The Curious Case of Benjamin Button was a 2008 Oscar winning film by director David Fincher, filmed primarily in uptown New Orleans. The film was adapted from a 1922 short story by F. Scott Fitzgerald by the same name, from the collection “Tales from the Jazz Age.” Screenwriter Eric Roth (Forrest Gump) adapted the short story, which was originally set in Baltimore. (Scott, Mike. “New Orleans, Brad Pitt shine in “Benjamin Button.”” Times Picayune, Dec 24, 2008, living sec). New Orleans was ultimately chosen as the film location for both creative and economic reasons—to take advantage of the city’s unique character and settings and the State of Louisiana’s generous film incentives (White, Jaquetta. “Louisiana is back in the movies–$200 million deal to be signed today.” Times Picayune, September 14, 2006, National section). Pitt, who later purchased a home in the French Quarter, described the film as “a love letter to New Orleans” (MacCash, Doug. “Brad Pitt misses y’all–on location abroad, the actor longs for his N.O. home.” Times Picayune, May 10, 2007, Living sec).
Plot Summary
The storyline of the film spans the years between 1918 and 2005 as it tells the story of Benjamin Button (Brad Pitt), who is born an 80-year-old man and ages in reverse. As an infant he is left on the steps of a nursing home where he is taken in by “Queenie” (Taraji P. Henson), a caretaker, and consequently raised as her own. While at the nursing home Benjamin meets six-year-old Daisy, whose grandmother is a patient in the home. As the years pass, the viewer watches the lives of Daisy and Benjamin unfold as she progresses in age and he ages in reverse. Daisy moves to New York to become a dancer and Benjamin fights in World War II. As an adult Daisy (Cate Blanchett) and Benjamin grow closer in age, they begin a romance that brings them to New York, Paris, and back to New Orleans.
Production and Locations
The Benjamin Button House that Fincher fell in love with. Photo by Jennifer Zdon, courtesy of the Times Picayune, June 23, 2009.
In 2006 director David Fincher visited New Orleans to scout locations to film Benjamin Button. While visiting the Garden District, Fincher became enamored with an 8,000-plus-square-foot white centerhall cottage at 2707 Coliseum Street. Fincher imagined the house would serve as the retirement home in which Benjamin Button would grow up. The director and his location scout knocked on the door of the house but received no response, so they left a note taped to the front door. The owner of the home, Mary Nell Porter Nolan, was in Houston where she evacuated from Katrina. When the note made it to Ms. Nolan, she originally declined to have the house filmed. Location scout Bill Doyle traveled to Houston to have tea with Ms. Nolan, but she still declined. According to an interview, Doyle attempted to find a suitable replacement for the home, looking at as many as 300 other properties. However, director Fincher was resolute on 2707 Coliseum (Peck, Renee. “Curious Case of Benjamin Button house was director David Fincher’s first–and only–choice.” Times Picayune, Jan 24, 2009. http://blog.nola.com/reneepeck//print.htm. (Accessed April 05, 2013)).
Persistent pleas from the director, location manager, and Ms. Nolan’s son eventually paid off. Ms. Nolan was convinced that the film would have a positive impact on New Orleans, still very much devastated from Katrina. Filming took place in almost every room of the house, as the seven upstairs bedrooms were recreated in detail at a Hollywood sound stage so that additional filming could be done there. At least five complete sets were used inside the house as the period furnishings needed to reflect the changing decades depicted in the film. Ms. Nolan was able to drop in on the set on several occasions during the production of the film. She evacuated again to Houston during Hurricane Gustav and passed away there before the film was released.
Interestingly, the life of the home’s owner parallels that of Daisy, the heroine of Benjamin Button. Like Daisy, Ms. Nolan met the love of her life in the home on Coliseum street, pursued a career in dance in New York City, and ultimately spent her final days “during the uneasiness of a hurricane”. William T. Nolan II, Ms. Nolan’s son, said that the family was very pleased with the film and the depiction of their home as “character in the movie.” He explained that the house is really “a member of the family” (Peck).
