Original subtitles

Why are you looking at the wind?

The wind, Mom.

They say the hurricane is coming.

I'm on a boat. I'm drifting.

Can I do anything for you, Mom?

Make anything easier?

Oh, shut up.

There's nothing left to do.

It's what it is.

It's harder to keep my eyes open.

My mouth's full of cotton.

Stay down, Miss Daisy.

You're going to scratch yourself to ribbons.

Do you want any more medication?

No.

The doctor said you could have... as much as you want.

There's no need for anybody to suffer.

A friend told me that she never had the chance to

say goodbye to her mother.

I wanted to.

Okay. I wanted to tell you. No, I'm not trying to hurt you. It's just...

Okay, love.

Are you afraid?

I'm curious.

What comes next?

When they built the train station in 1918,

our father was there with the dead orphans.

He said there should have been two of them.

They had the finest

clockmaker in all of the South to build that glorious clock.

His name was... Mr.

Gatto.

Mr.

Cake.

He was married to a Creole of Evangelion Parish, and they had a son.

Mr. Gatto was, from birth, absolutely blind.

When their son was old enough, he joined the army.

They prayed God would keep him out of harm's way.

For months, he did nothing but work on that clock.

One day, a letter came.

And Mr. Gatto, done for the night, went off alone to bed.

And their son came home.

They buried him in the family plot where he would be with them when their time

came.

Mr. Cake worked on his clock.

laboring to finish.

It was a morning to remember.

Papa said there were people everywhere.

Even Ted Roosevelt.

made it that way.

So that perhaps the boys that we lost in the war might stand and come home

again.

Home to farm, work, have children,

to live long, full lives.

Perhaps my own son might come home again.

Excuse me.

Do you mind if I make a call? Somebody's watching my little boy.

Sure.

I hope I haven't disappointed you.

You couldn't disappoint me.

Well, I... I know I don't have much to show for myself.

I'm a dog.

suitcase.

There's a diary.

This?

Could you read it to me?

Is this what you want to do?

I tried to read it a hundred different times.

Mom, it's not exactly.

It's just sound.

It's dated April 4th, 1985.

This is New Orleans.

This is my last will and testament.

I don't have much to leave.

A few possessions, no money really.

I will go out of this world the same way I came in.

Alone and with nothing.

All I have is my story. I'm writing it now. Well, I still remember it.

My name is Benjamin.

Benjamin Button.

And I was born under unusual circumstances.

The First World War had ended.

And I've been told it was an especially good night to be born.

What are you doing here?

Thomas.

I'm afraid she's going to die.

I should know.

All of you.

Get away from her.

I came as quick as I could. The streets are filled with people. Promise me.

He has a place.

She gave her life for me.

And for that, I am forever grateful.

You look very handsome tonight, Miss Quinny.

Handsome as I ever seen.

The brown.

Matches your eyes.

Oh, hush.

Yes, it is.

You know to flout yourself.

Hambert's back in town.

He came home legless, but, uh...

Hey, home.

I know you were sweeter when I met you.

Sweeter than I should have been.

Miss Simone messed herself.

Oh, please, Jesus. You got to stop doing that or we'll stop this for her.

I'll be right there, Mr. Allen. Come on.

It's awful nice out here. Come on, I'll back for a moment. Take the mind off

that.

What in God, man?

not stepping on it like that.

We best leave that for the puppies.

Oh, baby.

I'll go.

This was so nobody wanted to keep it.

Come on, baby.

All right, Mrs. Hoss, I'll be right with you, okay?

Go on back upstairs, Ham.

You are as ugly as an old pot, but you're still a child of God.

But my sister gave me those pearls.

I can't find them anywhere.

Somebody's been stealing my jewelry. They're right here, Mrs. Holland.

See? Right around your pretty white neck. Now, come on. How's all that

Dr. Rose still here?

I don't know.

Maybe you're hard and strong.

Just want to avoid any undue stimulation.

Trust you ladies will help me out with that.

Never seen anything like it. Nearly blind from cataracts.

Not sure if he can hear. His bones indicate severe arthritis.

His skin has lost all elasticity and his hands and feet are ossified.

He shows all the deterioration of the infirmities, not of a newborn, but of a

man well in his 80s on his way to the grave. He's dying?

His body's failing him before his life's begun.

Where'd he come from?

My sister's child from Lafayette. She had an unfortunate adventure.

Poor child, he got the worst of it.

Come out white.

There are places for unwanted babies like these, Queenie.

No room for another mouth to feed here.

Nolan Foundation, despite their good intentions, thinks this place is a large

nuisance as it is.

You said he don't have long.

Queenie.

Some creatures aren't meant to survive.

No,

this baby here is a miracle. That's for certain.

Just not the kind of miracle one hopes to see.

Y 'all listen.

Y 'all listen up here.

Don't have us a visitor that's going to be staying with us for a little while.

My sister had a child and she couldn't see right by it, so...

He's known as... Benjamin.

Benjamin.

He's not a well child, so I'm going to have to take good care of him. I had ten

children. There's not a baby I can't care for. Let me see him.

Oh, God in heaven.

He looks just like my ex -husband.

Look, I'm prematurely old.

Dr. Rose said he ain't got much more time on his side.

You're in the club.

Oh, he's smiling.

And good senses remember his teeth.

Are you right out of your mind?

I know you ain't got other parts it takes to make one of your own.

But this ain't yours to keep. It may not even be human kind.

Mr. Weathers, come back here.

You never know what's coming for you.

It seemed I'd found a home.

Isn't it the truth?

Well, that's a lovely voice.

Mom, it's an ancient streetcar, okay?

The clock just kept going.

Year after year after year.

I didn't know I was a child.

I thought I was like everyone else there.

An old man in the twilight of his life.

is used for eating, not for playing with. And use your napkin, please, Mr.

Benjamin.

Hey, boy.

Always had a healthy curiosity.

What was up the street?

Or around the next corner?

Business. That is dangerous.

Come back over here.

Stay put, child.

I loved her very much.

She was my mother.

Mama.

I feel different than the day before.

Everybody feels different about themselves, one way or another.

But we all going the same way.

Just taking different rules to get there, that's all.

You're on your own rule, Benjamin.

Mama, how much longer I got?

Just be thankful for what you're giving him.

You're already here longer than you're supposed to.

Some nights, I'd have to sleep alone.

