And we've seen highly symbolic film narratives told in reverse time like Christopher Nolan's Memento and Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind. And sure enough, The Reader, for which Ka-Hathor Winslet won her Oscar/Ausur, is also told in a kind of reverse time as well.
I was completely puzzled by this motif until I traced the secret society tradition back through all of its permuations and corruptions to the Shemsu Hor, the powerful Egyptian priests of Heliopolis.
I've come to see the Shemsu Hor as a kind of cargo cult, trying to return their country to the golden age of the Zep Tepi, where the gods ruled on Earth. After all, restoring divine rule is the goal of most of the world's major religions as well, isn't it?
So naturally the multiple Academy Award nominations for The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, a fable about a man who ages backward, caught my attention. The film is based on an F. Scott Fitzgerald story and is directed by David Fincher (Se7en, Fight Club), whose previous film was Zodiac, a film whose semiotic resonance cannot possibly be overstated.
I haven't yet seen this film, so all I can do is look at the trailer and the information about it on iMDb and Wikipedia. But for now, that's plenty.
First, the trailer:
At 0:21 the clock moves from 10:12 backwards to 10:11. Had it moved forwards it would bring us to 10:13, which has ominous implications to the Templar tradition.
At 0:25 we see this child placed on a stairwell, suggesting his ascension.
This is the mirror of the descending angelic beings we see in the Stairway to Sirius tracing board. Next we see his unveiling by a black woman, which is the inverse of the veil worn by the Black Madonna of Esoteric Catholic tradition.
At 0:33 we see Benjamin's symbolic baptism by the Black Madonna, which ties into the water symbolism we see throughout the film.
At 0:51 we see Button now descend a stairway and encounter Tilda Swinton, whom we will be looking at in far greater depth in the future.
At 1:04 we meet Cate Blanchett's character and see another yet staircase behind her.
In the film, Button is born on 11/11, driving home the twinning motif we see in the title. This is significant in the context of the symbolism of reverse time in the Stairway to Sirius, since Sirius is a binary star system.At 1:17 Benjamin and Blanchett's sexual union is symbolically prefigured by a figure diving into the water on a full moonlit night.
The cast here is highly resonant as well. You have Brad Pitt who was fawned over by the sycophants at the Oscar pre-show as the reigning Prince of Hollywood. Pitt's filmography is a semiotic gold mine, including films the previously mentioned Se7en and Fight Club.
Hollywood's breathtaking Faerie Queene
Blanchett's Oscar win was for another Ka-Hathor-Ein and her Oscar nomination for the portrayal of Bob Dylan gives her the requisite androgynous bonus points. And Blanchett's role as psychic spy Irina Spalko in Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull alone would be enough to put her at the top of every Synchromystics to-do list.
Nominated for supporting actress in Benjamin Button was Taraji P. Henson, born September 11, 1970 (17). Henson was amazing in Smokin' Aces, playing a butched-up contract killer whose lover was the luminous Alicia Keys (more gate/door symbolism and Wonderland resonator). Her character's husband in CCoBB is played by Mahershalalhashbaz Ali of The 4400.
Also playing Button's love interests in the film are Elle Fanning, who was so haunting in the must-see The Nines, and the aforementioned Tilda Swinton, who you'll probably get sick of hearing about in the near future around here.
But Pitt and Blanchett are the main attraction.
But since we've been looking at the Oscars in the context of the Babylon Gate - meaning the portal through which man reconnects with the gods - is there any symbolism in this casting that points back to this motif?
Why, wouldn't you know it, indeed there is. You see, the last time we saw Pitt and Blanchett together was in this film...
