Tackling Bigger Fish
February 11th, 2004
By Archived Story
Exaggeration, white lies and stretching the truth – all common ideas associated with Tim Burton’s latest film, Big Fish.
A man who could never be accused of being unimaginative, Burton has not only matured with this heartfelt story of family ties but has also proved to audiences that his work is more than simply something to poke fun at.
Burton, who directed such films as The Nightmare Before Christmas, Ed Wood, Edward Scissorhands, Beetlejuice and Batman, has been stuck in the ultra-imaginary, where the boundaries of the surreal are stretched through exotic settings and fantasy-like characters, competing with storylines that could only come true in dreams.
Big Fish is no exception to Burton’s wackiness, yet it unfolds by telling the tale of an average Joe with the heart of a superhero.
The events and history of the life of Edward Bloom is the focus of the film, which is told through extremely exaggerated stories that would make a child’s eyes brighten with excitement and an adult’s eyes roll in disbelief. “A man tells his stories so many times that he becomes his stories – and in that way, he becomes immortal.”
A main theme Burton builds upon is the relationship between father and son, and the struggles each have in finding acceptance.
Bloom (Albert Finney) is the orator, who for years has told his stories over and over, explaining that “the biggest fish in the river gets that way by never getting caught” – despite his son Will’s (Billy Crudup) pleas to end his unrealistic fish stories. Following years without communication between each other, tragedy brings the two together again.
When reunited, Bloom’s stories continue; yet this time around, Burton places us directly in those memories, seen through the eyes of a younger big fish (Ewan McGregor). His inconceivable stories include working for a werewolf/circus manager (Danny DeVito), becoming friends with a giant named Karl, seeing his own death through the eye of a witch (Helena Bonham Carter), standing in a field of yellow daffodils wooing the love of his life, and jumping out of an airplane in a covert World War II operation.
The culminating moment of the film is the final connection between father and son, which was salvaged by the stories that have been told so many times before. Instead of purely imagined fairy tales, Bloom proves that no matter how fishy they sound, the truth is only stretched so far.
Burton has crafted a magical film that is incomparable to his past work, except in the fact it is more than obvious he himself has always been the Big Fish.