I didn't mind.

I would listen to the house breathing.

All those people sleeping.

I felt...

It was a place of great routine.

Every morning at 530, no matter the weather, General Winslow, U .S. Army,

retired. would raise the flag.

Mrs. Sybil Wagner, once an opera singer of some note, well, she sang Wagner.

Hit me up, Randy. Come on, man.

No matter the season, supper was served promptly at 5 .30.

Molasses. Molasses.

Molasses.

I learned to read when I was five.

My grandfather was a dresser for a famous actor.

He brought home every play for me to read.

Kind keeper.

of my weak decaying age.

Let dying Mortimer here rest himself, even like a man who hailed from the

So fare my limbs with long imprisonment.

And these gray locks, the pursuants of death, argue the end of Edmund

Mortimer.

You thought I was playing ignorant, didn't you?

The actor my grandfather worked for was John Wilkes Booth.

He killed Abraham Lincoln.

Never know what's coming for him.

On Saturday night, Mama would make me go to church.

The parts are all twisted up inside and she can't have little children.

Lord, if you could see clear to forgive this woman her sins so she can bear the

fruit of the womb.

What's this old man's irrediction?

He's got the devil on his back trying to ride him to the grave before his time.

Out, Zephyr Carr. Yes.

Out, Diesel Ball.

Yes.

How old are you?

Seven, but I look a lot older.

God bless you.

He's seven.

Is a man with optimism in his heart. All right.

Belief in his soul.

We are all children in the eyes of God.

We are going to get you out of that chair.

And we're going to have you walk.

In the name of God.

rest of the way.

He's going to see his little man walk without the use of a crutch or a cane.

He's going to see that you walk from faith.

It was miraculous, but you know the saying, the Lord giveth and the Lord

away.

There were so many

birthdays.

So we wouldn't run out, we would spare the candles.

And death was a common visitor.

People came and went.

You always knew when someone left us, there was a silence in the house.

It was a wonderful place to grow up.

I was with people who had shared all the inconsequences of earlier life.

Left wondering about the weather, the temperature of a bath, the light at the

end of a day.

For everyone that died, someone would come to take their place.

I've been married five times.

My fifth wife and I.

We escaped across the river. My wife, she can't swim, so

sadly she's eaten.

My second wife stepped on a cobra and died.

It was very bad luck to be married to me.

That's Mr.

Oatey. He's an acquaintance of an acquaintance of mine. He's a pygmy.

I hear you're so old.

You're just fooling everybody.

What's the matter?

Did you get my jamby?

What jamby?

Worms. I don't think I have worms.

This is how I am.

Come. Let's get a cold with you.

Medication on the ophthalmologist. I'm not exposed to it. It's dangerous.

Come on, young man.

Whoa!

Damn.

I'm in the monkey house at Philadelphia.

3 ,000 people show up my first day.

Look.

What's it like living in a cave?

It's thin.

But the monkeys, they do some tricks.

I throw a spear.

When I'm not playing with the monkeys.

They want me to run to the bar with my key, with my key.

So then what you do?

Then? I live here.

Go here, go there.

Wander most of the time.

You are alone?

Plenty of time I'll be alone.

When the difference occurs, it's going to be that way.

But I tell you a little secret.

Sad people, skinny people, tall people, white people, they're just as alone as

we are.

But they get shitless.

I think about the river I grew up on.

It would be nice to sit by my river again.

Come, I have an appointment.

There's my little man.

You ready, sugar?

Always ready, always ready.

You're Amina? Mr. Benjamin.

Pleasure to meet you, sir.

My pleasure, ma 'am.

You can find your own way home, can't you?

Take the St.

Charles line to Napoleon.

You take my breath away, you know that?

Lord, I was so worried about you.

It had been the best day of my life.

How's her breathing?

It's shot.

Well, they say it'll reach us in a few hours. I gotta get my baby and take him

to the sisters.

They say there's nothing to worry about here in the hospital.

Nurses will be right here if you need them. Are you okay?

Yeah, I'm okay. I shouldn't be more than that.

Was that just COVID?

It was just Dorothy leaving.

Go on, Kayla.

On Sundays, the families would come and visit.

It was Thanksgiving. 1930.

I met the person who changed my life forever.

Might I say you are looking strikingly beautiful.

Good day, Mrs. Waller. A single cane back straight as an arrow. What elixir

you been drinking? Thank you, ma 'am.

Grandma, look at me.

That was really something.

Come on over here, you.

Now, this is my granddaughter, Daisy.

This is Mr.

I'm a...

I'm afraid, Benjamin, I don't rightly know your last name.

Benjamin's fine.

I never forgot her blue eyes.

Good people, supper is served.

Help, do, for love and friends.

For everything thy goodness sends.

Amen. Amen.

Did you know turkeys aren't really birds?

Why do you say that?

They're in the pheasant family.

God, they fly.

Sir, don't you think birds can't fly?

I like birds that can fly.

They are so delicious.

I have something to tell y 'all while we're giving thanks to God. I had a

miracle happen.

The Lord saw fit to answer my prayers.

What does she mean, answered her prayers?

That's what my mama said when I was going to have a baby brother, but he

live long because he didn't breathe right.

When he got his beautiful hind legs, just as Big God and

Kong had promised.

You can see that it is 5 o 'clock because Big God and Kong's clock says

Isn't that something?

Again, read it again.

Oh, read it again, please.

All right, but afterwards you must go to bed.

I promise.

Old man can't read.

Why are you sleeping?

Who's that?

It's me, Daisy.

You're not supposed to play with that.

Don't be a janky. Bye then.

I'll tell you a secret if you'll tell me one.

I'm not as old as I look.

I thought so.

You don't seem like an old person.

Like my grandma.

I'm not.

Are you sick?

Well, I heard Marvin and Tizzy whispering. They said I was going to die

but maybe not.

You're odd.

You're different than anybody I've ever met.

What are you doing under there?

You come right out here and get back up to bed. It's after midnight.

You are not to be playing together.

Yes, ma 'am.

Now you get back to bed, little lady. You're too young to be wandering around

the night on your own.

And you ought to be ashamed of yourself.

a different child.

A man child.

And baby, people aren't going to understand just how different you are.

What's wrong with me, mama?

Come here.

Call it a day, Jeff, baby.

Now go on to bed, yeah?

And behave yourself.

