Please Finch my Button.
Say we’re playing word association, and say one of us says “David Fincher.”
The odds are 10 to 9 in favor of the other person going “FIGHT CLUB!”
That’s the reputation of the guy and the movie that made him immortal in our minds (in my mind at least).
So, why wouldn’t I be curious when I hear that the auteur and the actor are getting together again.
And curiouser when I come to know that the movie is an adaptation of Scott Fitzgearld’s flash fiction “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button“.
Okay, it is not going to be a Palahniuk’s black comedy, but still… Fincher is known for his painfully meticulous (and not meticulously painful) adaptations – Zodiac is the case in point.
And the theme is fantastic.
The protagonist Benjamin Button is born as an eighty years old feeble man, and keeps aging in reverse until he becomes a baby at the end of his life. And then, the obvious twist. Ben falls in love with a woman when he’s about 50 and must come to terms when their relationship, literally, keeps growing in the opposite directions.
The movie is scheduled for release during Christmas 2008.
In the meanwhile you can read the shortstory here and listen to the story
here. And if you know how to use google you might even be able to read the script online.
Obviously, there are no trailers out… yet. But watch this space for more updates.
Anurag Kashyap
Abhay Deol
Dibakar Banerjee
Hansal Mehta
Khalid Mohamed
Kundan Shah
Anish Kuruvilla
Jaideep Verma
Manish Gupta
Navdeep Singh
Bhavani Iyer
D. Santosh
Onir
Ashvin Kumar
Ramu Ramanathan
Sudhir Mishra
Pankaj Advani
Revathy
Saurabh Shukla
Shilpa Shukla
Sujoy Ghosh
Suparn Verma
Santosh Sivan
Shashank Ghosh
Shivajee
Pavan Kaul
Partho Sen-Gupta
Prroshant Naryannan
Sam Langoria
Satish Kasetty
Ok. Pardon my ignorance but I haven’t read that story before. All I have to say is WTF!! Wonder what magic Finchie can create with that brilliantly creative monstrosity of a short story!
Director – David Fincher
DP – Claudio Miranda
Camera – Thompson Viper Filmstream
Budget – 150 Million Dollars
What’s not to like ? :d
Mithun – you are right! What can go wrong there? Except that the choice of story is unusual for Fincher. Sounds more like something M.Shyamalan would do. But heck… that’s what makes a great director!
according to me… david fincher, christopher nolan and darren aronofsky are 3 most talented directors at present. Well, there are others also but why these 3 coz of the following movies:
FIGHT CLUB
MEMENTO
REQUIEM FOR A DREAM— personal fav.
am sure these 3 will be there in everyones list.
awesome. can’t wait to read the story.
U think this is an unusual choice ?
Next up is Arthur Clarke’s opus “Rendezvous with Rama” which has been stuck in development hell for decades. Finally got greenlit after Clarke’s death.
Methinks it will be the 2001 of the new millennium. :d/
Oh and I got the script but I don’t think reading the script does justice to the power of Fincher’s visuals.
Check this out. One of the most incredible commercials I have seen.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DC69WS6WhQk
Yes. I rather not read the script and thus try and picturise what it would look like.
Great ad that. Check this one out:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=22FnPwEloW4&feature=related
Aren’t they both using stop frame?
The story concept is incredibly interesting and with David Fincher, it can’t go wrong.
This story concept reminds me of George Costanza’s words of wisdom:
“The most unfair thing about life is the way it ends. I mean, life is tough. It takes up a lot of your time. What do you get at the end of it? A death. What’s that, a bonus?!?! I think the life cycle is all backwards. You should die first, get it out of the way. Then you go live in an old age home. You get kicked out for being too healthy, go collect your pension, then, when you start work, you get a gold watch on your first day. You work forty years until you’re young enough to enjoy your retirement. You drink alcohol, you party, and you get ready for high school. You go to primary school, you become a kid, you play, you have no responsibilities. You become a little baby, you go back, spend your last 9 months floating with luxuries like central heating, spa, room service on tap, then you finish off as an orgasm! Amen.”
– George Costanza
Lets wait till Christmas then…
Sadly from experience a brilliant concept doesn’t always translate to a great film.
The best example would be Copolla’s film “Jack” starring Robin Williams. Brilliant premise of a boy who ages 4 times the normal rate but the film was excreable.
Bicentennial Man was my fav Asimov short story but the film was a fucking train wreck.
Having said that I’m sure David bhaiya niraash nahin karenge.
As an actor what appeals to me more is that this has cate blanchett in it
oh wow…sounds exciting. thnx for the info WB. n thnx a ton for the short story link. taking print out now.
Fincher is one of the most awaited directors.. looking forward to this one and “Rendezvous with Rama”… VHP can probably sponsor this…
My family is the proto-nonliterary one. Neither of my parents have read a novel or any work of fiction and they don’t watch Hollywood movies. I can count the number of fictions I have read fully by hand and have a digit or two to spare.
Why the prologue?
2 years ago my ma pitched (yes, my parents are incredibly supportive and pitch movie ideas to me) the idea of a man born old in a retirement home, and living his life in reverse, until he turns into a baby, and finally goes back into the mother’s womb.
I looked at my ma with great admiration, spent a few minutes trying to find the tone. The primary source of conflict would be with the man dealing with his reverse aging, but the secondary and more important conflict in film, would be the reaction of the world around him.
I thought it would be too absurdist and difficult to have a credible reaction of people with a semblance of verisimilitude. It could at best be a parody.
I dismissed my mother’s idea as unfilmable.
What do I know?
Eagerly looking forward to this film.
On top on my list of ‘to watch this year’…
Btw to add to what you guys have said, Charlie Kaufman was attached to it at some pt of time… (he has done an initial draft of it, i think)
@Vivek H
I was just about to quote Costanza too. Incidentally enough, another Seinfreak friend of mine forwarded that to me just last week.
Sounds really interesting …
@ Pratik,
Costanza’s words was the first thing that came to my mind when I read this. I’m not a Seinfreak yet..
@ Vivek H
Not a Seinfreak yet? What are you waiting for? You’ve already been blessed with Costanza’s ideology. Waste no more time!
@Pratik, actually haven’t got a chance to watch much of Seinfield. Already like this Costanza guy. Have to catch a lot of TV n movies stuff.
http://www.firstshowing.net/2008/05/23/david-finchers-potential-masterpiece-the-curious-case-of-benjamin-button/