Montag, 3. Dezember 2012
Big fish
janixunso, 14:53h
The movie „Big Fish“ by Tim Burton is characterized as a fantasy adventure movie casting stars like Ewan McGregor, Albert Finney and Jessica Lange.
The movie is about the life of the storyteller Edward Bloom. When he begins to die, his son comes to visit him and he starts to tell the story of his life. His narrations are always fantastic and unbelievable, which disturbs his son. Even though he enjoyed listening to these stories very much when he was younger, he started to question for the truth in them as he became older.
Plot
When Edward Bloom had a heart attack his son William comes to visit him in the hospital.
He starts to tell one story from his childhood, when he and his friends went to visit the house of a witch and he as the bravest among them decides to go to her to see her eye, which is said to show the people the way they would die. After his story Edward tells his family that he is sure that he won’t die, because he would know how it would happen. Then he continues to tell his story by telling that he had to spend 3 years of his childhood in bed, because he grew immense and his muscles could not keep up and therefore had to be moved by a machine all day long. As an adult he was a much respected person in his city, so as one day a giant showed up in the village, the people chose him for taking care of the problem. As Edward went to the giant, he could convince him of leaving the village together with him, because Edward himself was looking for an adventure in the whole wide world. On their way they separated and Edward walked another way than the giant due to his curiosity. He discovered in a dark forest a small village, called Spectre, which seemed to be like paradise with all people living together happily and without problems. Later he left this town to meet with the giant again and continue their journey.
In the present time, as Edward leaves the hospital he starts telling his story to William’s wife while lying in his bed and suffering from his disease.
The story continues with the giant and him going to visit a circus, where the director offered a job to the giant and Edward met the love of his life for a few seconds before she disappeared. Edward desperately wanted to meet her again, so he agreed to join the circus and work every month for some information about this girl. After three years he still had not learned something important about his love. When he tried to talk to his boss about this, he discovered that the ringmaster is a werewolf. Although he tried to attack him, Edward did not harm him. Thankful for this, his boss finally told him that her name is Sandra Templeton and the name of the university she was studying at. Than Edward went to meet this girl to tell her that he is in love with her and wants to marry her, but when he met her, Sandra told him she had already been engaged. Edward tried to convince her nevertheless that he might be the right man for her. Later Sandra’s fiancé found out about this and he beat him up, but, for not fighting back and probably already having gained Sandra’s favor, she left her fiancé and married Edward in the end. Unfortunately Edward had to join the army then and was send to war. To be sent back home as soon as possible he took part in a special mission, which he could finish successfully with the help of a Siamese twin singer, escape from the country and come back home to his wife. Edward continued to live a normal life as a salesman until he met the poet from Spectre, whom he had to help robbing a bank. After that he told him about the financial system, the poet decided to go to Wall Street to get rich there. Later he sent Edward a lot of money for his services as a careers advisor. This money allowed him to buy a house for his family.
In the present time William finds Spectre and meets a woman who lived there at his father’s time. She tells him another part of his dad’s story, which also seems a bit incredible, but William begins to believe in his father’s stories, because he found one of the places he told him about and another person continues telling the incredible stories that his father usually tells.
In the past William’s father found his way back to Spectre on one of his business trips. The whole town had become bankrupt and broken down, when civilization had entered the city and banks and business had taken it over. Edward was upset about this and wanted the place to be as it had been before. He bought with the help of his rich friends the whole village, renovated it and gave it back to the population for free, so they could live there as happy and peaceful as they used to. The woman William is talking to was the only person, who did not want Edward to buy her house and give it renovated to her as a present, so he started to renovate it by himself with his own hands and the help of the giant.
Back in the present time Edward’s situation worsens and William spends the night next to his bed. The doctor tells William the true story of his birth, which was a normal and unspectacular birth like all the others, and that he personally would prefer the story William’s father used to tell. When Edward wakes up and is about to die, he wants his son to tell him how the fantastic story of his life would end. So William invents a new story about the two of them escaping from the hospital together with the old red car of his dad, but in perfect condition. They drive like crazy heading towards the river where his dad once caught the big, uncatchable fish. Arriving there all characters of Edward’s story have already been waiting there for him happily. William carries his father into the water and when he drops him, he becomes what he truly was, a big, uncatchable fish.
