Review Curiosity

I “love” movies. What I usually think is that they help me drift away from reality, but what actually happens is that movies depict a fun and exciting perspective of how I ought to see life as it is. I love stories, most especially stories I can relate myself with. I am very emotional. Whenever a movie captures my heart, I cannot easily get over with it, it will take the entire night or the next day for me to move on and realize that it was “just” a movie.

It was Maundy Thursday and the family tradition during the Holy Week was to watch movies. This has been one of the many reasons why I look forward to the Lent season (HAHA). I really love seeing my mom and dad and my sister stare seriously at the TV screen, then smile and laugh and look sad altogether. :’) mem’ries. Geeeezz, not again. Okay, so this year, we spent Thursday at home, as usual, and me and my sister had the time of our lives, trying to kill each other to win the remote control. :D  I also made time to update my blog and then I skipped siesta for the time being.

In the evening, we decided to go to Church and observe the Eastern vigil (for a while, so not technically a vigil) and man, the aura was just so peaceful. There were candles, and plants and colored lights, and all else that the 21^st century can offer. I found a good place to reflect and pray. ^.^

This was kinda' how it looked like but it's way better seen actually. :)

After that, we left for home and tuned in for the television. My mom is the type of the person who’s really into Tagalog love movies (which I usually find baduy) and so we had to bear watching the replay of Sarah Geronimo and John Lloyd Cruz’s (insert title here). When mom switched channels during advertisements, I caught a scene in one movie I saw before. It was not long ago when I caught boredom watching “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button” and believe me, I felt more excited watching boredom in front of me that to stick to this “hopeless-case-for-me” tagalong movie mom’s so serious about.

FINALLY, the remote control fell into the powerful and kilig-defying hands of mine! MWAHAHAHA! XD The three of them went to sleep already so I then owned the TV powers! (MWAHAHAHAHAHA!) Okay now, serious mode. As what I said, I already saw the movie, and the impression I got was that it was a sad love story, so what I was really up to that evening was to grasp some details of the movie which I did not retain or even understand, and to hope that perhaps, it may change even just a small aspect of me, as a person, capable of loving and living a good life. And it did.

I do not intend to write a narrative of the movie because trust me, it’s better seen that told.  :) Anyhow, I’ll write about the major lessons I learned and the very reasons why I finally cried hard in front of the television again since I can’t remember. Like SRSLY, even after turning off the TV and the lights, I still found myself crying to sleep, and I felt so moved that even when I woke up the next day (Good Friday), I still cried like crazy. OOHHHH, SEE?! I was deeply moved that I believe this movie deserves a movie review (sort of) in my blog. Not that Brad Pitt is undeniably handsome and gorgeous, don’t get me wrong please, but if Benjamin Button is actually a non-fictional character, I will really do my best to meet him one day, and it would be such a privilege to be able to speak to a virtuous man, with a peculiar case and a big heart. I’m afraid it was mistake to have taken the movie as a sad love story, it was way more than that. Much more than that. <3

It was a story of life, and of time, entirely. It was about failure, heartbreak, love, trying, and understanding that fact that nothing lasts forever, but some things are just never meant to be forgotten. It is a story of bearing with life patiently, a story of acceptance, of forgiveness and of starting all over. Benjamin is someone who grows backwards, and I admire him for being a good man at that, despite of how painful it was to watch everyone else die old ahead of him, while he grows younger, ALONE. I found it really cute when he was around 10 (I guess) and he had to lie when asked about the last time he had sex with a woman. He looked old, but you can feel that his heart was young, his eyes spoke much more than the words which came out from his lips. Moreover, I also admired the way he accepted Daisy, despite of her, rejecting him not just once, but many times, and loving her despite of her wild sex life with other men her age and for being patient enough to understand her during the process of her adulthood, despite the fact that he should also be understood, as someone growing older, yet younger. Complicated indeed.

All along, I thought that the worst thing that Benjamin ever did was to leave Daisy a year after giving birth to their daughter. But after watching the movie, the second time, I was convinced that it was the bravest and the hardest thing he ever did in his life. He had to leave, and, I admire him again for that.

What really made me cry like a dying pig was when their daughter Caroline, found out about the truth (she grew up loving a different man as her father) and read every postcard Benjamin has sent for her every birthday she celebrated. The words were just so piercing that even now, I’m about to cry na naman ulit. T T HAHA. :3

He told her how he wished to be the father who sent her to school in her 1^st grade, the father who could have been her crying shoulder during her teenage years whenever a boy would make her cry, he told her about….ahh, I just can’t do this. (haha, my gosh, super drama mode na jud) I’m really sorry, this is just how I get hooked with a movie. I deliberately and emotionally get HOOKED. So let me just quote the beautiful lines in the movie:

“For what it’s worth: it’s never too late or, in my case, too early to be whoever you want to be. There’s no time limit, stop whenever you want. You can change or stay the same, there are no rules to this thing. We can make the best or the worst of it. I hope you make the best of it. And I hope you see things that startle you. I hope you feel things you never felt before. I hope you meet people with a different point of view. I hope you live a life you’re proud of. If you find that you’re not, I hope you have the courage to start all over again.” 
― Eric Roth, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button screenplay

“You can be as mad as a mad dog at the way things went, you can curse the fates, but when it comes to the end, you have to let go.” 
― Eric Roth, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button screenplay

“Life can only be understood looking backward.  It must be lived forward.” 

“It’s not about how well you play.  It’s how you feel about what you’re playing.”

“Our lives are defined by opportunities, even the ones we miss.” 
― Eric Roth, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button screenplay

"And I think, right there and then, she realized none of us is perfect forever."

"Some people, were born to sit by a river. Some get struck by lightning. Some have an ear for music. Some are artists. Some swim. Some know buttons. Some know Shakespeare. Some are mothers. And some people, dance."

And the sweetest way they say this is at night, when they are worlds apart:

Benjamin Button: Goodnight Daisy.  

Daisy: Goodnight Benjamin.

You better watch the movies guys, if you haven't yet. I’m getting the feeling that I'm spoiling it badly. ^.*

No wonder the film won numerous awards internationally. No wonder it made me cry dearly. No wonder, that by now, I am very much enthused to share it with you. And I will not ever wonder, why someday and somehow, you will also feel uplifted and inspired by the movie. Don’t just keep breathing. Keep on living. And don’t just live. Live well.

Let me share to you one of the most profound lines in the movie, spoken by an old man who was hit by lightning seven times (HAHAHAHAHA!) but never felt disheartened and I quote;

“The truth is, despite of everything, God keeps on reminding me that I'm lucky to be alive, and that is what’s important.” <3