Dark World of Tim Burton-Big Fish
If ever there was a Tim Burtonn movie, that was unlike Burton, it had to be Big Fish. Where Burton’s earlier movies were dark, brooding and featured a conflicted hero, Big Fish was more personal and more emotional.
When i was a kid, i spent a lot of time with my grandmother . Curled up beside her, she would regale me with stories of great leaders, mythological characters, saints, kings, princess. And after she slept i would stay awake for some time, still imagining the story she told. My daughter does not get to spend much time with my mother, as we are in different stories, but still i make it a point to tell her some story or other. And right now, every night whenever we go to bed, she does not sleep, till i tell her some story or other. Story telling is an art that seems to be fast vanishing in our day to day life. Kids are more hooked on to cartoon channels, moms are busy with TV serials and fathers are busy with work. Story telling is not just an art, it is also a means of creating a personal bond.
Tim Burton brings alive the art of storytelling in Big Fish. The movie begins with Edward Bloom( Albert Finney), narrating a tale to every one at his son, Will Bloom’s( Billy Crudup) wedding party. It is basically the same tale he had told his son, many times, how on the day Will was born, he was out trying to catch a huge fish, using his wedding ring as bait. Will however is not impressed with his father’s storytelling, and he feels that his father never really told the truth to him, and could never trust him.
Will is now a reporter in Paris, staying with his French wife Josephine(Marion Cottilard), who is now carrying his child. He has been cut off from his father, not even talking to him. But when he hears that his father’s health is failing, Will flies down to Alabama along with his wife. On the way back home, he narrates to his wife a tale told by his father of how he braved a swamp, and met a witch with a glass eye that could show the future.
Edward narrates the story of his younger days, played by Ewan Mc Gregor. Of how he outgrew himself, became a succesful baseball player, but leaves the small town of Ashton to make his dreams come true. Taking the help of a giant named Karl, he comes to a town of Spectre, a town where people are so friendly, that none who comes here, ever leaves. He also meets a missing poet Norther Winslow(Steve Buscemi), who has settled there.
The other important characters are Amos Calloway(Danny De Vito), a circus owner who is also a werewolf, Sandra who is Edward’s love and later becomes his wife, Alison Lohman plays the younger version, while Jessica Lange plays the older version, Jenny( Helena Bonham Carter) a piano teacher who once loved Edward and Ping, Jing a pair of Siamese twins who help out Edward during the Korean war.
Big Fish is a movie that works on two levels. At one level, it is a tribute to the art of storytelling, where Edward narrates his entire life story like a fable or a fairy tale. He mixes up fantasy with current day. Burton is one director, who has used fantasy as a means to get the message across. In Edward Scissorhands, he takes a dig at the shallow nature of residents in an American suburb, while Mars Attacks is a satire on everything right from the American president to the Army.
Here every tale that Edward narrates has a deeper sub text in it’s meaning. Like Edward’s encounter with the giant Karl, though physically different, both of them are misfits in a way. Edward leaves the town of Ashton, as he feels it is too small for his ambitions, while Karl, can’t fit into the town, as he is too big. The metaphorical question Edward asks Karl
Are you too big for this town, or is the town too small for you?
Again Edward’s encounter with Amos, where he works for him without pay, just to know more about Jenny. And the way he makes Amos reveal Jenny’s background, by using the knowledge that he is a werewolf. In Edward’s encounter with Jenny, we see a kind of self confidence he has in him.
In fact for me every story seemed totally layered. If we take Edward’s younger days, where he outgrows himself, it seems a kind of metaphor for his big ambitions, for his adventurous spirit. As he says
If goldfish are kept in a small bowl, they will remain small. With more space, the fish can double, triple or quadruple its size.
The other issue here in Big Fish, which Burton explores is the father son bonding. As he said in an interview, this was something very personal to him after his father died in 2000. He was never close to his dad, but it deeply affected him. Will shares an estranged relationship with his father Edward. In fact he feels his father never tells him the truth. But finally when he comes to know how his dad helped the town of Spectre from dying, from Jenny, he comes to know about him.