Go on.

Say a prayer, dear.

Did I ever tell you

I've been struck by lightning seven times?

Once when I was repairing a leak on the roof.

Once I just cross the road and get the mail.

I never forgot

her blue eyes.

Mom, did you get that this Benjamin loved you from the first time that he

you?

Not many people experience that.

Want me to go on?

Yeah.

When that baby came, things were different.

Babies were born. People died.

A lot of folks been through that old house.

I've come to say goodbye.

I'm going away.

Going?

Where?

I haven't figured that out yet, but I'll send you a postcard when I get there.

What about your friend, the tall lady?

We are not friends anymore.

That's what happens with tall people sometimes.

Spent a lot of time by myself that year.

Hello?

Hi. I'm moving in today. Welcome.

We've been expecting you.

Can you please show up to Mrs.

Russo's old room? I'm sorry, but we usually don't allow dogs in the house.

she's old as the hill. She's almost blind. She won't be a ball so much

Well, all right, Mama. She stays from up on the foot.

As hard as I try, I can't remember her name.

Mrs. Lawson, Mrs.

Hartford.

Maybe it was Maple.

It's funny how sometimes the people we remember the least make the greatest

impression on us.

I do remember she wore diamonds.

And she always dressed in fine clothing as if she's going out.

Although she never did and nobody ever came to visit her.

She taught me to play the piano.

It's not about where you play, it's how you feel about what you're playing.

Try this.

You can't help putting yourself in the music.

There were many changes, some you could see, some you couldn't.

Hair started growing in all sorts of places, along with other things.

I felt pretty good, considering.

All right, Mom, I'll get the nurse.

This is a major hurricane.

You're not doing too good?

Nobody seems to know whether to stay or leave.

I'm going to ride it out.

There. That should make things much easier.

Did he have a chance to say your goodbyes?

My father waited four hours for my brother to get here from Bossier City.

Couldn't go without him.

She seems like a sweet woman.

Yeah.

I haven't had as much.

Queenie would let me.

with Mr. Dawes to Poverty Point.

Watch the boats go up and down the river.

These were hard times.

Did I ever tell you I was struck by lightning seven times?

Once when I was in the field just tending to my cows.

My fourth horn didn't show up.

Anybody want to make $2 for a day's work around here?

What's the matter?

Nobody wants to do an honest day's work for an honest day's pay. He never pays.

Nobody wants a job.

I do.

You got your sea legs about you, old man?

Mm -hmm.

I think.

Well, that's good enough for me.

Get your ass on board.

You're sure they'll find out.

I wasn't happy as I can be.

I don't want to do anything.

Yes, Captain.

Right away, sir.

And I was actually going to be paid something I would have done for free.

His name was Captain Mike Clark.

He'd been on a tugboat since he was seven.

Jack, move on, Dad.

Go on.

Can you, uh, instead get it up?

I do every morning.

The old pole, huh?

The high hard one.

I guess.

When was the last time you had a woman?

Never? Never.

About that I know of, sir.

Wait a minute, though.

You mean to say he's been on this earth however many years and you've never had

a woman?

Tom, the loudest thing I've ever heard in many days.

Never?

Thank Jesus.

You are coming with me.

What did your father do?

I never met my father.

He's a young bastard.

Your father's one of those oldies, don't he?

I don't make father's books.

Work in the kitchen.

This little pot pot.

Look how it's become.

It's finally worked up and packed.

I don't want to spend the rest of my life on a goddamn tugboat.

You know what I'm saying?

You don't want to spend the rest of your life on a tugboat?

Absolutely. Is that right?

Awesome.

You know what my father said to me?

He said, Who the hell?

do you think you are? What the hell do you think you can do?

Well,

you're up.

I want to be an artist.

An artist?

God meant for you to work a couple just like me.

And that's exactly what you're going to do.

I turn myself into an artist.

Like that?

You have to give me a line to take my heart away from me now.

When I'm dead, I'm going to send in my arm.

That one.

Don't let anyone tell you different.

You've got to do what you're meant to do.

And I happen to be a goddamn artist.

But you're a pimple cat.

Am I?

We're ready for you and your friend.

How

are

you tonight, Grandpa?

It was a night to remember.

Oh, you Dick Tracy of them?

I've got the rest.

I can't.

Thank you. No, thank you. Have a nice night. Will you be here tomorrow?

Every night but Sunday.

It sure made me understand the value of earning a living.

Good night, sweetie.

Come back now.

Things of morning can buy you.

Nasty Al, can I offer you a ride somewhere?

That's awfully kind of you, sir.

My name is Thomas.

Thomas Batten.

I'm Benjamin.

Benjamin.

It's a pleasure to know you.

Would you like to stop somewhere and have a drink?

All right.

Evening, sir.

What'll it be, sir?

I'll have whatever you have. That's right, both.

It's whiskey, not brandy.

You don't drink, do you?

A knife, of course.

How's that?

I've never been to a brothel, either.

An experience.

It certainly is.

Time for everything.

True enough.

Your directions.

I don't mean to be rude, but your hands.

Are they painful?

I was born with some form of disease. What kind of disease?

I was born old.

I'm sorry.

No need to be. There's nothing wrong with old age.

Two children.

Two mothers.

What did I work you in, Mr. Barr?

Buttons.

Buttons, buttons. There isn't a button that we don't make.

Our biggest competition is B .F. Goodrich and his infernal zippers.

Would you gentlemen like anything else?

Want the robe, Benjamin?

Only if you let me pay for it, Mr. Barr.

of work that you do.

I'm a tugboat man.

I enjoy talking to you.

I enjoy drinking with you.

Benjamin, would you mind if time to time I stopped by and said hello?

Anytime.

Good night, Mr. Bond.

It's right on.

Where have you been?

Nothing. I met some people and listened to some music.

Sweet boy.

What went up is a funny thing.

It sneaks up on you.

One person is there and suddenly somebody else is taking a place.

She wasn't all elbows and knees anymore.

Okay.

I love those weekends when she comes to spend the night with her grandmother.

Can you take us out?

Do you know what that is?

Sunday? Do you know what that means?

I was very drunk last night.

Well, you're drunk every night.

Sort of good.

Close friend.

I want to show her the river.

I'm not supposed to go and show you the river.

I wish we could go with them.

Can you hear me, Mom?

Huh?

