Big Fish is a 2003 fantasy
drama film, directed by Tim Burton and written by
John August. It is loosely based on the novel Big Fish: A Novel of Mythic Proportions by Daniel Wallace, and starred Ewan McGregor,
Albert Finney, Billy Crudup, Jessica Lange, Alison Lohman, Steve
Buscemi, Helena Bonham Carter and Danny
DeVito, amongst others.
Will Bloom (Crudup) returns to his family home in Alabama, having spent the past three years
not talking to his father Edward (Finney). Dying, Edward recounts his life story in his own unique, exaggerated way, full of
fantastic events (portrayed in these flashbacks by McGregor). Will tries to get to know his father and find the truth,
discovering that his father did lead an extraordinary life and that his storytelling was his finest achievement.
The film was initially planned to be directed by Steven Spielberg before Burton took
on the project, following the death of his own father. The film was mostly shot in Alabama, and had a much less gothic tone than Burton's other films such as Edward
Scissorhands and Sleepy Hollow. Critics hailed the film as
Burton's masterpiece, and it received four Golden Globe nominations and one
Oscar nomination for Danny Elfman's original
score.
Plot
Edward Bloom tells his son Will the same tale over the years: on the day Will was born, he was out catching an enormous
uncatchable fish with his wedding ring. By the time he tells this at Will's wedding reception, their relationship has become
strained, and they do not talk to each other for three years. Will becomes a journalist in Paris. When his father's health starts to fail, Will and his wife Josephine return to
Alabama. On the plane, Will recalls his father's tale of how he braved a swamp as a child, and
met a witch who showed him his death in her glass eye. With this knowledge, Edward knows there are no odds he cannot face.
Edward still has a knack for tall tales. As he tells it, he spent three years confined to a
bed as a child, with his body growing incredibly fast. He became a successful sports player but found the town of Ashton too
small for his ambition. Finding a kindred spirit in the misunderstood giant Karl, they
set off. Edward takes an abandoned path down a supposedly haunted forest, as he never wishes to return to Ashton anyway. He
discovers the tiny town of Spectre, where the missing poet Norther Winslow has settled with people so friendly they do not wear
shoes. Edward still feels he does not want to settle anywhere yet and leaves, but promises to the young girl Jenny that he will
return. At the circus Karl signs up with Amos Calloway, and time stops as Edward sees the love of his life. As time speeds up
again and he loses her, he promises to work for Amos day and night without pay to learn who she is. Every month for three years
he learns something new about her, but never her name or address. Edward discovers Amos is a werewolf, and plays fetch with him, preventing him from killing Edward.
For his kindness, Amos tells him the girl's name name is Sandra Templeton and she studies at Auburn University.
Sandra accepts Edward's proposal of marriage after he is beaten up by Don
Edward learns from Sandra that she is engaged to Don Price, also from Ashton. He makes many attempts to show his love for her,
getting five companies to plant a field of daffodils, her favourite flowers, to make
her fall for him. Don appears and beats up Edward. Disgusted, Sandra gives up her engagement
ring and falls for Edward, who refused to fight back. During his recovery in hospital, Edward is conscripted by the army,
and goes to Korea. Instead of taking his assigned mission, he instead parachutes into a theater entertaining troops, and
convinces conjoined dancers Ping and Jing to help him get back to America, where he will make them stars. Believing him to be
dead, the army tells Sandra that Edward is dead, leaving her in grief, but Edward eventually returns, surprising her. Being
legally dead means that his work choices are limited, so he becomes a travelling salesman. Meeting Winslow again, he is forced to
help him rob a savings & loan, which is bankrupt. Edward suggests Winslow work at Wall
Street, and Winslow later sends $10,000 to his "career adviser" to buy a house.
Still unimpressed by his father's stories, Will demands to know the truth. Edward tries to explain that is who he is: he tells
stories. Will, feeling that his father had another family during his travels, looks through Edward's old office, and finds
letters of when he supposedly died, and a letter of interest to Spectre. Going there, Will meets an older Jenny, now a widowed
piano teacher. She explains that like many towns Spectre went bankrupt, and Edward bought it at an
auction after being delayed by a flood. He then helped the town repair itself with money from his previous acquaintances. She
also explains that she tried to cheat with Edward, but Sandra was the only woman for him.
Will tells a story as he carries his dad to the river
Coming home, Will discovers his father has had a stroke and is at the hospital. There, Will tells Edward a story of his own:
escaping from the hospital, they go to the river where everybody in Edward's life shows up, some unaged, to greet him on his last
journey. Carrying his weightless father, Will puts him into the river where he becomes a big fish. Edward then peacefully remarks
"The story of my life" before dying. At his funeral, Will sees many of his father's friends, and realises that there was some
grain of truth in his tales. He sees Amos, Karl, Ping and Jing and Norther Winslow amongst others, although Karl, while very
tall, is not a giant and Ping and Jing are not conjoined. When he has his own son, Will passes on his father's stories, remarking
that his father became his stories after telling them for so long.
Cast
- Albert Finney as the older Edward Bloom: An ex-salesman who loves to
tell tall tales. Ewan McGregor portrays him as a
younger man in fantastical flashbacks, whilst Perry Waltson plays Edward as a child.
- Billy Crudup as Will Bloom: Edward's son, who is frustrated in that
whilst he enjoyed his father's stories, he felt like he never truly got to know him.
- Jessica Lange as Sandra Bloom: Edward's wife. Alison Lohman portrayed the younger Sandra, née Templeton, whom Edward fell in love with
immediately.
- Marion Cotillard as Joséphine: Will's French wife, several months pregnant with their first child.
- Helena Bonham Carter as Jenny: A divorced piano teacher who lives
in Spectre. Hailey Anne Nelson plays Jenny as an eight year old when Edward
first meets her.
- Carter also played an elderly Witch who gives Bloom a vision of his death as a child.
- Robert Guillaume as Dr. Bennett: The family doctor. He delivered Will
and tells him that he would choose the more "interesting" account of the day he was born as Edward lies in hospital.
- Matthew McGrory as Karl the Giant: A giant who got into trouble in
Ashton for eating various livestock. Edward befriends and always reassures him that he isn't trying to get him to leave.
- Danny DeVito as Amos Calloway: A circus ringmaster. He gives Karl and
Edward jobs, telling the latter something about Sandra every month without pay. He is also a werewolf.
- Steve Buscemi as Norther Winslow: A poet from Ashton who went missing,
having never left Spectre. After Bloom leaves, he travels the world and becomes a bank robber, before becoming a Wall Street stockbroker.
- Ada Tai and Arlene Tai as Ping and Jing: Siamese twins
from China, who perform as singers for soldiers in Korea.
- David Denman as Don Price: A loser from Ashton, who was overshadowed by
Edward's achievements. He becomes engaged to Sandra, but his brutality towards Edward means the bridegroom is changed to Edward.
He later dies on the toilet, having known this after looking into the witch's eye.
- Loudon Wainwright III as Beamen: The mayor of Spectre, and
Jenny's father.
- Missi Pyle as Mildred: Beamen's wife.
Production
Following the death of his father, screenwriter John August read a manuscript of the novel Big Fish in 1999, and had Columbia
Pictures option the book on his behalf.[1] Steven Spielberg signed on to direct in August
2000,[2] and he had August write two drafts, with
Jack Nicholson in mind to play the older Edward Bloom.[1] August worked hard to make the episodic book into a cohesive story,
deciding to have several narrators, and then wrote a third draft after Spielberg was becoming distracted with other
projects.[1] Producers Dan Jinks and Bruce Cohen first discussed the project with
Stephen Daldry,[3]
before they sent the third draft to Tim Burton, who signed on in April 2002 to
direct.[4]
Burton had never been particularly close to his parents, but his father's death in October 2000 and his mother's in March 2002
affected him deeply. Following Planet of the Apes' production, he
wanted to get back to making a smaller film. Burton enjoyed the script, feeling that it was the first unique story he was offered
since Beetlejuice. Burton also found appeal in the story's combination of an
emotional drama with exaggerated tall tales, which allowed him to tell various stories of different genres. Burton met up with
Jack Nicholson, and briefly discussed using computers to allow him to play a younger version of himself. After that, Burton began
the difficult process of casting two actors as the same character,[1] which meant filming was pushed from October 2002 to January 2003.[5]
Ewan McGregor and Albert Finney were cast first
as the younger and older Edward Bloom respectively on August 1 2002.[6] The combination was suggested by
producers Jinks and Cohen who were working with McGregor on Down with Love, and
Burton got on with him, finding him quite similar to regular colleague Johnny Depp.[1] Viewing Finney's performance in
Tom Jones, Burton found him similar to McGregor, and coincidentally he found a
People article comparing the two.[7] Most of the cast were assembled by November.[8] As with Sandra's introduction, Alison Lohman had to stand
still for two minutes during her audition.[1]
Filming on Big Fish began on January 13 2003 and
ended in early May.[5] Production was based in
Wetumpka, Alabama. All of Albert Finney's
scenes as the elder Edward Bloom were shot first due to the emotional difficulty of his scenes. McGregor was on set from the
beginning and observed Finney. Afterward, shooting took on a livelier, more enjoyable state as Burton and McGregor shot scenes of
varying genre. Much of the film was improvised, most notably Edward's slippery birth scene and the humorous scene in Korea where
he turns off the light as he beats up two men. During filming of the circus scenes, strong winds hit and flooded much of the
sets, but filming stayed on schedule. Shooting in Alabama finished in April, and moved to Paris for a single week before wrapping.[5][1] Burton
preferred to use practical special effects alongside computer animation. Forced
perspective was employed for scenes with Karl the Giant, when he realigns Jenny's home and lifts up a car for Will and
Edward to make their way through traffic. Burton also used color grading for the first
time, which lended an extra mood to the fantasy scenes.[9]
The Big Fish soundtrack was composed by regular Burton collaborator
Danny Elfman. Eddie Vedder of Pearl Jam also contributed a song entitled "Man of the Hour" after
watching the film.[1]
Release
Big Fish had a limited release on December 10 2003,
before it was released nationwide on January 9 2004.[10] The Region 1 DVD release of Big Fish took place
on April 27 2004,[11] whilst the Region 2 release took place on June 7.[12] The release featured a Burton commentary track and a special quiz on him, in addition to various
featurettes. The film was re-released on November 1 2005, with
a 24 page hardback book entitled Fairy Tale for a Grown Up.[13] The film was released on Blu-ray on April 9 2007.[14]
Although it was initially believed to have opened in wide release at the top spot with $14.5 million,[15] Big Fish only grossed $13 million, still leaving
The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the
King at number one.[16] It eventually grossed
$66 million in the United States and $56 million in the rest of the world, amounting to a
$122 million gross.[10] The film received
nominations at the 2004 Golden Globes for Best Picture in the Comedy or Musical
genre, as well as nominations for Albert Finney, Danny Elfman and Eddie Vedder. At the Academy
Awards, Elfman received a nomination for his score.[17]
Big Fish received some high praise by many reviewers, with some calling it Tim Burton's best film, including Jeff
Vice.[18] Jeffrey Westhoff felt that the film gave Burton
a "much-needed boost of maturity", feeling the film was his best since Ed
Wood.[19] Peter Travers gave it 4/4 as, "a script that challenges and deepens [Burton's] talent", and he also
praised Ewan McGregor's performance.[20] Adrian Hennigan of the BBC praised both Burton and screenwriter
John August following their disparaged work on Planet of the Apes and Charlie's
Angels: Full Throttle respectively, feeling it was a celebration of the art of storytelling and a touching father-son
drama, and "feelgood without being overly sentimental; romantic without being cloying; moving without being mawkish."[21] Betty Jo Tucker said it was one of her favourite films of
the year, saying "Big Fish not only charmed me completely with its humanity and humor - it surprised me with its
wisdom."[22]
More negative reviews came from mainstream reviewers. Unmoved, Roger Ebert felt, "There
is no denying that Will has a point: The old man is a blowhard. There is a point at which his stories stop working as
entertainment and segue into sadism."[23] Kirk Honeycutt
found it "a belabored oddity that is one long-winded tall tale illustrated with hammy, artificial sets and gee-whiz acting...
