Big Fish (2003)

Directed by: Tim Burton | 125 minutes | drama, comedy, adventure, fantasy | Actors: Ewan McGregor, Albert Finney, Billy Crudup, Jessica Lange, Helena Bonham Carter, Alison Lohman, Robert Guillaume, Marion Cotillard, Matthew McGrory, David Denham, Missi Pyle, Loudon Wainwright III, Ada Tai, Arlene Tai, Steve Buscemi, Danny DeVito, Deep Roy

Tim Burton adapted Daniel Wallace’s book of the same name with the telling title ‘Big Fish: A Novel of Mythic Proportions’. He had a distant relationship with his father and was shocked by his own confusion when he passed away. He underwent the film adaptation of ‘Big Fish’ like a catharsis.

The director of ‘Sleepy Hollow’ (1990) and ‘Charlie and the Chocolate Factory’ (2005) can film books in a loving and beautiful way. This film is also a feast for the eyes due to its beautiful design. Bright colors alternate well with threatening or gloomy decors to illustrate the mood of the characters. The people Edward Bloom talks about are unusual and fairytale-like, but certainly not caricatured. Ewan McGregor plays the young Edward Bloom in a very believable way as a somewhat dreamy young man who does not wait to see what life has in store for him, but bravely goes out into the world and meets all adventures and people with optimism and curiosity. Albert Finney is witty and on his toes as the elderly man who still tells his stories full of taste to whoever will hear them.

At the beginning of the film, Will listens to the same story from his father at different ages. His father claims he caught a legendary fish using his wife’s gold wedding ring. As a boy, Will listens breathlessly, as a teenager quite bored and on his wedding day he informs his father that he has had enough of his stories that he considers lies. After that, they only have contact through his mother for three years. When she calls him to say that his father is dying of cancer, Will travels with his wife to his childhood home.

Edward Bloom’s life story unfolds in a series of flashbacks. Will tries to figure out if the stories his father has been telling all his life are lies or based on real events. He also wants to know if all those strange people really existed. He hopes to distill the truth from that kaleidoscope of stories and thereby learn who his father really is. But is it necessary to know the truth in order to love someone or are the stories someone tells the very core of who they are and do you have to accept that? That’s the choice Will faces. The relationship with his father develops in a very believable and moving way during his search. The impending death of his father forces him to think about his own way of life and to make his choice on that basis. While the parallel with the director’s life is obvious, the film is not larmoyant or self-pitying, but honest and sincere.