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一生至少该有一次，为了某个人而忘了自己，不求有结果，不求同行，不求曾经拥有，甚至不求你爱我。只求在我最美的年华里，遇到你。
《本杰明·巴顿奇事》（ The Curious Case of Benjamin Button ）于2008年12月放映，获第81届奥斯卡奖最佳艺术指导、最佳化妆、最佳视觉效果等奖项。
影片通过倒叙的方式，讲述了黛西（Daisy）在临终前与女儿卡洛琳（Caroline）一起阅读了本杰明·巴顿（Benjamin Button）留下的日记，同时回忆了这位逆生长的本杰明·巴顿不为人知的一生以及他们相恋的传奇故事。
Q = Queenie（奎妮）
B = Benjamin（本杰明）
W = Weathers（韦瑟斯）
Q: Benjamin! That is dangerous. Come back over here. Stay put, chap ① .
B: I loved her very much. She was my mother. Mama, Mama. Some days I feel different than the day before.
Q: Everybody feels different about themselves, one way or another. But we’re all going the same way. Just taking different roads to get there, that’s all. You’re on your own road, Benjamin.
B: Mama? How much longer I got?
Q: Just be thankful for what you’re given, hear? You already here longer than you supposed to.
B: 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 safe ② . It was a place of great routine . Every morning at 5:30, 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.
Q: All right, baby, come on. We got to put some life into these old sticks for you, get you walking so you can help me out around here ③ .Come on now, hear?
B: No matter the season, supper was served promptly at 5:30.
B: Mo-lasses.
W: Molasses.
B: Molasses.
W: I learned to read when I was 5. My grandfather was a dresser for a famous actor. He brought home every play for me to read.“Kind keepers of my weak decaying age, let dying Mortimer here rest himself. Even like a man new haled from the rack , so fare my limbs with long imprisonment. And these gray locks , the pursuivants of death, argue the end of Edmund Mortimer”. You thought I was plain ignorant , didn’t you? The actor my grandfather worked for was John Wilkes Booth, he killed Abraham Lincoln. Never know what’s coming for you.
B: On Saturday nights, Mama would make me go to church.
Q：本杰明，危险！快回来。给我老实坐着，坏小子。
B：我很爱她，她是我母亲。妈妈，妈妈。有时候我感觉自己天天都在变。
Q：每个人在某种程度上都会觉得自己不一样，但是最终我们都要去同一个地方，只不过方式各异罢了。你也有你自己的路，本杰明。
B：妈妈？我还能活多久呢？
Q：对拥有的心怀感恩就行了，你能活到现在已经是个奇迹了。
B：有的晚上，我得一个人睡，但我不介意。我能感受到整个房子的呼吸。大家都在睡觉，这让我觉得很安心。在这儿生活很有规律，不管天气怎样，每天清晨五点半，温斯洛将军，一个美国退伍军人，都去升旗；西比尔·瓦格纳夫人，曾经大名鼎鼎的歌剧家，都会唱瓦格纳的歌剧。
Q：好了，孩子，来吧，你的这双老腿得活动活动了，你要能走路就能帮我忙了。来，加油。
B：一年四季，晚饭都在傍晚五点半准时开始。
B：糖……浆。
W：糖浆。
B：糖浆。
W：我五岁开始学认字。我祖父曾是一位知名演员的服装师。每次他都把剧本带回来给我读。“看护我这衰弱老人的善良监护们，请让垂死的摩提默在此歇会儿吧。由于长期监禁，我的手脚已麻木不堪，就像刚从刑架上拖下来的犯人一般。我的满头白发是死亡的前兆，预示着爱德默·摩提默的死期将近。”你以为我是文盲，对吧？我祖父服务的那个演员叫约翰·威尔克斯·布斯，就是他刺杀了亚伯拉罕·林肯。你永远不知道接下来会发生什么。
