The Age of Commercialism

It’s fine. It's literally the definition of a fine movie. You’ve seen it before, you know every beat and outcome before the characters even do. Only question is how much escapism you’re looking for.

A great movie, one of the best of this year. There was a bit of confusion at one point in the plot, but nothing serious.

The film may be flawed, but its message is not.

This is a beautiful story about a man with the rich inner world, which was not understandable to his son. Developed by his imagination, the whole life he told an incredible stories to the others. And so, his ordinary life in a small provincial town,he painted with unreal colors, and made an unfinished fairy tale. On the other hand, there is his son, who, due to his father's frequent absence, was forced to relate his life to the fantastic stories which his father left him, instead of reality. And he trusted him, until the moment when he realized that he had believed in only one great fairy-tale throughout his life. And then there is a split in him and he rejects his father, because of his own misunderstanding of the specific personality which his father has. As a result of circumstances, he begins to realize that his father was in fact all his life, one honest person, a man who always helped to the others, who was always guided by goodness and courage. Because all of our lives are actually how we seen them, and if someone wants to make his life as a fairytale, let him do it. And whats happened at the end? Using the same formula, out of love as a base, not wanting to disappoint his father , he told us the incredible story of his father's end, seeking to round up the magical world in which his father lived. And the fairy tale story continues to live, through the unrealistic adventures that the son is now transmitting to his son. A wonderful story indeed.

"Big Fish" tells a story… about a man who tells stories. I think we can do better. It's about an ordinary man telling extraordinary stories, thus being extraordinary by proxy. His name is Edward Bloom, a man who spent most of his life inventing tales about how he met his wife, how he proposed her, how he built his house etc. In fact, all the "who", the "what" and the "why" that cover the chapters of his life seem to drain their inspiration from tall tales and fantasy. It gives a man a certain charm, he's like an old grandfather whose rambling is easily forgiven, but the film presents him from the standpoint of his son Will (Billy Crudup) and he doesn't exactly share this view.It's understandable because we've only met Edward (Albert Finney) for five minutes and he just told us a nice little story about a giant catfish he caught with his wedding ring, but the son heard it a thousands times, so much he can recite it, even tell it better than him. Will has had enough and can't stand the fact that his father would steal his thunder, the very day of his wedding, and to babble the same old story, over and over again. There starts a shift of three years, until he learns that Edward's at the verge of death, so he travels from France with his pregnant wife Josephine (Marion Cotillard), convinced that it's time to settle that old record. Will might not be likable but we kind of understand his troubles, it's not about the stories but what they hide. Maybe Will hates his father's stories like people hated Ed Wood's films but Tim Burton, wizard of imagery and at times, storytelling, can turn any lousy premise into a beautiful and emotional experience. Maybe that's what Edward meant by sugarcoating or reinventing the things of the past. I'll make a chronological leap: near the end of the movie, Will hears the real story about his birth, and it's certainly less colorful and memorable than the way Edward Sr. described. it had the merit to be the truth. Will obviously loves his father but blames him for his incapability to make a distinction between what is true and what is not. Burton doesn't allow us to make the distinction either because the point is elsewhere, the frustration of the son is duly noted, but the trick is to lead him to reconsider his personal frustrations.The movie, through regular flashbacks, enlightens us about the life and times of Edward Bloom, his younger self, played by Ewan McGregor. The story is obviously exaggerated, we don't really care because within the framework of the film, it's the only story we'll take for granted, especially since Will won't get many real "versions" apart from his birth. The film's premise is a real paradox, we know we don't follow Edward's story but his personal vision, from our perspective, it's "his" story because he's the storyteller.We're basically torn between the anger of the son who only wants to know what kind of a man his father was and our personal enjoyment that doesn't necessarily seek any truth, unless we would care for Will. Obviously, Roger Ebert cared enough for Will so he was genuinely annoyed by the father and his wrestling with the truth, but Ebert must have been in a wrong day, because the point of the film is obviously to make us relate to Edward and accept our liberty to look at our lives with the narrative we chose. It's Burton's vision as it's Edward's, there are times though where Burton gets carried away by his usual tropes, the colorful suburban small town like in "Edward Scissorhands", the many encounters on which the hero's journey depends, a gentle giant, a circus ringmaster, Siamese twins, a witch, all played by endearing actors like Danny De Vito, Steve Buscemi,and Helena Bonham Carter, but there is something that remains oddly consistent: these lies have a purpose, they represent the way a man looks at his life, he manipulate the facts because he knows these facts will die with him, while stories will contribute to his own myth.That's the key, that's the purpose of that ending where Will literally says "the hell with it", swallows his pride and 'take' his father to a last farewell ride. The emotionals raised at that moment has something that borrows from Spielberg's movies but it works because it finds the right touch, the son doesn't reinvent a story or make up an adventure from the scratch, he just takes his father to a last trip where he meets and says goodbye to all the people who populated his life and turns into that 'big fish" he always mentioned in that ring story. This is not the son 'understanding' his father, Edward will always be a mystery, but it's the son loving his father enough to at least be part of the last thing that defined him, and maybe understanding him a little.As a son, and also as a father, I could strongly emotionally relate to the film, because like I say sometimes, it's not about love and respect but… understanding. So, on the surface, "Big Fish" is a colorful and visually entertaining picaresque journey of a man who found his destiny the oddest way, who told stories about his life and made it his reason to be, but beneath the surface, it's a poignant father-and-son story where the outcome is two persons finally coming to terms. The film doesn't overplay the emotions and the visual delights and there's a simplicity in the story you want to fully embrace as if the right attitude was from the wives played by Jessica Lange and Cotillard, let the old fool have his dreams, and be fool enough to enjoy them. Isn't that what Cinema, or life, or everything about, suspension of disbelief.

