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Tim Burton's big fish analysis
Tim Burton's big fish analysis
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Film Essay I came away from watching Big Fish with the impression that Will Bloom (Billy Crudup) finally understood his father (Albert Finney) after many years. Directed by Tim Burton and written by John August, the film Big Fish has a warm welcoming with several characters that impacted Edward. All the characters had their own adventures with Edward and he felt the need to share with others. It does not necessarily mean he told them exactly like they happen, and that is where Edward and his son has concerns. Big Fish explains the estranged relationship between a father and his son and whether or not they will reconcile their relationship or not. The plot of this film to me was confusing at first, but as the film went on I began to recognize what the writer was portraying to his viewers. “He spent the years before his son’s birth having amazing adventures and meeting unforgettable characters , and the years after the birth telling his stories to his son over and over and over again”(Ebert). Edward and his son has tension that has been escalating since Will was younger. All to which no one seems to understand …show more content…
“Big Fish starts out sweet, with young Edward as the toast of his small Southern town, seeing as he grew up fearless because he once peered into the glass eye of a witch and saw how he was going to die”(Englehart). Edward always believed he could do anything he set his mind too. When Edward seen Sandra for the first time at the circus he was captivated by her, and knew he would one day marry her (Ebert). He just knew that he could not give up on her, even though he did not really know her. Edward just knew that he would be with her. Edward was so fascinated by Sandra that he worked for the circus for free in turn for information about her (Big Fish). Even when Edward went to offer himself up as a meal to the giant, he showed great bravery. Throughout the entire film there was
Edward would make topiary for every neighbor, give them haircuts, and groom their pets. Before this, Peg’s daughter, Kim, finds Edward in her bed. Edward had seen pictures of Kim and she had instantly become of Edward’s interest.
The book has vivid imagery making the reader imaging as if her or she was their right beside him in his whole investigation. Such as “In the winter of 1978, through, a fierce blizzard hit southern Connecticut. Temperatures were often below zero and at one point it snowed for thirty-three hours straight. Perhaps it was the cold that killed the fish, or the copper sulfate I helped the caretaker drag through the pond the previous summer to manage the algal blooms, or maybe even the fishermen id noticed trespassing on the estate one day, scoping out my grounds. But whatever caused it, after that never again did I spot a living fish in that pond again.”(Greenberg 12-13). This quote shows how good his imagery, tone, and diction is, when I read it all I could think of is that storm and the pond. The author has an excellent writing style and keeps the reader wanting more. Even though the book has a lot of good things for it the only thing I would tell the author would to give more connections of him to the story. It says “The transformation of salmon and sea bass from kingly and holiday wild fish into everyday farmed variants is a trend that continues with different animals around the globe.”(Greenberg 195). In every chapter about each of the fish it gives some connections to him but it would make it even
With giant in time the idea is that the historical figures in this case Edward, are greatly modified to make them seem larger than life.In the movie his father also tells him, he makes himself a hero and more than the orginary man. Larger than life, a giant in every story and reimaging of his life. All the things that happen in Edward’s life is told to make him seem a lot more interesting. Though all the misadventures that Edward goes through life, is massively exaggerated and altered to make him look much more likeable and interesting as a character. This is far from the truth and is the main problem with the movie story line.Will, Edward’s son wants to know who is father truly is behind the stories and myths that his father use to tell him as a child and uncover what this giant is really like before his time is out. This is the twisted truth about the story, some the events that happened are fiction if not maybe all the events that transpired are fiction and all made up to keep Will and others entertain but Edward is just a normal man that tells stories about himself and blante figurative events that could not possibly happen at all if you look at it from a different
He is quite committed to the goal of rebuilding Spectre at this point, but having to gather the money and supervise the rebuilding did not allow him to contact his family, drawing him ever closer to an affair, and just distracting the problems he faced, allowing them to accumulate, as shown in the lake. Strangely the family of Edward seems to understand that water is his life. In many of the scenes where Edward is dying, they are quite observant of his water levels. When Edward submerges himself in water in his bathtub, Sandra cries, ‘I don’t think I’ll ever dry out.’. By immersing himself in water, Edward shows he is trying to hang on to the fragments of life he has left, and Sandra shows her reluctant understanding. In the last scene Ed is alive, we see him refuse a cup of water offered by his son, and ultimately make up with Will through a story they both create. His refusal of the glass of water is his acceptance of death, and seeing as how he prioritised a story he shared with his son, he most likely only lived those past years to try to reconcile with him - something only understood after realising the importance of water as a symbol in this
ultimate theme of 'The Fish" is that the carelessness of how we treat others and
The novel Big Fish, written by Daniel Wallace, contains many themes that are an important aspect to the story. Forming the father-son relationship between Edward and his son, William, was the key theme to Big Fish. William believes that his father’s stories are fictional stories and do not establish the truth, which frustrates him. In an interview with New York Times, Tim Burton said, “"Big Fish is about what's real and what's fantastic, what's true and what's not true, what's partially true and how, in the end, it's all true.” At the end of the movie, William finally starts to understand his father and the stories that have been told. After his father died, William keeps his father’s legacy alive by replacing himself as the storyteller and by retelling his father’s stories.
