THE CURIOUS CASE OF BENJAMIN BUTTON



Written by

Eric Roth


Based on the short story by F. Scott Fitzgerald


10/30/07



As all things do, it begins in the dark. EYES blink
open. Blue eyes. The first thing they see is a WOMAN
near 40, standing looking out a window, watching the wind
blowing, rattling a window.

A WOMAN'S (V.O.)
What are you looking at?

CAROLINE
The wind, Mother... They say a
hurricane is on its way... You've
been asleep... I was waiting to
see you...

1 INT. HOSPITAL ROOM, NEW ORLEANS - MORNING, PRESENT 1

Now we see we're in a hospital room with layers of white
enamel paint trying without success to hide the years...
An old WOMAN, past 80, withered, still regal with a green
turban around her bald head is propped by pillows, her
blue eyes looking out at us from her bed... She's
connected to an intravenous for sustenance and a morphine
drip... Her name, is DAISY FULLER. She speaks with a
Southern lilt.

DAISY
If it wasn't for hurricanes we
wouldn't have a hurricane season.

CAROLINE
I've forgotten what the weather
can be like here. I've lived with
four seasons so many years now.

We see a young Black Woman, a "caregiver," DOROTHY BAKER,
in a corner, thumbing a magazine, with one eye at the
window...

DOROTHY BAKER
I saw on the news they're
predicting trouble...

DAISY
1928 they stacked people like
firewood to close a hole in a
levee.

But Daisy has other things on her mind... murmuring...




(CONTINUED)

2.

1 CONTINUED: 1

DAISY (CONT'D)
It all runs together... like a
fingerpainting... I feel like I'm
on a boat, drifting...

CAROLINE
(tenderly)
Can I do anything for you, Mother?
Make anything easier?

DAISY
Hmmm. There is nothing to do,
Caroline. This is what it is...
I'm finding it harder to keep my
eyes open... my mouth all filled
with cotton...

And agitated, feeling confined, she scratches at her
nightgown as if it were sticking to her... she starts to take
it off... Dorothy gets up and straightens it for her.

DOROTHY BAKER
There, there, Miss Daisy... you'll
scratch yourself to ribbons...
(to Caroline)
It's their way of letting go...
(the finality)
...prob'ly today.

Caroline is well aware of it, but the words, her
admonition of death being so close at hand, makes
everything even more present...

CAROLINE
Do you want more medication,
Mother? The doctor said you can
have all you want.

Daisy is quiet, looking into the distance. Caroline,
seeking closure, sits on the bed with her and starts to
cry. Daisy puts her thin arms around her daughter,
comforting her.

CAROLINE (CONT'D)
A friend told me she never had a
chance to say goodbye to her
mother.
(grateful to have the
chance)
I wanted to thank you, Mother, for
bringing me into this world. For
raising me so well.
(MORE)

(CONTINUED)

3.