B：每个周六晚上，妈妈都会带我去教堂。
1. Stay put, child.
短语stay put（in a certain place）是非正式口语用法，意思是sb. or sth. continue to be in the place where they are or where they have been put（待在原地；留在原处不动），常用于命令别人。类似的表达有stay still，stay around。对话中，奎妮对本杰明不能乖乖坐好，却试图到马路上的行为既生气又担心，于是命令他安分地坐好。
2. All those people sleeping, I felt safe.
safe在本句中不可简单地理解为“安全的”。根据情境，深夜了，养老院的人们都在睡觉，而本杰明一个人待在大厅里感受着大家的呼吸。夜的宁静，使他觉得一切都很安心。
3. We got to put some life into these old sticks for you, get you walking so you can help me out around here.
got to表示“必须；不得不”，相当于非正式表达gotta，常用短语有（have）got to do sth.，“必须做某事”。stick为名词，其基本含义是“棍棒”，在本句中指代本杰明的腿。奎妮想帮助本杰明舒展他已僵化的腿，给它们注入活力。stick还可用来表示old-fashioned，常和old连用，所以old sticks表示“老家伙；顽固、墨守成规的人”，相当于习语a stick-in-the-mud。
routine n. 常规；惯例
of note 有名的；引人注目的
promptly adv. 准时地
hale v. 猛拉
rack n. 刑架
locks n. （诗）一绺头发
pursuivant n. 跟随
ignorant adj. 无知的；无学识的
1. You already here longer than you supposed to.
supposed的[d]只做发音姿势，稍作停顿，to的[t]发音，类似的还有got to。
2. Even like a man new haled from the rack, so fare my limbs with long imprisonment.
like与a连读为[laikə]。
3. You thought I was plain ignorant, didn’t you?
didn’t与you连读为[‘didntju:]。
D = Daisy（黛西）
B = Benjamin（本杰明）
D: 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 ?
B: I don’t believe I ...
D: He says that everything is predetermined, but I like to think of it as fate.
B: I’m not sure how it works, but I’m glad it happened ① .
D: Have you been to Manhattan? It’s right across the river from me. Now, 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. Is it as cold as they say?
B: Twice as cold.
D: My goodness. We always said you were different, but I think you really are. You wrote that you met somebody. Did it work out ② ?
B: It ran its course ② . Hey, do you remember this?
D: “This is the picture of Old Man Kangaroo at 5 in the afternoon.”
B: Would you like to have dinner?
D: Did I tell you that I danced for Balanchine?Oh, he’s a famous choreographer . He said that I had perfect line. You know, in a rehearsal once, a dancer fell. And he just... he put it right into the production. I mean, can you imagine that? Like in a... in a classical ballet ? You know, a dancer intentionally falling. There’s a whole new word for dance now. It’s called “abstract”. No, he’s not the only one, though. There’s Lincoln Kirstein and Lucia Chase, and oh, my... Oh, there’s Agnes de Mille. She’s just torn up all those conventions, you know, all that straight up and down stuff ③ . It’s not about the formality of the dance. It’s about what the dancer’s feeling.
B: As she told me about this big new world, names that didn’t mean a thing to me. I didn’t really hear very much of what she was saying.
D: It’s new and it’s modern and it’s American. They understand our vigor and our physicality. Oh, my God. I’ve just been talking and talking.
B: No, no, I’ve enjoyed listening.
