What Is The Primary Conflict In Big Fish

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Big Fish is a film that was made in 2003 by director Tim Burton with the screenplay by John August. The film is based on the novel by Daniel Wallace. This film tells the story of an old Edward Bloom (Albert Finney) who is on his deathbed, and his outrageous and mostly unbelievable adventures prior to his one and only son Will Bloom ( played by Billy Crudup) being born. Will Bloom is tired of these long drawn out hyperbolic tales he has heard all his life and wants some truthful answers before his father dies. Big Fish follows Edward Bloom’s life, showed from his point of view on his journey through life.
The primary conflict in Big Fish is between an old Edward Bloom and his son Will Bloom. Will is tired of his father’s fairy-tale like stories …show more content…

It can be perceived as a simple story but it also contains great depth when you really look into it. “Commentary about greed of man, our self-importance, and our tendency to overreact, over think, and over complicate our lives run throughout the film like threads binding this quilt of tall tales together” (Cinemaspin.com). At one point young Bloom very well may have stumbled upon what could be perceived as heaven. After young Bloom leaves his hometown of Ashton Alabama with his new friend Karl the giant (played by Matthew McGrory) to start his journey to see the world, he comes across a haunted trail. At the end of this haunted trail is the town of Spectre. Spectre has streets paved with grass and is full of very kind people who quite like Bloom. After staying in Spectre for a short time, Bloom leaves to continue his journey and meet back up with Karl the giant. John Daily described Big Fish as a pop-up book for adults that can take us on a journey into the child in us all (Cinemaspin.com). Bloom had a variety of interesting tales such as the time he caught a catfish as big as a shark, the time he parachuted onto a talent show stage in China while he was in the military, and the moment when he first saw a glimpse of his future wife Sandra (played by Jessica Lange). “There is a point at which his stories stop working as entertainment and segue into sadism” ( RogerEbert.com).

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