Mid-term Writing Test

As you know it, the Academy Award occured recently on February 22nd. After many awards given, the Oscar for the best film went to the movie Slumdog Millionaire. Having seen David Fincher's movie The Curious Case of Benjamin Button which was also nominated for the same award, I was quite disapointed for the director that his latest film did not won this award. After seeing these two films, I must say in my honest opinion that I think that Ficher's movie should have won this award, first of all, because of its magical story and then because of his peculiar and unique visual style.

Firstly, I must do a little summary of The Curious Case of Benjamin Button’s story. The movie tells the adventures of a man called Benjamin Button who is growing old. So, instead of being older year after year, he is getting younger. The unsual scenario of the film makes us feel the influence of fantasy literature on the director. Unlike every fantasy movies that are released, Bejamin Button is not another Lord of the Ring copy. It has some supernatural contents in a realistic background of historical events like the Katrina Hurricane. That is for me, the most interesting part of the movie, a well-balanced story between real and magical.

Secondly, the director’s visual style is blameless. For exemple, the images of Button’s childhood while being really aged are colored of sepia tones which recalls in our memories the appearance of old polaroid pictures. Other esthetical choices like that are noticable during the whole film. We can feel the influence of a timeless and unsual story on the director’s vision of the film who chooses to give to Brad Pitt a jaw-dropping makeup job. Borderline of being a special effect, the makeup on the actors, especially for Pitt, is incredibly well done. Add the archive images of the man struck by the thunder plus the cold and dark images of the old woman laying on her hospital bed during the storm, and you get an exciting and interesting visual result. This is, in my opinion, one of the film’s greatest quality, the fact that it can juggle between so many styles.

Finally, the magical and supernatural story and the peculiar vision of the director’s about it, brings so many great images and gives to the movie a unique style. In my opinion, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button is a great work of art which deserved the Oscar award for best film instead of Slumdog Millionaire.

420 words.