Watching Eddy fish, Gus absorbs a lot of information that before was totally unseen to him. Not only about fishing, but about this woman and about himself, needing to learn from her. He says on page 152 “I felt for the first time that I was in the presence of a fishing genius exceeding my own.” He is enthralled by her fishin...
He created two stories to explain his father's absence, during his childhood, and death. Will created the town of Specter to comprehend why his father abandoned him. Will says “when he [Edward] leaves on business this is where he goes, this is still where he goes every time” (163). Despite being hurt, Will continued to love him. When his father died, Will told one final story in his memory. He explained that his father wasn’t dead, he was a big fish in a big pond. Edwards whole life was spent preparing for this transformation, Will said “All this time, my father was becoming a fish” (180). “He [Edward] was just changing, transforming himself into something new and different to carry his life forward in” (180). Will concluded his story with, “I saw him dart this way and that, a silvery, brilliant, shining life, and disappear into the darkness of the deep water where the big fish go, and I haven't seen him since-though others have” (180). This term “big fish” was used figuratively throughout the novel, Will's ending story made it
A fish is a creature that preceded the creation of man on this planet. Therefore, Bishop supplies the reader with a subject that is essentially constant and eternal, like life itself. In further examination of this idea the narrator is, in relation to the fish, very young, which helps introduce the theme of deceptive appearances in conjunction with age by building off the notion that youth is ignorant and quick to judge. Bishop's initial description of the fish is meant to further develop this theme by presenting the reader with a fish that is "battered," "venerable," and "homely." Bishop compares the fish to "ancient wallpaper.
Jackson’s concept of the ‘known’, the ‘unknown’ and the ‘longing for an absolute meaning’ was expressed in the story by the Creature’s character. The Creature is like a human being because he talks like a human and acts like a human even though his looks is different from a real human being. For this reason, the Creature seems to be real, so I was able to suspend my disbelief and think that the Creature is real while reading the story. The Creature looks like half man and half fish, so maybe that is the reason why some people call him “Fish Man”. However, according to him, “he’s not a fish, but an amphibian” (Bailey). It is unknown if he really is an amphibian, and “he’d never known another of his kind” (Bailey). The unknowns in the story caused me to immerse myself more. As I read, I was looking forward to find out more information about the Creature. I wanted to know where did he come from, and I was hoping to find a happy ending for him. Thus, I think I was able to feel what the author wants the readers to feel. Through the whole story, the Creature was searching for happiness, and I too, as the reader, was looking for something or someone that will help improve the Creature’s life after all the wrongs he had suffered. One of the Creature’s co-actors, Karloff, gave him an advice and said, “Underwater, my friend. Water is your natural milieu” (Bailey). I think this message is the absolute meaning that the Creature was looking for, and as a result, he finally knew where he can find happiness. “The Creature strikes off for home, knowing now how fleeting are the heart’s desires, knowing that Julie too would ebb into memory” (Bailey). From the beginning until the end of the story, I was able to understand the Creature’s feelings, and it caused me to willingly suspend my
