original short story, and although I haven’t read it yet I have a feeling I’m going to be let down (sorry, Mr. Fitzgerald), as movie versions tend to be better than the ink on paper ones. It’s all about visualization and soundtracks and dialogue and handsome people on a white rectangle, a space much easier to fill than a stack of three hundred or so pages. This does not apply to the Harry Potter series, however. Those were just. I don’t even want to talk about them.
BB revolves around the contemplation of death, how death is an eventuality regardless of whether life runs forwards or backwards. It’s beautiful how most characters die in the film, but all of them towards the end of their lives rest without regret or guilt. Which is why this is not a tear jerker, but is moving enough to keep your eyes a bit moist throughout.
I think Hitchcock would have enjoyed this movie, albeit the lack of murder, because he once said it’s all about the script, and BB is all about the script. Eric Roth evidently put a lot of Gump into Button, him being the screenwriter of both. The prefect blend of occurrence of quotable lines, scenes of humour and the unconscious flow of soundtrack was the epitome of Gump-style films. However, not to worry, because the striking similarity between the two is not regrettable, they are still fundementally two very different films. Button has much more contemplation to life than Gump did, since the philosophy provided by Fitzgerald keeps the audience thinking at a level much busier than that required from a Gump audience.
Which may have made the movie tiring for some, I wouldn’t know, I can watch TCM the whole week without needing anything but glasses of water, a box of tissues, a toilet and a shower, but the 166min may be too much for some people’s bladders, and the brilliant but exhausting philosophy also (yes, philosophy is directly linked to the bladder. The ancient Chinese will tell you this). My advice – pee before, drink afterwards.
Let’s talk actors. What the heck are you, Cate Blanchett, what do you feed yourself with that allows you to play every single damned character thinkable with acute precision? Also, do NOT tell me SKII is the answer to flawless skin. I have tried it (along with around three trillion other brands) and it is NOT the magical whatsit that you claim it to be. SO TELL ME, WHAT DO YOU USE?!?!
Elle Fanning is going to grow up to be one of the most beautiful women in Hollywood, mark my words. It helps that she looks so similar to Blanchett. You two ought to check your ancestry, most probably related by blood somewhere in the tree.
Not much to say about Brad Pitt. I think he could have done a better job but I’m not an actor so I can’t say. Obviously I’m not a person who gets particularly moved by hot guys aging backwards to their 20s flawless skin disposition. Quite impressed with the precision with which he played his aged BB. Alright, alright, he’s hot, and I did squeak a little when the Brad Pitt from 20 years ago showed up on the screen. But only a little, I swear!
Yes, it is true, bad boys are better.