The last 30 minutes would just leave you moist eyed. It is one of the most moving and touching scenes ever filmed. And the revelation comes in the end, when Will finally sees his father’s friends at the funeral, every one bears a resemblance to some character or other.
Big Fish is one of Burton’s most personal and most layered movies. In fact every scene, tells of a truth in our life. What Burton has done is using a fable concept to depict Edward’s actions and intentions. For me it is a masterpiece at all levels.
Big Fish also has a great performance from both Albert Finney as the older Edward, and Ewan McGregor as the younger Edward. Finney in particular is just outstanding. There are equally good supporting acts from Helena Bonham Carter, Jessica Lange, Danny De Vito and Steve Buscemi. If you love Tim Burton and have not seen this movie, watch it immediately. If you still not a fan of Burton, still watch this movie, you will have a refreshing look towards human relationships and bonding.
Tags: Albert Finney, Big Fish, Ewan McGregor, Helena Bonham Carter, Jessica Lange, Steve Buscemi, tim burton
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Shilpa Shukla
Sujoy Ghosh
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Santosh Sivan
Shashank Ghosh
Shivajee
Pavan Kaul
Partho Sen-Gupta
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Sam Langoria
Satish Kasetty
There is warmth in this review, that I like,
When I viewed this film with our gang, everybody gasping;
Is it Tim Burton Movie?
Is it Danny Elfman Score?
And Yes, I heard lot of stories from my Father and his adventures, and I do believe in them
now this is storytelling at his best….this movie takes you deep…….it touches u inside….basically we all have some stories to tell…this movie is a tribute to that little things and ofcourse big things……
excellent movie…..excellent performances
time to revisit this movie…..
Oh what could I possibly say Ratnakar, I absolutely enjoyed your post. I reveled in the process of reading statements and then agreeing to it with a prolonged hmmmmmm! I rarely find posts which through a romantic rhythm of lucid narration repeat things that you already know and yet crave to read.
Hmmmm….Will watch…
Big Fish is one of my favorite movies and Tim Burton one of the few favorite modern directors i have. This was a nice review. Only one more thought crossed my mind. the frustration of the son at the wedding is not only because his father is not telling the truth but also because even on such an important occasion the father is still stealing his thunder and the moment when he ought to be the center of attention. i like this movie very much and it ranks among my all time favorite movies too.
@ Shekar, ur bloody right, this is the most unlike of all Burton movies, but one of his best again.
@ Ashwin, yes, thats wat i really loved about Big Fish, the multi layered approach, and how it manages to convey life truths through fables.
In fact the transition of Steve Buscemi from a bank robber to a Wall street executive, is some what close to today, where u have all kinds of crooks on Wall Street.
@ Somnath: Dude thanks for the comment. Made my Day
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@ Arthi: Please do maam.
@ Arvind: That is a very valid point made. I guess one reason why the son is estranged from his father, is maybe he feels he could never be what his Dad was. He feels somewhat diminished.
Nice. You truly exceeded my expectations with Big Fish. :-)
Thanks for revisiting so many poignant points in the film, all so truly important in Burton’s oeuvre yet so singularly distinct. Was thinking on similar lines when I was watching Scissorhands’ beginning the other day. Such subtle social commentary, yet always from a personal pov. Big Fish, like all his other films, makes you believe such tales existed, even if our world is too real to accommodate them. :-)
And what a turn by Buscemi. That guy never disappoints!
@ Tushar
Well in fact most of Burton’s movies have some kind of social commentary or other going on. Well if you take the Big Fish tales, its not that they exist or not in real world, its the fact that the message they give is relevant. Its like the Panchatantra stories, they are fables, but every fable contains a life truth in them.
Ratnakar Bandhu,
I’m waiting for stories (remember)
Send me here please
shekharss@hotmail.com
Good one Ratnakar !
I simply loved this movie , I had not seen much of Burton’s works other than Sleepy Hollow
expected a similar treatment, but was totally amazed at the way this one was presented .. u have summed up most of what i also felt after watching in a much better way
i liked the way the movie presented the father son bonding thing … son slowly coming to realize what his father was , why those tales were what they were … great stuff