These stories never get beyond their surreal imagery."[24] Big Fish holds a 77% "Fresh" rating on Rotten
Tomatoes, with 154 reviews out of 159 positive. The more mixed reception of 50% from the mainstream press is held among
its "Cream of the Crop" critics.[25]
References
- ^ a b c d e f g h Mark Salisbury;
Tim Burton (2006). "Big Fish", Burton on Burton. Faber and Faber, 203-22. ISBN
0-571-22926-3.
- ^ Brian Linder. "Spielberg Reels in Big Fish",
IGN, 2000-08-10. Retrieved on 2007-04-05.
- ^ Josh Tyrangiel. "Big Fish in His
Own Pond", Time, 2003-11-24. Retrieved on
2007-04-21.
- ^ Steven Awalt. "‘Big Fish’ dead on the hook for Spielberg", SpielbergFilms, 2002-04-30. Retrieved on 2007-04-05.
- ^ a b c Greg Dean Schmitz.
Big Fish - Greg's Preview.
Yahoo!. Retrieved on 2007-04-06.
- ^ Stax. "Two Big Fish Caught", IGN, 2002-08-01. Retrieved on 2007-04-06.
- ^ Fred Topel. "Tim Burton Reels in Big Fish", IGN, 2003-12-09. Retrieved on 2007-04-06.
- ^ Stax. "More Big Fish", IGN, 2002-10-15.
Retrieved on 2007-04-06.
- ^ Bill Desowitz. "Burton Applies Light CG Touch
to Big Fish", VFXWorld, 2003-12-10. Retrieved on 2007-08-19.
- ^ a b Big Fish (2003). Box Office Mojo. Retrieved on
2007-04-16.
- ^ Tom Woodward. "Big Fish US - DVD R1", DVD
Active, 2004-02-17. Retrieved on 2007-04-18.
- ^ Richard Schuchardt. "Big Fish: Date
Change", DVD Active, 2004-03-10. Retrieved on 2007-04-18.
- ^ Chris Gould. "Big Fish UK - BD", DVD Active,
2005-08-30. Retrieved on 2007-04-18.
- ^ Tom Woodward. "Big Fish US - DVD R1", DVD
Active, 2007-02-28. Retrieved on 2007-04-18.
- ^ "Is Sony Telling a 'Big Fish' story?", The Internet
Movie Database, 2004-01-12. Retrieved on 2007-04-16.
- ^ "Sony's Box Office Estimate: Another 'Fish' Story", The Internet Movie Database, 2004-01-13. Retrieved on
2007-04-16.
- ^ Big Fish - Awards and Nominations. Yahoo!. Retrieved on
2007-04-18.
- ^ Jeff Vice. "Big Fish", Deseret Morning
News, 2004-01-05. Retrieved on 2007-04-16.
- ^ Jeff Westhoff. "Big Fish (2003)", North West Herald (made available by Rotten Tomatoes). Retrieved on 2007-04-16.
- ^ Peter Travers. "Big Fish",
Rolling Stone, 2003-11-20. Retrieved on 2007-04-16.
- ^ Adrian Hannigan. "Big Fish",
BBC, 2004-01-18. Retrieved on 2006-04-16.
- ^ Betty Jo Tucker. "Myth Magic",
Reeltalk. Retrieved on 2007-04-16.
- ^ Roger Ebert. "Big Fish", 2003-12-24. Retrieved on 2007-04-16.
- ^ Kirk Honeycutt. "Big
Fish", The Hollywood Reporter, 2003-12-01.
Retrieved on 2007-04-16.
- ^ Big Fish.
Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved on 2007-08-26.
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