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By
WAYNE KLEIN
Edward Bloom (Ewan McGregor
as the younger Bloom and Albert Finney as the
older Bloom) tells tall tales but, more
importantly, he embellishes tales that he has
lived. His appetite for larger than life stories
is exceeded only by his desire to pass along tales
to his son. Unfortunately, his son doesn't believe
any of them and has little respect for his
father's desire to embellish the truth. In fact,
his son William (Billy Crudup) sees his father
only as an enigma one that he's never found the
key to throughout his whole life. William sees his
father's tales as a way of charming folks into the
illusion of intimacy without actually achieving
it. In reality, though, Edward's tales are a way
to reach out to his son in the only way he knows
how. The only problem is that there's always a
kernel of truth in all of Edward's . Whether it be
about the town where no one wears shoes and the
roadway and sidewalks consist of grass or the tall
tale of how he saw his own fate in the glass eye
of a witch, at the heart of the tale lies the
secret of who Edward Bloom was and is.
Tim Burton's touching fantasy focuses on the often
difficult relationship between father's and sons.
Based on Daniel Wallace's novel, "Big Fish" finds
truth in fantasy and a touch of fantasy in the
truth. Sometimes fathers can be difficult to know
and understand. The person that we grow up
idolizing as children becomes more complex and
difficult to understand as we become adults. That
theme is at the heart of Burton's engaging film
and provides the heartbeat as well. Burton has
always had difficulty telling a straight, strong
narrative story. The strong screenplay of "Big
Fish" provides Burton with the same foundation
that has made his best films work well. McGregor
and Finney give inspired performances as both the
younger eager Bloom and the real, older Bloom.
The bright, primary colors of Burton's world come
alive in this fine transfer. While some of the
darker sequences tend to look a bit murky on a big
screen television, they look fine on a larger
monitor. The high definition mastering brings the
more vivid, brighter fantasy sequences to life.
The 5.1 Dolby Digital Surround Mix sounded
particularly effusive during the outrageous circus
sequences. The mix uses the rear speakers for
subtle effect during the "reality" sequences
involving Finney while the sound in the broader
more comedic fantasy sequences literally leap out
of the speakers.
"Big Fish" provides an excellent example of a film
that gives a lot of extras for those curious to
indulge in them without overwhelming the viewer.
The featurettes follow two different themes. The
first focuses on the characters "The Character's
Journey" with comments from the actors that play
them. In the same "theme" the cast and writers
involved in the making of the film discuss the
relationship between the father and son in the
film and parallels in their own lives. The
insightful comments particularly from novelist
Daniel Wallace, screenwriter John August and
director Tim Burton provide the most insight
particularly when related to the film.
The second theme focuses on "The Filmmaker's
Path." Here we learn about "Tim Burton:
Storyteller" and Burton's creative process and the
approach he took to "Big Fish." He also discusses
how the approach here either differs from or
compliments some of his previous work. "A
Fairytale World" focuses on the importance of
myths and fairytales with insightful comments
particularly from author Daniel Wallace on how
myths and legends informed the creation of his
original novel. We also hear from Wallace about
the liberties that screenwriter August took with
the novel transforming it into something more than
the novel that would work in a film. Wallace's
comments generously acknowledge both the
contribution of Burton and August in helping his
world come to life in a different medium. It's
unusual to hear a novelist be so complimentary
about an adaptation of his work. As August points
out the two worked in a somewhat collaborative
manner; August would show each successive draft of
the screenplay to Wallace for his insights about
the transformation from one medium to another.
"Creature Features" highlights Stan Winston
Studio's make up and puppet effects and how they
helped "Big Fish" make the leap from page to
screen. In the final portion of our program, we
hear about the origins of "Big Fish" the novel and
"Big Fish" the movie from the two writers who
created them.
Although Burton's commentary always sheds light on
any particular sequence, the commentary would
probably have benefited more from a slice and dice
compilation of the actors and various cast and
crew members. There's only so much technical and
thematic material that Burton can enlighten the
viewer on. A broader, more diverse commentary
track tends to work best unless the director (or
whoever is doing the commenting) is a polymath
like James Cameron. Burton's unique take on life
has always played like a sweeter version of Terry
Gilliam; both are fascinated with fairytales and
how we respond to them but Burton's films tend to
be sweeter and less cynical. As a result, his
vision would probably benefit as much from someone
associated with the production commenting on the
film as from Burton's informed commentary track..
Don't get me wrong, Burton's commentary is
terrific but more insight would have been
generated (a la the "Panic Room Special Edition"
commentaries) by having either more than one
commentary track or a compilation. These types of
tracks tend to serve the viewer and the film
better generally speaking.
An insightful, touching movie "Big Fish" shows Tim
Burton's growth as a film director and growing up
although with a unique child-like quality
remaining in his work. It's one of his most
consistent movies since "Ed Wood" and stands up
there with "Beetlejuice," "Ed Wood" by grafting
those films sensibilities with the fairy tale-like
quality of "Edward Scissorhands." |