Time to keep talking.

Things were changing quickly.

I don't know how it's possible, but you seem to have more hair.

What if I told you that I wasn't getting older, but I was getting younger than

everybody else?

Well...

I'd feel sorry for you to have to see everybody you love die before you do.

an awful responsibility.

I never thought about life or death that way before.

Benjamin, we're meant to lose the people we love.

How else would we know how important they are to us?

And one fall day, a familiar visitor came knocking on our door.

You want to go with me to the drugstore?

She taught me how to play the piano.

Amen.

And she taught me what it meant to miss somebody.

Let's go.

I had gone to a brothel.

I'd had my first drink, said goodbye to one friend, and buried another.

In 1936, when I was coming to the end of the 17th year of my life, I packed my

bag and said goodbye.

My new life being what it was, I'd probably never see them again.

Good luck to you, sir.

Thanks.

I love you, Mom.

Oh, I love you too, baby.

I want you to say your prayers every night here.

Oh, gee.

I'll send you a postcard.

From everywhere.

Write me a postcard from everywhere.

Can't you worry about this?

He sent me a postcard for everywhere he went.

Every place I worked.

Newfoundland, Baffin Bay, Glasgow, Liverpool.

No, he had gone with that Captain Mike.

Captain Mike had contracted for three years with Moran Brothers Tug and

The old ship had been refitted with a diesel engine and a new sea winch. We

around Florida and up the Atlantic seaboard.

We were a crew of seven now.

Captain Mike and me, Cookie, Apprentice Mays from Wilmington, Delaware, the

Brody twins, Rick and Vic. We got along fine at sea, but for some reason, once

they were on dry land, we couldn't stand the sight of each other.

One in every eight folks never returned.

It was John Grimm who sure fit his name. All hands lost at sea.

From Belvedere, South Dakota.

And Pleasant Curtis from Asheville, Notch. Never said a word to anyone.

Except himself.

I wrote him constantly.

I told him I had been invited to audition in New York City.

For the schools of American Valley.

Please stay.

Thank you.

Thank you.

You can stay.

But I was relegated to the call.

Another death in Jeffrey.

You were no thicker than a fallow with one foot in the grave.

Now, either I drink a hell of a lot more than I think I do, or you'd ruin it.

What's your secret?

Well, Tatton, you do drink a lot.

We stayed in a small hotel with a grand name, the Winter Palace.

Right there what they're talking about.

The hummingbird is not just another bird.

Its heart rate is 1 ,200 beats.

Its wings beat 80 times a second.

If you were to stop their wings from beating,

you'd be dead in less than 10 seconds. This is no ordinary bird.

This is a frickin' miracle.

They slowed down their wing with moving pictures.

You know what they saw? Their wingtips.

You know what the figure eight

is the mathematical symbol for?

Everybody, no matter what differences they had, the languages, the color of

their skin, had one thing in common.

They were drunk every single night.

Her name was Elizabeth Abbott.

She was not beautiful. She was plain as paper.

But she was pretty as any picture to me.

What are you looking at?

If you must know, we have a long -standing agreement never to go to bed

Isn't that right, darling?

What did you say, darling?

Her husband was Walter Abbott.

He was chief minister of the British trade mission in Milansk.

And he was a spy.

See you, darling.

Oh, yes.

I, uh, I broke my heel off one of my shoes.

I'm not in the habit of...

Walking about in my slugging feet.

There were long days there.

And even longer nights.

One particular night, I was having trouble sleeping.

Couldn't sleep.

I was going to make some tea. Would you like some?

Oh, no. Thank you.

Milk? Honey?

A bit of honey, please.

I hope you like flies and your honey.

Oh, that's not...

Oh,

maybe,

um... Better to let it steep a little.

Steep? Um, soak.

I don't know. I mean, there's a proper way of making tea. Well, I'm from...

People just want it to be hot. Well, quite right.

Now, you're a seaman.

A sailor.

I hope you won't think me impolite, but I have to ask.

Aren't you a little old to be working on a boat? Well, there's no age limit.

As long as you can do the work.

Oh.

And you have trouble sleeping?

Thank you. I didn't think I did. I usually sleep like a baby.

Something's taking me off.

My father, in his 80s, he was so convinced he was going to die in his

uh...

He limited himself to having afternoon naps.

He was so determined he was going to cheat death.

Did he?

Did he what?

Die in his sleep.

He died sitting in his favorite chair, listening to his favorite program on

wireless. He must have known something.

My husband's the British trade minister, and we've been here for 14 months.

Good God.

You're supposed to go to be king.

But it never seemed to work out.

Have you been in the Far East?

No, I've never been anywhere, really. I mean, outside of harbours.

And where is it that you're from?

New Orleans.

Louisiana.

I didn't know there was another.

And she told me about all the places she had been.

And what she had seen.

And we talked till just before the dawn.

And we went back to our rooms.

To our separate lives.

For every night, we'd meet again in that lobby.

A hotel in the middle of the night can be a magical place.

A mouse running and stopping.

A radiator hissing.

A curtain blowing.

There's something peaceful, even comforting, knowing that the people you

are asleep in their beds, where nothing can harm them.

Elizabeth and I would lose track of the night until just before daybreak.

I think I may have given you the wrong impression.

Beg pardon?

Well, married women don't customarily sit around in the middle of the night

strange men in hotels.

I wouldn't know what a married woman does without a do.

met somebody and i've fallen in love mom no that

was over 60 years ago did you love him mother what does a

girl know about love

I'm not dressed.

Oh, you look splendid.

Just as you are.

Don't waste any time bothering about the wine or the cheese in my man's, because

they're really completely ordinary. But the caviar.

Savour it.

And don't eat it all at once.

Because that way, there's nothing left to enjoy.

Now, take a little swallow of vodka while it's still in your mouth.

You haven't been with many women, have you?

Not on Sundays.

And you've never had caviar before, have you? No, ma 'am.

When I was 19, I attempted to become the first woman ever

to swim the English Channel.

Really?

The current that day was so strong that every stroke I took, I was pushed back

two. I was in the water for 32 hours.

And when I was two miles from Calais, it started to rain.

When I couldn't go any further.

And everybody asked me, would I try again?

Well, why wouldn't I?

I never did.

As a matter of fact, I've never done anything with my life after that.

It was the first time a woman had ever kissed me.

It's something you never forget.

