Content area
Full text
This feature contains spoilers for Big Fish.
“Have you ever heard a joke so many times you've forgotten why it's funny? And then you hear it again and suddenly it's new. You remember why you loved it in the first place.”
In the last two decades of Tim Burton's filmography, Big Fish feels like something of an outlier. Chronologically, it slots in between his 'reimaginings' of Planet Of The Apes and Charlie And The Chocolate Factory, both of which are much more typical of his 21st century output. This film isn't worlds apart from his usual style, but for once, it's the substance of the story that connects with his sensibilities as a storyteller.
Based on Daniel Wallace's book Big Fish: A Novel Of Mythic Proportions, the film follows the life of Edward Bloom, an extraordinary young man (Ewan McGregor) who grows into an extraordinary old man (Albert Finney), who delights in telling extraordinary stories about his escapades. His son Will (Billy Crudup) is the only one who seems immune to his charm, and as his father reaches the end of his days, he becomes obsessed with finding out the truth behind the stories.
[Video omitted]
John August's hugely quotable script takes the unusual structure of the novel and adapts it into a time-hopping series of vignettes that gradually paints a picture of the relationship between father and son by reconciling their clashing perspectives.
15 years on, it's still interesting to look back on how the film converts the themes of fatherhood and the importance of storytelling into a visual medium. Burton has no shortage of fans, but the accessible quality of this understated masterpiece shouldn't be ovelooked next to his more idiosyncratic fare. In Big Fish, the combination of August's masterful plot structuring and Burton's directorial sensibilities yields an interesting view of its characters past, present, and future.
Introduction
“Is this a tall tale?”
“Well, it’s not a short one…”
Early on in the film, we’re shown Edward Bloom’s birth, or his version of it anyway. In characteristically preposterous fashion, the new-born baby shoots right out of his mother and slides down a hospital corridor, sending doctors and visitors sprawling in his wake. Although Wallace's novel was destined for adaptation...