In Daniel Wallace’s novel, Big Fish: A Novel of Mythic Proportions and Tim Burton’s film, Big Fish, the relationship between the dying protagonist, Edward Bloom and his estranged son, William Bloom, is centrally to the story in both the novel and film. Like many fathers in today's society, Edward Bloom wishes to leave his son with something to remember him by after he is dead. It is for this reason the many adventures of Edward Bloom are deeply interwoven into the core of all the various stories Edward tells to mystify his son with as a child. Despite the many issues father and son have in their tense relationship as adults, Daniel Wallace and Tim Burton’s adaptation of Wallace’s novel focalizes on the strained relationship between Edward Bloom and William Bloom. In both Wallace’s novel and Burton’s film, they effectively portray how the relationship between Edward Bloom and William Bloom is filled with bitter resentment and indifference towards each other. Only with William’s attempt to finally reconcile with his dying father and navigating through his father fantastical fables does those established feelings of apathy and dislike begin to wane. With Burton’s craftily brilliant reconstruction of Wallace’s story does the stories of Edward Bloom and his son blossom onto screen.
The Old Man and the Sea tells the story of Santiago, a very old fisherman, and his quest to catch a fish after eighty four days of failing to catch any fish at all. When his young apprentice, Manolin, is forced to abandon him by his parents, Santiago sets out farther than he has ever traveled at sea in hopes that larger fish will be available for catching. Not only does he spend several days fighting with a great marlin that he manages to hook before finally killing him, he also battles with hungry sharks, as well as his own body, which, at times, seems to be failing him.
This one simple statement brings Edward’s greater goal back home to his son. This is why his call to adventure is Will’s birth even though Edward believes his adventure started long before. The film begins with Will’s wedding and Edward is telling the story of Will’s birth. This is different from the novel but really helps with the monomyth chronology. In the film Karl the giant is Edward’s first helper. Karl is who Edward leaves Ashton with and helps Edward meet his wife. This however is out of order because Edward meets Karl long before his son is born. In the novel Edward doesn’t really have a helper because Karl doesn’t serve the same purpose. Edward takes many tests, and everytime he makes it out alive he passes. This, like most of the parts of this hero quest, happen before his son is born. The boon is Edward’s stories and his adventures. It’s the things that his relationship with his son are built off of. In the movie, Will constantly complains that he doesn’t know his father because Edward has never told him a fact about himself. At the end of the film, Will realises that his father’s stories were who he was, and he knew Edward all along. In the
In Big Fish, by Daniel Wallace, William Bloom seeks guidance for his future from his father Edward, but Edward is selfish and obsessed with being remembered as a hero in his son's eyes, that he refuses to share the truth. William has only ever heard jokes, from his father. It is incredibly frustrating for William to not be able to truly connect with his father. William comes back to his hometown after being informed that his father is very ill. When he returns home he discovers that his dad is upon his final days. William knows he does not have long, so he must discover the truth behind his father's many stories. As he comes to his father's bedside he inquires the truth. Edward is not equipped to answer this question. He claims it makes him
In Tim Burton’s “Big Fish” imagination plays a large role in the life of Edward Bloom, which contrasts the life of his son William on the perspective of imagination. William being immersed in his father’s stories, anecdotes, and allusions all his life becomes fed up for his father’s knack for embellishing the truth, this turning point changes the course of action in William’s life. Moreover William from being fed up with his father’s constant use of imagination beings to see things in a more “black and white” mindset and develops and apollonian characteristic, thus builds a conflict between William’s lack of imagination and Edward’s vast,plentiful imagination. Due to this lack of relation between the two William and Edward choose not to talk to each other for years. Tim Burton displays the notion that whether or not you have imagination can lead you to viewing and pursuing life and very different ways, that imagination can greatly shape the outlook you have on life whether sad or happy events and how you can see things in a different light with