I think you make me feel younger.

You make me feel years younger, too.

I wish I was.

So many things I'd change.

I'd undo all my mistakes.

What mistakes?

Oh.

I kept waiting, you know.

Thinking that I'd do something to change my circumstances.

Do something.

You never get it back.

Wasted time.

If we're going to have an affair, you're never to look at me during the day.

And we're always to part before sunrise.

And we will never say, I love you.

Those are the rules.

Are you cold?

I'm freezing.

She was the first woman that ever loved me.

Want me to skip some?

I'm glad he had somebody to keep him warm.

I couldn't wait to see her again.

We saw each other every night.

We always used the same room.

Each time seemed new and different.

Elizabeth.

Good night.

Until one night.

As you may or may not know,

the Japs bombed Pearl Harbour yesterday.

Frank D. Roosevelt asked each of us to do our part.

The Chelsea's being commissioned to serve.

In the United States Navy.

To repair, to salvage, and to rescue.

Anybody who doesn't want to go to war, now is the time to say so.

Once you set foot on that boat, you're in the Navy, friend.

Yeah, I've been meaning to talk with you, Mike.

My wife's doing poorly.

I'd like to maybe see her one more time.

Just feed her.

Make your way home any way you call, Mr. Mace.

If he's leaving, who's going to cook?

Food poisoning is one of the leading causes of death at sea.

Right after inadequate safety equipment.

I can cook, Captain. I can do it all my life.

I don't know.

You're a little moody for war, Benjamin.

Not bad.

I'll take any money.

Wants to kick the shite out of the Japs and Huns.

That's it. Back to your gear.

We're going to war, gentlemen.

She had left a note.

She wrote, it was nice to have met you.

And that was it.

It wasn't a war any of us expected.

He would just tow crippled ships, scrap some metal, really.

If there was a war, we didn't see it.

There was a man assigned to him.

The chief gunner loved the Navy, but most of all, he loved America.

There is no other country in the world.

When you spell America... His name was Dennis Smith, and he was a full -blooded

Cherokee. His family had been Americans for over 500 years.

They won't fight unconscious.

And where would we be if everybody decided to act according to their

Safe, darling. Would you take?

And watch me.

You seem trustworthy.

Something happened to me.

Did you see the tickets to my life?

He'd given me all of his pay.

Had him spend a dime on it.

I want my family to know I was thinking about them.

The war had finally found us.

Come on, that light.

A transport carrying 1 ,300 men had been split by torpedoes.

We were first to arrive at the scene.

Put the entrance!

All down!

We were the only sound.

Sure as hell can't outrun them, fuckers.

Stop!

Shut the hell out of my feet.

Give me your hand.

We are, I can't believe it.

Nice spot in heaven, wait for it.

Nice spot.

You could be a smartass or not. Don't get the way things went.

You could swear.

Curse the fates.

What would you call it?

1 ,328 men died that day.

I said my goodbyes to the Cherokee, Dennis Smith, John Grimm, who was right,

wasn't going to die there.

I sent Pleasant Curtis' wife his money.

I said goodbye to the twin, Big Brody, and to Mike Clark, captain of the

tugboat, Chelsea.

I said goodbye to all the other men who had dreams of their own.

All the men who wanted to be insurance salesmen or doctors or lawyers or Indian

chiefs. This don't get fixed.

Out here, death didn't seem natural.

I'd never seen a hummingbird that far out to sea.

Before or since.

And in May of 1945, when I was 26 years old,

I came home.

I tell you what my knees are sore because

I've been on them every night asking the Lord. I said, go.

Bring them home safely.

Remember what I told you?

You never know what's coming for you.

That's right.

Sit down.

Well?

Learn anything worth repeating?

I sure saw some things.

Oh, you've seen some pain.

Some joy, too?

Where else is he?

Oh, baby.

Mr. Webber died in his sleep one night last April.

Mama, I'm so sorry. Don't you worry about that, baby.

Yeah, well, it's only one or two of them left now.

Yeah, they all just about new. I guess they're waiting their turn like

else, huh?

I'm so glad you're back home with me.

Yeah, we're going to have to find you a wife and a new job.

than what was Mrs. Desiree's old one.

You're too big to be rooming with anybody else.

It's a funny thing about coming home.

Looks the same, smells the same, feels the same.

Did I ever tell you I've been struck by lightning seven times?

Once when I was sitting in my truck just minding my own business.

You'll realize what's changed is you.

And late one morning, not long after I'd been back.

Excuse me, is Queenie here?

Daisy?

It's me, Benjamin.

Benjamin?

Oh, my God.

Of course it's you.

Benjamin.

How are you? It's been such a long time. There's so much I want to know.

When did you get back?

Well, I got back a few weeks ago.

I spoke to Queenie. She said you were in the war.

Somewhere at sea.

We were so worried about you. Oh, I'm okay.

Well, look at you.

You're so lovely.

You stopped writing.

When I left, she was a girl.

And a woman had taken her place.

She was the most beautiful woman I'd ever seen.

Beautiful.

The most beautiful.

You remember Grandma Fuller? She passed.

I heard that. I'm sorry.

I just can't believe we're both here.

Must be fate.

No, no, what do they call it?

Kismet. Do you know about Edgar Cayce, the psychic? I don't believe it. He says

that everything is predetermined, but I like... Think of it as fate.

I'm not sure how it works.

I'm glad it happened.

Have you been to Manhattan?

It's right across the river from me.

I can see the Empire State Building if I stand on my bed.

What about you? Where have you been?

Tell me everything.

Last time you wrote, you said you'd been to Russia.

I've always wanted to go to Russia.

Isn't it cold, as they say?

That's why this is cold.

My goodness.

Always said you were different.

I think you really are.

You wrote that you met somebody.

Did it work out?

It ran its course.

Hey, do you remember this?

This is the picture of Old Man Kangaroo at five in the afternoon.

Would you like to have dinner?

Did I tell you that I dance for Ballington?

Oh, he's a famous choreographer.

He said that I have perfect lines.

You know, in a rehearsal once.

A dancer fell, and he decided to put it right into the production.

I mean, can you imagine that? Like in a classical ballet, you know, a dancer,

oh, intensely falling.

It's a whole new world for dance now.

It's called abstract.

No, he's not the only one, though.

There's Lincoln Kirstein and Lucia Chase. Oh, my God.

