Big Fish

2003

Director: Tim Burton

Distributor: Columbia Pictures

Key Elements: Visuals, Concept, Message, Symbolism, Characters, Music

My Review:

Burton’s imagery here is less dark, but just as surreal.

One of the things I like about this movie is the way it acknowledges the damage done when a boy does not have a strong relationship with his dad. In a society where the role of father is dismissed, even mocked, it is refreshing to see the significance of the father/son relationship illustrated.

The other thing I liked was the way it blurs the line between real and ideal. Were Edward’s stories lies, or honest accounts of the way he saw the world? It seems that where other people might see bleak normality, Edward saw extraordinary beauty.

Life is existentially reliant on our perception.

Trailer:



Quotes:

• In telling the story of my father's life, it's impossible to separate fact from fiction, the man from the myth. The best I can do is to tell it the way he told me. It doesn't always make sense and most of it never happened... but that's what kind of story this is.
• Sometimes, the only way to catch an uncatchable woman is to offer her a wedding ring.
• You don't know me, but my name's Edward Bloom... And I love you.
• Sandra Templeton, I love you and I WILL marry you!
• There's a time when a man needs to fight and a time when he needs to accept that his destiny's lost, the ship has sailed and that only a fool will continue. The truth is I've always been a fool.
• There comes a point when any reasonable man will swallow his pride and admit he made a mistake. The truth is... I was never a reasonable man.
• Truth is, I've always been thirsty.
• It was that night I discovered that most things you consider evil or wicked are simply lonely, and lacking in social niceties.
• She said that the biggest fish in the river gets that way by never being caught.
• Now I may not have much, but I have more determination then any man you're likely to meet.
• Most men, they'll tell you a story straight through. It won't be complicated, but it won't be interesting either.
• I know better than to argue romance with a French woman.
• I've been nothin' but myself since the day I was born, and if you can't see that it's your failin', not mine.
• Has it ever occurred to you that maybe you're not too big? That maybe this place is just too small?
• There are some fish that cannot be caught. It's not that they're faster or stronger than other fish, they're just touched by something extra.
• A man tells his stories so many times that he becomes the stories. They live on after him, and in that way he becomes immortal.
• They say when you meet the love of your life, time stops, and that's true. What they don't tell you is that when it starts again, it moves extra fast to catch up.You become what you always were - a very big fish.

Stills: