Everyone has a different idea about what is love, but there is one point where almost everyone agrees, and that is the fact that love is complex. Forrest Gump and The Curious Case of Benjamin Button are two films that have a lot in common. Both address profound issues and give us a different perspective on life.

Forrest Gump is a 1994 American romantic comedy-drama film based on the 1986 novel of the same name by Winston Groom. It was directed by Robert Zemeckis and written by Eric Roth. Forrest Gump is a simple man with a low I.Q. but good intentions. He is running through childhood with his best and only friend Jenny. His ‘mama’ teaches him the ways of life and leaves him to choose his destiny. Forrest joins the army for service in Vietnam, finding new friends called Dan and Bubba, he wins medals, creates a famous shrimp fishing fleet, inspires people to jog, starts a ping-pong craze, creates the smiley, writes bumper stickers and songs, donates to people and meets the president several times. However, this is all irrelevant to Forrest who can only think of his childhood sweetheart Jenny Curran, who has messed up her life. Although in the end all he wants to prove is that anyone can love anyone.

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button is a 2008 American fantasy romantic drama film directed by David Fincher. The storyline by Eric Roth and Robin Swicord is loosely based on the 1922 short story of the same name by F. Scott Fitzgerald. Born under unusual circumstances, Benjamin Button springs into being as an elderly man in a New Orleans nursing home and ages in reverse. Twelve years after his birth, he meets Daisy, a child who flickers in and out of his life as she grows up to be a dancer. Though he has all sorts of unusual adventures over the course of his life, it is his relationship with Daisy, and the hope that they will come together at the right time, that drives Benjamin forward.

How do changes in technology affect movies as a business, a social-political force, and an art form? How does the need to make money from movies affect what movies get made?How do social and political issues affect movies at specific moments in history? How do movies explore and potentially affect society and politics?

The technology issues for both films was different, for Forrest Gump the technology was not a problem because they had the sources they needed, and they had technological advances they needed. For The Curious Case of Benjamin Button was the opposite, director Fincher said in an interview that they had to wait because in that time technology was not enough and they did not had the money to afford the technology they needed. Money was an important issue for both films, for Forrest Gump it took 9 years to be able to make this film. “Actors, directors, agents, studio people were just not interested in the project, partly because of ‘Rain Man'”. Mrs. Finerman, one of the producers, spent years searching for people who wanted to do the film, nobody was interested because they were afraid to lose money. And for The Curious Case of Benjamin Button at the beginning they didn’t had the money enough to afford the film, so they couldn’t made the film. But after they waited to get everything they needed, they got the amount of money they needed to shot the film. Social and political issues were only created controversy with one of these films, Forrest Gump was not made with the intention to create controversy; however, in 1994, CNN’s Crossfire debated whether the film promoted conservative values or was an indictment of the counterculture movement of the 1960s. Thomas Byers, in a Modern Fiction Studies article, called the film “an aggressively conservative film”. The film covers topics like bullying, incest, domestic violence, assassination, political issues and U.S. history, causing controversy and sparking debate on the subject. Tom Hanks said “The film is non-political and thus non-judgmental”; however, the critics started to rain and everyone gave their own opinion.

It took plenty time to film both films, for Forrest Gump because the story line was not what Hollywood use to sell and for The Curious Case of Benjamin Button because the technology was not enough.

In the essay “New Man, Old Brutalisms? Reconstructing Violent History in Forrest Gump,” Karen Boyle states “Thus, Forrest Gump represents not only a metaphorically violent revision of history but a reconceptualisation of white masculinity in and through iconographic scenes of violence”.

In the article “ “t’s ‘Forrest Gump’ vs. Harrumph” Sarah Lyall states “FORREST GUMP may be the biggest hit of the year, the movie that earns a second Oscar for Tom Hanks, the one that makes audiences laugh and makes them cry, the one that proves you don’t need sex and violence to succeed in Hollywood”.

I found these two critics quite interesting, while one assures that the film had violence, the other states that the success of the film is because it does not possess violence.

After watching the film, I agree with Boyle, the film shows violence and strong topics like political issues, domestic violence, incest and assassination, and it also shows another concept of masculinity. Even though the film has violent scenes, the violence is moderate and the scenes are not explicit. I believe that the film the film makes you think about problems that are still part of our society although the film wasn’t it was not created for that purpose.

I agree partially with Lyall, it is an emotional film that makes you cry and laugh; however, the film does have violence and even though the sex films are not explicit, the film has them. So I believe that what made the film successful was the touching story it has and the amazing performance of Tom Hanks. The film is unique and that’s another reason why the film was successful. It doesn’t follow the cliché pattern.

The film addresses strong and uncomfortable topics like incest, domestic violence and political issues. I believe that the film make us open our eyes and realize about how cruel the world can be. The film shows us the trauma that war generates in a person and the physical and psychological damages that it brings. But the film also shows what friendship and love is really about, the film does not follow a the the cliché pattern that everyone is expecting, it show us a different perspective and that’s amazing. Sometimes we expect love to solve everything magically, including traumas and problems, but that’s not how it works. The film gives us a realistic and pure perspective of love. We can see how Forrest nevertheless keeps intact his love for Jenny and helps her difficulties. The film shows us what loyalty is and the importance of friendship, how one person can save the life of the other and give it a purpose.

In the article “It’s the Age of a Child Who Grows From a Man,” Scott states “Curious Case” into a genuine mystery. And the puzzles it invites us to contemplate — in consistently interesting, if not always dramatically satisfying ways — are deep and imposing, concerning the passage of time, the elusiveness of experience and the Janus-faced nature of love”.

In the essay “TRANSFORMING THE NARRATIVE ELEMENTS FROM THE FITZGERALD INTO FINCHER’S THE CURIOUS CASE OF BENJAMIN BUTTON,” Saksono and Rahmawati states “By changing the ending, it is hoped that the ending will bring more emotional atmosphere towards the audiences. Since this film is also included into American film, the pattern of its ending resemble with the American film ending. It tends to be happy ending. Even in the end Benjamin should die, but at least he dies on the lap of woman he loves”.

I agree with Scott, the film is unique and and envelops the audience in an atmosphere of mystery. The films shows about what love can do. Some times the drama is not satisfying but the magnificent story rewards it.

I also agree with Saksono and Rahmawati the change of the ending did create an emotional atmosphere, they did not gave the happy ending that everyone was expecting, instead they gave an emotional, sad and beautiful ending that the public was going the accept and somehow like.

Even though some people state that the film leaves as a message that life has no meaning or the relationships we create with people, I believe that the film leaves a positive message, we should appreciate our life and the ties we have with people, we should not take things for granted, life is fast and fleeting.

According to the textbook A Short History of the Movies, “The digital cinema is a approach to producing and distributing movies without using film. Movies can be shot on a digital video or generated entirely on a computer” (390).

These two films belong to The Digital Cinema. I believe that both films have a part conventional and unconventional, because they are an mixture of both. The story lines don’t follow the traditional pattern; however, some things were change to to please the public and be accepted.

Both films show a different perspective of what love is and what it entails, it shows persistence and sincerity. They show the different types of love. I like that both films don’t have the typical happy ending. These two films are incredible touching films that are worth seeing. I highly recommend them.