In the end Edward dies in hospital, knowing that his son finally understood the magic of storytelling. At his real funeral all the characters of Edward’s fantastic stories show up, but they are just normal persons, no giants or Siamese twins. So the stories of William’s father seem to have a bit truth in them and he finally understands that.
The movie ends with William understanding the way of life his father lived and continuing to live his life telling stories as well. “A man tells stories so many times, he becomes his stories and that way he becomes immortal”, he says.
My personal opinion
I was at first very skeptic about the movie when I heard it is a fantasy movie mixed with reality. Usually I like fantasy movies very much, but could not imagine how one could connect fantasy-stories to a normal-life-story. Now I feel that the movie was pretty good and definitely entertaining. I like the way Edward was describing his life so fantastically and making it look so special, incredible and wonderful. The voice of the old Edward was sometimes very hard to understand, because he was speaking with the accent of an older person and furthermore was seriously sick, but I enjoyed listening to him, because I personally like dialects in every kind or form. So his way to speak with the accent of senior citizens entertained me a lot.
A character I did not like in the beginning was William. It seems correct to me to doubt the stories your father tells you, if they seem so incredible, but the way William talked to his father about his doubts was much harder than I would find it acceptable. Also his way to investigate the truth in his father’s narrations, while he is about to die, was something I cannot understand, but only criticize. The first thing he should do is to take good care of his dad and not finally explore his life. This is something one could also have done after the dead of this person. But when William in the end understands the magic and power his father had, when he was telling his stories, is what I like about him and makes me accept him as a friendly and educated person, although he behaves in the beginning like the complete opposite. The only friendly thing he did in the beginning was to come to visit his sick dad.
The way the story of the movie was told is very good. The time warps made it possible to show to different stories at the same time, without the audience forgetting the plot of them. Furthermore, the scenery in the movie was impressive and always created the right atmosphere at the right time, for example the perfect village Spectre, when Edward entered the place and I saw the houses, the grass and the way the people were dressed, it seemed to me as a perfect place, without hearing the actors explain anything about it.
All in all, the movie was very entertaining and funny, even though very emotional especially during the end when the protagonist Edward dies. Currently I am still looking for the overall message of the story, but cannot find something clever to sum the film and its point up. So I can just say that it was entertaining, good realized and, as I am still looking for a message, a little confusing to me, but I would definitely recommend it to anyone, who likes fantasy, comedy and/or tragic movies.
The movie is about the life of the storyteller Edward Bloom. When he begins to die, his son comes to visit him and he starts to tell the story of his life. His narrations are always fantastic and unbelievable, which disturbs his son. Even though he enjoyed listening to these stories very much when he was younger, he started to question for the truth in them as he became older.
Plot
When Edward Bloom had a heart attack his son William comes to visit him in the hospital.
He starts to tell one story from his childhood, when he and his friends went to visit the house of a witch and he as the bravest among them decides to go to her to see her eye, which is said to show the people the way they would die. After his story Edward tells his family that he is sure that he won’t die, because he would know how it would happen. Then he continues to tell his story by telling that he had to spend 3 years of his childhood in bed, because he grew immense and his muscles could not keep up and therefore had to be moved by a machine all day long. As an adult he was a much respected person in his city, so as one day a giant showed up in the village, the people chose him for taking care of the problem. As Edward went to the giant, he could convince him of leaving the village together with him, because Edward himself was looking for an adventure in the whole wide world. On their way they separated and Edward walked another way than the giant due to his curiosity. He discovered in a dark forest a small village, called Spectre, which seemed to be like paradise with all people living together happily and without problems. Later he left this town to meet with the giant again and continue their journey.
In the present time, as Edward leaves the hospital he starts telling his story to William’s wife while lying in his bed and suffering from his disease.
The story continues with the giant and him going to visit a circus, where the director offered a job to the giant and Edward met the love of his life for a few seconds before she disappeared. Edward desperately wanted to meet her again, so he agreed to join the circus and work every month for some information about this girl. After three years he still had not learned something important about his love. When he tried to talk to his boss about this, he discovered that the ringmaster is a werewolf. Although he tried to attack him, Edward did not harm him. Thankful for this, his boss finally told him that her name is Sandra Templeton and the name of the university she was studying at. Than Edward went to meet this girl to tell her that he is in love with her and wants to marry her, but when he met her, Sandra told him she had already been engaged. Edward tried to convince her nevertheless that he might be the right man for her. Later Sandra’s fiancé found out about this and he beat him up, but, for not fighting back and probably already having gained Sandra’s favor, she left her fiancé and married Edward in the end. Unfortunately Edward had to join the army then and was send to war. To be sent back home as soon as possible he took part in a special mission, which he could finish successfully with the help of a Siamese twin singer, escape from the country and come back home to his wife. Edward continued to live a normal life as a salesman until he met the poet from Spectre, whom he had to help robbing a bank. After that he told him about the financial system, the poet decided to go to Wall Street to get rich there. Later he sent Edward a lot of money for his services as a careers advisor. This money allowed him to buy a house for his family.
In the present time William finds Spectre and meets a woman who lived there at his father’s time. She tells him another part of his dad’s story, which also seems a bit incredible, but William begins to believe in his father’s stories, because he found one of the places he told him about and another person continues telling the incredible stories that his father usually tells.
In the past William’s father found his way back to Spectre on one of his business trips. The whole town had become bankrupt and broken down, when civilization had entered the city and banks and business had taken it over. Edward was upset about this and wanted the place to be as it had been before. He bought with the help of his rich friends the whole village, renovated it and gave it back to the population for free, so they could live there as happy and peaceful as they used to. The woman William is talking to was the only person, who did not want Edward to buy her house and give it renovated to her as a present, so he started to renovate it by himself with his own hands and the help of the giant.
Back in the present time Edward’s situation worsens and William spends the night next to his bed. The doctor tells William the true story of his birth, which was a normal and unspectacular birth like all the others, and that he personally would prefer the story William’s father used to tell. When Edward wakes up and is about to die, he wants his son to tell him how the fantastic story of his life would end. So William invents a new story about the two of them escaping from the hospital together with the old red car of his dad, but in perfect condition. They drive like crazy heading towards the river where his dad once caught the big, uncatchable fish. Arriving there all characters of Edward’s story have already been waiting there for him happily. William carries his father into the water and when he drops him, he becomes what he truly was, a big, uncatchable fish.
In the end Edward dies in hospital, knowing that his son finally understood the magic of storytelling. At his real funeral all the characters of Edward’s fantastic stories show up, but they are just normal persons, no giants or Siamese twins. So the stories of William’s father seem to have a bit truth in them and he finally understands that.
The movie ends with William understanding the way of life his father lived and continuing to live his life telling stories as well. “A man tells stories so many times, he becomes his stories and that way he becomes immortal”, he says.
My personal opinion
I was at first very skeptic about the movie when I heard it is a fantasy movie mixed with reality. Usually I like fantasy movies very much, but could not imagine how one could connect fantasy-stories to a normal-life-story. Now I feel that the movie was pretty good and definitely entertaining. I like the way Edward was describing his life so fantastically and making it look so special, incredible and wonderful. The voice of the old Edward was sometimes very hard to understand, because he was speaking with the accent of an older person and furthermore was seriously sick, but I enjoyed listening to him, because I personally like dialects in every kind or form. So his way to speak with the accent of senior citizens entertained me a lot.
A character I did not like in the beginning was William. It seems correct to me to doubt the stories your father tells you, if they seem so incredible, but the way William talked to his father about his doubts was much harder than I would find it acceptable. Also his way to investigate the truth in his father’s narrations, while he is about to die, was something I cannot understand, but only criticize. The first thing he should do is to take good care of his dad and not finally explore his life. This is something one could also have done after the dead of this person. But when William in the end understands the magic and power his father had, when he was telling his stories, is what I like about him and makes me accept him as a friendly and educated person, although he behaves in the beginning like the complete opposite. The only friendly thing he did in the beginning was to come to visit his sick dad.
The way the story of the movie was told is very good. The time warps made it possible to show to different stories at the same time, without the audience forgetting the plot of them. Furthermore, the scenery in the movie was impressive and always created the right atmosphere at the right time, for example the perfect village Spectre, when Edward entered the place and I saw the houses, the grass and the way the people were dressed, it seemed to me as a perfect place, without hearing the actors explain anything about it.
All in all, the movie was very entertaining and funny, even though very emotional especially during the end when the protagonist Edward dies. Currently I am still looking for the overall message of the story, but cannot find something clever to sum the film and its point up. So I can just say that it was entertaining, good realized and, as I am still looking for a message, a little confusing to me, but I would definitely recommend it to anyone, who likes fantasy, comedy and/or tragic movies.
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