D：真不敢相信，我们还能再见面，这一定是缘分。不对，不对，他们是怎么说的？宿命。你听说过那个通灵家埃德加·凯斯吗？
B：我不相信……
D：他说一切都是上天注定的，但我觉得一切都是缘分。
B：虽然我不懂该怎么解释，但能再次遇到你，我还是很高兴。
D：你去过曼哈顿吗？离我住的地方只隔一条河，站在床上我就能看到帝国大厦。说说你吧，你都去过哪里？快告诉我。你最后一封信里说，你在俄罗斯。噢，我一直都想去那儿，那儿真有那么冷吗？
B：很冷。
D：天啊！大家总说你和我们不一样，不过我真的觉得你与众不同。你信上说你爱上一个女人，有结果吗？
B：各奔东西了。嘿，你记得这本书吗？
D：“这是老雄袋鼠先生，下午五点钟的样子。”
B：能邀请你共进晚餐吗？
D：我和你说过没，我曾是巴兰钦导演的芭蕾舞演员？哦，他编的舞很有名，他夸我的线条很美。知道吗？在一次排练中，有名舞者不小心摔倒了，他就……就把这个动作编进舞蹈里，你能想象得出这个情形吗？在一部……一部古典芭蕾舞剧里增加这个动作？让舞者故意摔倒！如今有个新词来形容这类舞蹈，叫作“抽象舞”。当然啦，不仅他会这么做，还有林肯·柯尔斯坦和露西亚·切斯。哦，对了，还有艾格尼丝·德米尔，她彻底打破所有传统，颠覆了“抬头挺胸”那些老套路，舞蹈的重点是舞者的感觉，而不是形式。
B：她跟我讲的，像是把我带到另外一个全新的世界。都是些我没听过的名字，说实话，我不是很懂。
D：真的很新颖、很现代、很美式！只有他们才了解我们舞者的活力和形体。哦，抱歉！我说得太多了！
B：不，不，我喜欢听你说话。
1. I’m not sure how it works, but I’m glad it happened.
本句中本杰明口中的it指黛西所提到的Kismet（宿命）。work作为动词，在不同语境中含义不一。本句中how it works表示how it happens，与后半句的happens同义，这是为了避免用词重复。
2. Did it work out? It ran its course.
work out在本句中的含义是to develop in a successful / satisfactory way，“进展顺利”。It ran its course的字面意思是“在自己的路线／轨道上奔跑”。根据对话语境，黛西问本杰明他的恋爱情况如何时，本杰明回答他们“分手了；各奔东西”。英语中表示分手的常用表达是break up。
3. She’s just torn up all those conventions, you know, all that straight up and down stuff.
tear sth. up的字面意思是“撕碎，撕毁（文件）等”，在本句中引申为打破（传统的束缚），相当于break all the rules。
Kismet n. 天命；宿命
psychic n. 通灵；巫师；预言家
choreographer n. 编舞者
rehearsal n. 彩排
ballet n. 芭蕾舞
convention n. 传统
formality n. 拘泥形式
1. Must be fate.
must的[t]只做发音姿势，稍作停顿，be的[b]发音。
2. Now, I can see the Empire State Building if I stand on my bed.
stand与on连读为[stændɔn]。类似的连读还有did it work out，did与it连读为[didit]，work与out连读为[wə:kaut]，put it连读为[putit]，torn up连读为[tɔːnʌp]。
D = Daisy（黛西）
B = Benjamin（本杰明）
Q = Queenie（奎妮）
B: And in the spring of 1962, she came back.
D: You want to know where I’ve been?
B: No.
Q: How come you didn’t write or nothing?Just disappearing like that.
D: It was something I needed to do for myself.
Q: 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.
B: Good night, Mama.
Q: Good night, baby. Y’all have fun.
D: You haven’t said two words.
B: I don’t want to ruin it.
D: Sleep with me?
B: Absolutely. I asked her to come away with me. We sailed into the Gulf along the Florida Keys.
D: I am so glad we didn’t find one another when I was 26 ① .
B: Why do you say that?
D: I was so young, and you were so old. It happened when it was supposed to happen ② .
B: Hey, I will enjoy each and every moment I have with you.
D: I bet I can stay out here longer than you.
B: I bet you can’t
D: Barely a line or a crease . Every day I have more wrinkles , it’s not fair.
B: I love your wrinkles. Both of them ③ .
D: What’s it like growing younger?
B: I can’t really say. I’m always looking out my own eyes.
D: Will you still love me when my skin grows old and saggy ?
B: Will you still love me when I have acne ?When I wet the bed? When I’m afraid of what’s under the stairs?
D: What? What are you thinking?
B: Well, I was thinking how nothing lasts. And what a shame that is.
D: Some things last ④ .
B: Good night, Daisy.
D: Good night, Benjamin.
