“Big Fish” has proven to be a dream come true: a movie that invokes constant evaluation and thought while it jerks tears and warms the heart. But as it does these things, “Big Fish” also leaves room for the viewer’s own imagination. Director Tim Burton (“Edward Scissorhands”) brings the viewer into a dream world full of color and emotion. The depiction of a father’s tall tales retold through his son’s eyes is unique, to say the least.
As these stories are revealed, the audience is simultaneously shocked and awestruck. Colors, giants and moments literally frozen in time all dance in front of the audience for 110 minutes. Because it is never revealed to the viewer what actually happens in the life of the father, Edward Bloom, the audience is allowed to dabble in its own imagination, something Burton is known for. Although Burton creates fantasy worlds in most of his films, this one lacks a sort of negative sadness that usually lurks within his work. The way in which each story comes alive and works while it tiptoes around reality and the symbolism involved in the characters’ tales creates good conversation when the movie is over, for I have not encountered one person who saw the movie in the same way that I did.
As the senior Edward Bloom (Albert Finney, “Traffic”) lies on his deathbed, his son attempts to gather some truth behind the stories that make up all he knows of his father’s life. As these tales are recounted, Burton pulls the audience into Bloom’s life in an unbelievable way. With stories of giants, catching humongous fish with wedding rings, and witches who see the future through a glass eye, Burton creates exquisite depictions of these unbelievable fish tales. Somewhere along the way, though, Bloom’s stories seem to become more believable.
What makes the movie so attractive not only to the viewers’ eyes, but also to their hearts, is the compassion and poise of young Edward Bloom, Ewan McGregor, (“Moulin Rouge”). The exaggerated reality of the overzealous older Bloom’s life gives the movie an old-fashioned feel. McGregor’s acting is right on and adds perfectly to the absurd charm of the fantasy world.
One could call this movie magical realism, but in doing so may lose its heart-warming effects. The fact that Edward Bloom refuses to give anything other than these supposed myths as his life story aggravates his son his entire life. In piecing together his life over the course of the movie, Will Bloom (Billy Crudup, “Almost Famous”) learns from his mother Sandra Bloom (Jessica Lange, “Blue Sky”), and an actual character from one of his father’s stories, Jenny (Helena Bohnam Carter, “Fight Club”), that most of his stories have quite a bit of truth to them. In believing in his father, Will connects himself to the myth. The ending and the entire movie are simply a refreshing break from clear-cut reality-based films.