Oh, Agnes DeMille.

She's just torn up all those conventions. You know, all that straight

down stuff.

It's not about the formality of the dance.

She told me about this big new world.

Things that didn't mean a thing to me.

I didn't really hear very much of what she was saying. It's new and it's modern

and it's American and they understand our vigor and our physicality.

Oh my God, I've just been talking and talking. No, no, I've enjoyed listening.

I didn't know you smoked.

I'm old enough.

I'm old enough for a lot of things.

There's always something to do.

I have to go back tomorrow.

So soon.

Dancers don't need costumes or scenery anymore.

I can imagine dancing completely naked.

You're at DH, Laura.

Works are banned.

The words are like making love.

In our company, we have to trust each other.

Sex is part of it.

I know a lot of the dancers are lesbians.

There was one woman who wanted to sleep with me.

What's that upset you?

Which part?

Somebody wanted to sleep with me.

You're a desirable woman. I would think most of them would want to sleep with

you.

Let's go back to the house.

We could get a room somewhere.

You could lay down and jack in. I don't know, Daisy.

It's not that I wouldn't like to. I think I just disappointed you.

Oh, Benjamin, I've been with older men.

You're going back to York in the morning. You should be with your

You're only young once. Oh, I'm old enough.

Daisy, just not tonight is all.

You go hear some music.

Our lives are defined by opportunities.

Even the ones we miss.

You look so handsome.

So... Then the hurricane's not a method to blow right on by.

Oh, this is great.

Mother,

she said nothing.

Things were becoming different for me.

My hair had very little gray and grew like weeds.

My sense of smell was keener, my hearing more acute.

I could walk further and faster.

While everybody else was aging, I was getting younger, all alone.

Come in.

Thank you.

Do you remember me? Sure I do, Mr. Button.

What happened to you?

Torn foot, got infected.

Welcome home, my friend.

So you're still drinking your Sazerac with whiskey?

Creature hat.

You still visiting the house on Blagin Street?

Not for a long time.

Interesting times, though.

Went from making 40 ,000 to nearly half a million bucks a day.

We employed ten times the number of people.

We were operating around the clock.

War has been kind to the bond industry.

You know, I'm sick.

I don't know how much longer I have.

I'm sorry to hear that, Mr. Bond.

No, I don't have any people.

I keep to myself.

I hope you don't mind, but whenever possible, I'd enjoy your company.

Oh, certainly.

Do what I can.

Benjamin, do you know anything about Buttons?

Now, Buttons Buttons has been in our family for 124 years.

My grandfather was a tailor. He had a small shop in Richmond.

After the Civil War, he moved to New Orleans, where my father had the wisdom

make our own buttons.

So...

With its help, the tailor shop grew to this, and today I can't sew a stitch.

That's very, very interesting.

You sure have done well, Peter Schiff.

You're my son.

I'm so sorry I never told you before.

You were born the night the Great War ended.

Your mother died giving birth to you.

I thought you were a monster.

I promised you, mother, I'd make sure you were safe.

I should never have abandoned you.

My mother.

The summer house on Lake Pochichane.

When I was a boy, I'd love to wake up before anyone else, run down to that

and watch the day begin.

It was if I was the only one alive.

I fell in love the first time I saw her.

Her mother's name was Caroline Murphy.

She worked in your grandfather's kitchen.

She's from Dublin.

In 1903, Caroline and all her brothers and sisters came to live here in New

Orleans.

I'll find excuses to go down to that kitchen.

Just so I can look at her.

April 25th, 1918.

Happiest day of my life.

The day I married your mother.

Why didn't you just tell me?

I plan on leaving everything I have to you.

I have to go.

Where?

Home.

And what does he think anyway?

He think he can just show up and everything's supposed to be fine and

Everybody's just supposed to be friends.

Well, he got another thing coming, that's for sure.

God be my witness, he got another thing coming.

That's $18 that night you was found.

$18 and a filthy dime. Good night, Mom.

I was struck by lightning seven times.

Once I was walking my dog down the road.

I'm blind in the one eye.

Can't hardly hear.

Get twitches and shakes out of nowhere.

Always losing my line of thought.

But you know what?

God keeps reminding me I'm lucky to be alive.

Storm's coming.

You can be mad as a mad dog at the way things went.

You can swear and curse the fate.

But when it comes to the end, you have to let go.

Now I've never seen New York.

Hi. What are you doing here?

All right, come in.

Spend some time with you, if I could.

All right.

I wish you would have called.

You can buy a surprise.

You stole mine.

No.

Thank you. They're lovely.

Couldn't take my eyes off of them.

I thought you had them rising.

Thank you.

It's very kind of you to say.

I bet you're going to go into a party. Would you want to come? Someone told me

about a restaurant.

I thought you might enjoy it.

A main reservation.

Just in case.

Does all the dancers go out after the show?

Oh, yes.

You're welcome to come with us.

I'll get changed.

All right.

Bye.

You were breathtaking.

Dance with company.

This is Benjamin.

I told you about him. Oh, yeah. How you doing?

I'm going to get you a drink.

So, uh,

you were a friend of a grandmother?

Or something like that?

Something like that.

And you...

What did you expect?

What, you want me just to drop everything?

This is my life.

Hey, you going downtown?

Come on.

Have a good time.

There's lots of musicians.

You don't have to do that. It's my fault.

I should have called. I thought.

Call me handsome.

Sweep you off your feet or something.

Seems nice.

Do you love him?

I think so.

I'm happy for you.

Maybe I'll see you at home.

Enjoy the show.

He came to tell me his father had died.

You couldn't have known.

I was 23. I just didn't care.

What did he do next?

Some photographs.

Thank you.

front of my grave.

I was as good a dancer as I was ever going to

be for five years.

I danced everywhere.

London, Vienna, Prague.

I never talked about your death.

Well, I was the only American to be invited to dance with the Bolshoi.

It was glorious.

But Benjamin would never fall for my thoughts.

And I'd find myself saying,

Good night, Daisy.

He said that.

Life wasn't all that complicated. If you want, you might say I was looking for

something.

Angel, Mrs. LeTourneau just pays.

Have you made it?

Sometimes we're on a collision course and we just don't know it.

Whether it's by accident or by design, there's not a thing we can do about it.

A woman in Paris was on her way to go shopping.

But she had forgotten her coat.

Went back to get it.

When she had gotten her coat, the phone had rung.

So she had stopped to answer it and talked for a couple of minutes.

While the woman was on the phone, Daisy was rehearsing for a performance at the

Paris Opera House.

While she was rehearsing, the woman off the phone now had gone outside to get a

taxi.

Now, a taxi driver had dropped off the fare earlier and had stopped to get a

of coffee.

And all the while, Daisy was rehearsing.

And this cab driver, who had dropped off the earlier fare, had stopped to get

the cup of coffee and picked up the lady who was going shopping and missed

getting the earlier cab.

The taxi had to stop for a man crossing the street who had left for work five

minutes later than he normally did.

because he forgot to set his alarm.

While that man, late for work, was crossing the street, Daisy had finished

running and was taking a shower.

And while Daisy was showering, the taxi was waiting outside a boutique for the

woman to pick up a package, which hadn't been wrapped yet, because the girl who

was supposed to wrap it had broken up with her boyfriend the night before and

forgot. When the package was wrapped, the woman who was back in the cab was

blocked by a delivery truck.

All the while, Daisy was getting dressed.

The delivery truck pulled away and the taxi was able to move, while Daisy, the

last to be dressed, waited for one of her friends who had broken a shoelace.

While the taxi was stopped, waiting for a traffic light, Daisy and her friend

came out the back of the theater.

And if only one thing had happened differently, if that shoelace hadn't

or that delivery truck had moved moments earlier.

Well, that package had been wrapped and ready because the girl hadn't broken up

with her boyfriend.

Well, that man had set his alarm and got up five minutes earlier.

Well, that taxi driver hadn't stopped for a cup of coffee.

Well, that woman had remembered her coat and gotten to an earlier cab.

Daisy and her friend would have crossed the street and the taxi would have

driven by.

But life being what it is, a series of intersecting lives and incidents, out of

anyone's control, that taxi did not go by.

And that driver was momentarily distracted.

And that taxi hit Daisy.

And her leg was crushed.

Your friend wired me.

Very kind of you to come all this way to see that I was all right.

You do the same for me.

Her leg had been broken in five places, and with therapy and time, she might

walk again.

But she never danced.

I'm going to take you home with me.

I want to look after you. I'm going back to New Orleans.

I'll stay here in Paris.

Don't you understand? I don't want your help.

I know I'm feeling sorry for myself, but I don't want to be with you.

I tell you that in New York, you don't listen.

You might change your mind.

We are not little children anymore, Benjamin.

Just stay out of my life.

I didn't leave right away I stayed in Paris for a while to look out

for

I taught myself to walk again.

I took the train to Lourdes.

Just take a look.

That's normal.

Go straight in slowly.

She is going to struggle to breathe.

Will you be all right? Yeah.

He says, I went back home, and then there's a lot of pages torn out.

I listened to the sound of the house. I read that earlier.

Yeah.

He spilt something on it, so it's hard to read, Mom.

Something about sailing? Does that make sense?

I learned to sail an old boat of my father's from the lake house.

My friend.

I can't lie.

I did enjoy the company of a woman or two.

Or maybe three.

Close to my... My

pleasure.

Don't worry about it, Sam. Just gonna be there again tomorrow.

Mama?

And in the spring of 1962...

You want to know where I've been?

No.

How come you didn't write or nothing?

Just disappearing like that.

Something I need to do for myself.

Yeah, well, I never took you to be the selfish type.

I sure hope I'm not wrong.

I'm usually not wrong about people.

Good night, Mom.

Good night, baby.

Y 'all have fun.

You have said two words.

You with me?

Absolutely.

I asked her to come away with me.

We sailed into the Gulf along the Florida Keys.

I'm so glad we didn't find one another when I was 26.

Why do you say that?

I was so young.

And you were so old.

It happened when it was supposed to happen.

Hey, I will enjoy each and every moment I have.

Bet I can stay out here longer than you.

Bet you can.

Every day I have more wrinkles.

Not fair.

I love your wrinkles.

Both of them.

What's it like growing younger?

Can't really say.

I'm always looking out my own eyes.

Do you still love me when my skin grows old and saggy?

Do you still love me when I have acne?

When I wet the bed?

When I'm afraid of what's under the stairs?

What?

What are you thinking?

I was thinking how nothing lasts.

What a shame that is.

Some things last.

They're not dead.

Mom?

When did you meet Dad?

Sometime after that.

Did you tell him about this Benjamin?

He knew enough, darling.

Hi, Mrs. Carter. It's Benjamin.

Where is everybody?

Oh, Benjamin.

Queenie died.

I'm so sorry.

I have beloved Mr. West.

And so we might have memories of our own.

He sold my father's house on Esplanade. It's a wonderful old place, darling.

I think we're going to be so happy here.

Oh,

the lone family history you have.

They come with the house.

We bought ourselves a duplex.

I love that house.

Smell that firewood.

Don't, don't stop, darling.

It was one of the happiest times of my life.

We didn't have a stick of furniture.

We would have picnics in the living room.

We ate when we felt like it.

Stayed up all night when we wanted.

He vowed never to fall into routine.

Go to bed or wake up at the same time.

He lived on that mattress.

Our Mrs. Van Damme was a physical therapist.

We live four blocks from a public pool.

You know, you might have got a few more years out of it, but you chose to do

something so special and unique that there was only a short window of

time you could do it.

So even if nothing ever happened, you'd still be right here where you are now.

I'm just not getting old.

You put too much chlorine in here.

I promise you I'll never lose myself to self -pity again.

And I think right there and then she realized none of us is perfect

forever.

She found peace.

She opened a studio and taught young girls how to dance.

Certainly are beautiful to watch.

Dancing's all about the line.

The line of your body.

Sooner or later, you lose that line, and you never get it back.

I figure you were born in 1918, 49 years ago.

I'm 40.

We are almost the same age.

Meaning in the middle.

I thought I caught up with the job.

Wait.

I want to remember us just as we are now.

I'm pregnant.

You know, I swear that I slept and that it was a boy.

I know you're afraid.

I'm not hiding it.

Okay.

What's your worst fear?

A baby born like me.

And I will love it all the more.

Okay.

How can I be a father when I'm heading in the other direction?

It's not fair to a child.

I don't want to be anybody's burden. Sugar, we all end up in diapers.

I am going to make this work.