B: 1962年的春天，她回来了。
D：想不想知道我都去过哪儿？
B：不想。
Q：你怎么都不写信来？就这么消失不见了。
D：我去处理一些私事。
Q：好吧，我就说嘛，你不是个自私的孩子。但愿我没看错，我看人通常都很准的。
B：妈妈，晚安。
Q：宝贝儿，晚安。你俩玩得开心。
D：你今天话太少啦。
B：我不想破坏气氛。
D：留下来睡吧？
B：好的。我请她跟我一起出游，我们沿着佛罗里达群岛驾船，驶进海湾。
D：真庆幸，我26岁那年，我们没有在一起。
B：为什么呢？
D：那时我太年轻了，而你又太老了。而此时刚好。
B：亲爱的，我要珍惜和你在一起的分分秒秒。
D：我打赌，我能比你撑得更久。
B：我赌你不能。
D：你脸上一点儿皱纹都没有啊，而我每天都有新皱纹，这不公平。
B：我爱你，也爱你的皱纹，我爱你的一切。
D：越活越年轻是什么滋味？
B：这太难形容了。我没法看到自己身上的所有变化。
D：我变成黄脸婆时，你还会爱我吗？
B：我满脸青春痘时，你爱我吗？我尿床的时候呢？我怕楼梯下藏有东西不敢下楼的时候呢？
D：什么？你在想什么呢？
B：嗯，我在想为什么万物没有永恒呢？真可惜啊！
D：有些事是永恒的。
B：晚安，黛西。
D：晚安，本杰明。
1. I am so glad we didn’t find one another when I was 26.
we didn’t find one another不是字面上的意思“……我们没有找到各自”。根据剧情，此处应表示we didn’t fall in love with each other。黛西感慨，她26岁那年，她没有与本杰明相爱，那时的她太年轻了。
2. It happened when it was supposed to happen.
这句话的本义是“事情在它本该发生的时候自然而然地发生了”，对话表示，黛西与本杰明再次相遇直到相爱恰恰是他们年龄和外表完全匹配的时候。当表示“某事很自然发生”时，常用这句话。
3. Both of them.
从本杰明的回答Both of them中可看出他对黛西的爱是永恒。Both既指黛西所提到的皱纹（line；crease；wrinkles），更指黛西本人。
4. Some things last.
当本杰明叹息万物没有永恒时，黛西说Some things last，表示她对他的爱至死不渝，天长地久。翻译时不必具体译出Some things指何物，因为他们的爱是不言而喻的。
crease n. 褶皱；皱纹
wrinkle n. 皱纹
saggy adj. 松懈的；下垂的
acne n. 粉刺；青春痘
1. You want to know where I’ve been?
want的[t]只做发音姿势，稍作停顿，to的[t]发音。类似的还有needed to。
2. Y’all have fun.
Y’all表示you all，美国南部口音或美国南部黑人发音中，常把you all发作y’all[jɔːl]。
3. I don’t want to ruin it.
ruin与it连读为[‘ruːinit]。类似的连读还有grows old发音为[grəʊzəʊld]。
飓风卡特里娜（Hurricane Katrina）是自1928年奥奇丘比（Okeechobee）飓风以来，死亡人数最多的美国飓风，造成至少1836人丧生，750亿美元的经济损失，成为美国史上破坏力最大的飓风。卡特里娜穿越佛罗里达州南部后进入墨西哥湾，在墨西哥湾超过摄氏32度的海水、微弱的垂直风切变和良好的高空辐散等条件的共同作用下，卡特里娜迅速增强为一个5级飓风，近中心最高持续风速为每小时150海里。
本片改编自斯科特·菲茨杰拉德写于1922年的同名短篇小说，但电影和小说有很大不同。首先，小说的时代背景是南北战争，电影改为一战、二战。其次，小说着重展示本杰明与父亲、自己儿子间的关系，电影则聚焦他与妻子黛西的爱情。本片编剧艾力克·罗斯1994年凭借《阿甘正传》拿下奥斯卡最佳改编剧本奖，他创作的《邮差》《马语者》《局内人》《阿里》《慕尼黑》皆是经典力作。