The movie Big Fish (Burton 2003) is about the life of Edward Bloom (Ewan McGregor) as he told it. Edward is a charming story teller and everyone but his son loves his tall tales. It is a series of fairy tales about Edward as he grew up. The viewer also gets an insight into the personality of Edward’s son Will who is not enamored with these fanciful tales but wants to know the truth about his dying father’s life.
Overall this film follows Tim Burton’s signature style with a blurring of the line between fantasy and reality. However, unlike most of Burton’s films the underlying mood of the story light and comedic. It does not contain dark, gothic scenes and is more of a feel good movie. One of the darkest scenes in the movie is when the young Edward Bloom confronts an old witch who lives on the edge of town. In her glass eye the kids see how they were going to die. The scene is done in all low key lighting with eerie music and a close up on the “creepy” glass eye, but it fails to instill any sense of discomfort in the viewer as most of Burton’s horror scenes due because of the characters’ either comic fear or acceptance of the witch. To watch the youtube video of this scene go here (for some reason it has prohibited me from uploading the video directly).
Burton has a strong visual style and his images stick in the mind and help tell Edward’s fanciful stories better than the nearly constant narration. One that particularly sticks in my mind is when Karl (Matthew McGrory), a gentle giant that Edward helps find acceptance in society, and Edward are walking off to meet their destinies. The looming, but hunched over and awkward giant is juxtaposed sharply with the confident but much smaller Edward. Somehow they seem to be walking together in harmony as if they belonged with each other and the idyllic background. This picture encapsulates the relationship more than the narration could.
Burton also makes a reference back to his other movie Eduard Scissorhands (in addition to both main characters having the same name) with the town of Specter, a town that Edward accidentally stumbled across on his way to the city. This town is a lot like the city in Eduard Scissorhands with vibrant green lawns and a seemingly perfect small town life where everyone is happy and idyllic. Both Edward and Eduard are unable to find happiness there and move on, leaving behind one who loves them.
The film does include several typical Tim Burton themes like the child’s imagination of fantasy and horror. This particular theme is actually the basis for nearly the entire movie which includes such memorable scenes as a man turning into a fish, the stopping of time, and a werewolf. Also like a lot of Burton films it relies heavily on special effects. However it doesn’t include a central character that is ostracized from society and a dark and mysterious undertone as a lot of Burton films do. It also fails to answer or even to forcefully get the viewer to consider the question of what is better the truth or an exciting story?
Overall I agree with the film critique by Arran McDermott. The film takes a while to really get interesting, but once going it is very relaxed and a funny collection of tall tales. A lot of what the film relies on is the absurdity of the tales bringing a smile to the viewer’s face and this sense of surprise and disbelief may be lost on repeat viewings. However, I do believe that it is worth seeing at least once.