I want this, and I want it with you. I want you to have everything you want,

of it.

I'm just not sure how to reconcile this. You tell a blind man he couldn't have

children? He does.

You'll be a father for as long as you can.

I know the consequences. I've accepted that.

Loving you was worth everything to me.

I have to go pee.

22 minutes and 14 seconds.

68 -year -old Elizabeth Abbott arrived at 5 .38 Greenwich Mean Time.

Exhausted, but happy. Miss Abbott, how would you sum up in words this

achievement? I suppose anything was possible.

All right? Yes, thank you. You ready?

In the spring.

On a day like any other.

I'll be back in an hour.

Honey?

Go call an ambulance.

The baby's gone.

Operate on your ambulance.

2714 Napoleon.

Everyone's fine.

She's a perfectly healthy baby girl.

She gave birth to a five -pound, four -ounce baby girl.

Count Doves.

She's perfect.

And we named her for my mother, Caroline.

And Benjamin was my father.

And this is how you die.

Hey,

I know it's hard. I can't smoke in here.

You grew as the doctor had promised.

Normal and healthy.

I'm gonna have to find a real father for her.

What are you talking about?

She's gonna need someone to grow old with.

She'll learn to accept.

Whatever happens, she loves you. Honey, she needs a father, not a playmate.

Is it me? Of course not.

Is my age beginning to bother you? Is that what you're telling me?

I can't raise the both of us.

It was your first birthday.

We had a party for you.

The house was filled with children.

Oh, hey, man.

Before you turn around, they'll be in high school.

Dating.

I sold the summer house on Lake Pontchartrain.

I sold Buttons Buttons.

I sold my father's sailboat.

Put it all into a savings account.

And so that you and your mother might have a life, I left before

you could ever remember me.

I left with just the clothes on my back.

I don't want to read this now.

Can you just tell me where he went?

I don't really know.

It's for me.

1970. I was two. Happy birthday.

I wish I could have kissed you goodnight.

They're all for me.

Five.

I wish I could have taken you to your first day of school.

I wish I could have been

there to teach you to play piano.

1981, 13.

I wish I could have told you not to chase some boy.

I wish I could have held you when you had a broken heart.

I wish I could have been your father.

Nothing I ever did would replace that.

I guess you went to India.

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.

Start whenever you want.

You can change or stay the same.

I don't know what goes to this thing.

We can make the best or the worst of it.

I hope you make the best of it.

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.

And if you find that you're not, I hope you have the strength to start all

over again.

had been gone a long time.

I'll see you next Thursday.

Oh, good night, sweetheart.

Sorry, we're closing.

Can I help you?

Are you here to pick somebody up?

Why did you come back?

Mom?

Mom!

You ready yet?

I was hearing a very sad story about a mutual friend who I hadn't seen for a

very long time.

Caroline, this is Benjamin. You knew him when you were just a baby.

Hi. Hi.

Hey.

Well, I'm sorry. I thought you were done.

Oh, this is a friend of my family's.

Benjamin Button.

This is my husband, Robert.

How do you do?

Pleasure.

It was very nice to meet you.

We'll be in the car, darling. Bye.

Bye.

I'm just locking up.

You, like a mother.

Does she dance?

Not very well.

I guess that'd be for my part of things.

She's a dear, sweet girl.

She seems a little lost.

Then who isn't at 12?

A lot of her reminds me of you.

My husband, he's a widower. Well, was a widower.

He's incredibly kind.

He's a bright, adventurous man.

He's been a terrific father.

Good.

You were so much younger.

Only on the outside.

You were right.

I couldn't have been raising both of you.

I'm not that strong.

So where are you staying?

What are you going to do? I'm staying at the Ponte Trane Hotel on the avenue.

I don't know what I'm going to do.

But...

They're

waiting.

I remember that.

That was him.

Hurricane has changed directions. It's going to make landfall sometime soon.

Am I supposed to do something? Arrangements are being made to move

it's up to you. No, no, we're staying.

I'll let you know if anything changes.

That night while I was sitting and wondering why I came back at all, there

knock at the door.

I'm sorry I don't know what I'm doing here.

Nothing lasts.

I will never stop loving you.

Oh, but Benjamin, I'm an old woman.

Something you never forget.

If they're not...

I knew I would.

I watched her go.

That's the last thing he wrote.

Some time after your father passed, there was a

call.

Hello?

Yes, speaking.

I'm sorry, I don't understand.

It's a call in her.

I'm Daisy Fuller. I'm David Hernandez with the Orleans Parish Department of

Child Welfare Service.

He was living in a condemned building.

The police found this with him, this address.

It gets your name in it a lot.

He's in very poor health.

He was taken to the hospital. He doesn't seem to know who or where he is. He's

very confused. I was telling Mr. Hernandez that Benjamin is one of us.

If he needs a place to stay, it's all right. He can... Thank you.

Benjamin? Oh.

You claim you're safe.

He doesn't seem to like to be touched.

He goes in and out of states of recognition. The doctors say if they

any better, he has the beginnings of dementia.

Do you remember me?

I'm Daisy.

I'm Benjamin.

It's nice to meet you, Benjamin.

Would you mind if I sit with you?

I would love to hear you play.

Do I know you?

And every day I would stop by to make sure that he was comfortable.

Don't think I don't know what you're doing.

You're all fucking liars.

He doesn't believe he just had his breakfast.

Now, why don't we see if we can find something else for you to do, hmm?

I have a feeling there's a lot of things I can't remember.

Well, like what, sugar?

It's like... There's this whole life I had.

And I can't remember what it was.

It's okay.

It's okay to forget things.

Many times he would simply forget who or where he was.

It wasn't easy.

Right, you can see everything, sweetheart.

I can see the graveyard where Mama's buried and all those other people. I

you to come down.

What if I can fly?

I knew a man who could fly.

Come down and I'll tell you all about him.

Somebody go up there.

He was...

five when I moved in. Nearly the same age I was when I had met him.

This is the picture of Old Man Kangaroo at five in the afternoon.

He's got his beautiful hind legs.

The days passed and I watched as he forgot how to Walk.

Talk.

In 2002,

they put up a new clock in their train station.

And in the spring,

2003. He looked at me.

And I knew that he knew who I was.

And then he closed his eyes as if to go to sleep.

Mom,

I think I should go see what's going on.

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...