Big Fish is a movie produced by Tim Burton, it ran in 12 December 2003 and stopped in 12 March 2004. The movie is adapted by Big Fish, which is written by Daniel Wallace. John August rewrote it into screenplay. The aim of the movie is to remind paternal love in people's hearts. I think the movie is good enough to be one of the most important movies in history.The director, Tim Burton, had a tough period in childhood without enough parents' love. He had to stay in a small house with little information from outside. The most interesting thing that he could do was drawing pictures and watching horror film. He used to work for The Walt Disney Company but tried about Disney style of movie. Then he went to Hollywood and built his own style of movie. Most of Tim's movies are Gothic style, most of them talk about zombie, vampire, witch and strange animals. Big Fish hardly uses Gothic element and creates a peaceful environment. Father and son's relationship is the superficial story of this movie. But Tim Burton talks about freedom, lies and life's attitude in deep level through chief actor's whole life, a fish-to-fish life.The Chief actor, Edward, was a salesman who always told amazing story to his little son: Will. One of the tales was that Edward caught a big fish in Will's birth. But Will was tired of father's story and left Edward after Will's marriage. Their following meeting was close to Edward's death. Because of many people's help, Will reminded the whole tale of his father. Edward was different since his birth. Because he knew his death, he did everything ideally without fear and hesitate. He found that the town was small and decided to go to the world outside. Edward met different kinds of people and things, one day he met Sandra and married with her. Then he was conscripted into the army. After his national service he became a salesman and left his home frequently. He went back to a town, Spectre, which he went before and decided to revive it. Back to real life, Edward was sent to hospital. Will went to the hospital and met a doctor, the doctor told Will the truth of Will' birth. The doctor asked Will whether a normal truth was better than an amazing story. Will understood his father and decided to finish Edward's life in a wonderful ending.The weakness of Big Fish is that the pace of the movie is a little slow, some of people might feel boring at the beginning of the movie.The structure of first three fourths of this movie a little like another movie, Forrest Gump, and talks about the amazing life of Edward. But the meaning behind of life is different from Forrest Gump. Edward known he won't die before his true death, so he could do everything in full of his ability. But Gump had some problem in his intelligence, so he could simplify many difficulties in his own way. Edward's real life is hard, but he is optimistic and translate his life into many good tales.The effect of Edward in will's life is very special. At Will's opinion in his childhood, Edward was a big hero and did plenty of adventure. But with time lapse, Will thought Edward was only a salesman with a life telling lies to others. During a dinner after Will's back to Edward's house, Edward found that will had already told everything to Will's wife, he couldn't attract her curiosity. Then Edward ate silently. This seemed Will's victory. But the heart of Edward was hurt deeply. Will's father reminds me another father: Guido. The effect of Guido to his son in La Vita è Bella is similar of Edward's, they both told lies to their son. But Guido succeed in protecting his son from Nazi's hurt, Edward failed to create a fairy tale world for Will. The life of Guido and Edward were tough, they used the best way to protect their son, telling lies. They were great and deserved the respect of audience. I think protecting parents' heart by believing their lies is the best way to repay their effort.The image of fish is important. At the beginning of this movie, a big fish dived and met a hook. At the ending, Edward became a big fish in Will's arm in Will's tale. After Will's child talked about Edward's life, a big fish came out of the water in a moonlit night. Fish maybe referred to freedom and Edward got freedom with the spread of those tales.Tim Burton became a father in 2003, the same year of Big Fish's ran. A son means a lot to a father, Edward warned will that the child is big trouble for parents in the movie. I believe that is the real feeling in Tim Burton' mind. The coincidence reminds me to another director, Hayao Miyazaki, and his movie: Porco Rosso. Hayao Miyazaki felt confused because of the collapse of the Soviet Union, and pressed a strong feeling about escape in Porco Rosso. But at the last part of the movie, the chief actor understood his responsibility and decided to protect lover in his own way. In real life, Hayao Miyazaki produced On Your Mark after Porco Rosso to express the willing of achieving dream. Then Princess Mononoke and Spirited Away came to people's life and changed many children's mind in many countries and regions. I think a series of movie means the life of director. With the experience of living with kids, Tim Burton might give us another surprise in the future.In a word, I will give 8.5 of 10 for Big Fish, it deserves to watch especially when you stay with your family, especially with your father.

In my lifetime, I have come across very few movies ("It's A Wonderful Life", "The Champ") that will make grown men care enough about the stories/characters to weep. "Big Fish" is one of those select films.For a basic plot summary, this movie tells the story of a dying old man (Albert Finney) and his son (Billy Crudup). For his entire life, the son has been overshadowed by the tall tales of his father, and is resentful of that fact. In the final days of the old man's life, however, his stories featuring the younger version of himself (Ewan McGregor) prove to indeed be the most important link between father and son.Since this is a Tim Burton-directed movie, trying to explain it in words is like trying to describe a work of art hanging in a museum. You know it is great, but you just can't quite put a solid explanation pulling together all the reasons why. Suffice it to say, however, it is one of the rare Burton efforts that is rife with his flare for the cinematography craziness but yet manages to not get lost in the imagery and still make sense in the end."Big Fish" is also one of the most emotional movies one could ever watch. It will particular touch fathers and sons (as that is the backbone of the story), but there is something for everyone to enjoy. Actors such as Danny DeVito, Helena Bonham Carter, Alison Lohman, Marion Cotillard, and Steve Buscemi play key roles that enhance the emotion all that much more.Overall, "Big Fish" is a movie that must be seen in order to fully be understood. Look at all the five-star reviews here on Amazon and know that it isn't because of a "fad" or a bunch of fanboys. This is just a solid movie featuring top-notch storytelling, emotion, characters, cinematography, and even humor.