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This Month's Featured Equipment Reviews |
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Past DVD Hardware / Software News |
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Big Fish |
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DVD Sci-Fi-Fantasy
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Written by Paul Lingas
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Tuesday, 27 April 2004 |
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title:
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Big Fish |
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studio:
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Columbia Tristar Home Entertainment |
| MPAA rating: |
PG-13 |
| starring: |
Ewan
McGregor, Albert Finney, Billy Crudup, Jessica Lange, Helena Bonham
Carter, Alison Lohman, Robert Guillaume, Marion Cotillard, Steve
Buscemi, Danny Devito |
| release year: |
2003 |
| film rating: |
Four and a Half Stars |
| sound/picture: |
Four Stars |
| reviewed by: |
Paul Lingas |
A truly remarkable film that combines Tim Burton’s bizarre and
wonderful reality-twisting imagination with a heartfelt story of a
son’s inability to reconcile his father’s past with the stories he is
known to tell. “Big Fish” is one of Burton’s best films because it
takes us back to the Burton of old, the one who showed the world in a
different way to illustrate how each of us can see the same world
differently, while planting within it the ever-present realities of
family relationships.
This is the premise of the film, where William Bloom (Billy Crudup),
the estranged son of Edward Bloom (Albert Finney) and Sandra Bloom
(Jessica Lange) returns home to tend to the ailing patriarch, who from
the very day of his son’s birth has had a penchant for telling whopping
stories. The title “Big Fish” refers to elements within the story, but
also cleverly references the common idea that fishermen always
exaggerate the size of the fish they catch. This is the sort of man
Edward Bloom is and it has always disturbed his son. Will realizes that
this might be the last chance to find out who his father really is, but
he doesn’t get anything but what are, at least to him, the same type of
exaggerated stories he has always heard. Will’s French wife, Josephine
(Marion Cotillard), is interested in the stories, however, and so we
are taken back in time to find out how Edward Bloom lived.
In various flashbacks of storytelling, we meet the young Edward (Ewan
McGregor), who leads an exciting and charmed life in the small town of
Ashton, Alabama. He excels at sports and is always willing to do the
dangerous thing, the brave and heroic thing. Everyone loves him except
for one young man who always suffers for Edward’s glory. After a time,
Edward realizes he must leave the small town to find his fortune. He
meets a giant and gets him to accompany Edward out of town. Edward and
the giant soon join the circus, run by the strange Amos (Danny DeVito).
While there, Edward sees Sandra (Alison Lohman) for the first time.
Edward works at the circus in return for learning one fact per month
about her. After a few years, he finally finds her and proposes, but
she is already engaged. Undeterred, Edward continues to do the
extraordinary and wins her heart. Soon he is called away to war, and
his war experience is anything but ordinary. Edward parachutes into
China and smuggles away a vital piece of information, as well as a pair
of singing and dancing conjoined twins. Everything that Edward does is
fantastical and everyone he meets strange and wonderful. Yet everything
that happens is based in reality. The filmmakers always take care to
not make anything so extraordinary that it is beyond belief. It is
simply, like the big fish of legend, larger than life.
Will tries to get his father to say who he really is, but Edward
insists that he has always been who he is and that Will simply cannot
see it. It is an intriguing way to show the common conflicts and
resolutions that occur between fathers and sons. Each one is always
trying to outdo the other until that day when they can finally
understand who the other one really is. Burton combines his ability to
twist reality with a subtle ability to imbue the contemporary family
drama with the notion that Edward simply has led a wonderful life. We
as the audience cannot help but be won over by him, and yet we can also
understand Will’s frustration with his father’s penchant for stretching
the truth. The film is funny, bizarre, playful and at its heart
exceptionally touching and moving.
The performances are all exceptionally strong, especially by McGregor,
who imbues Edward with a charming smile and winning attitude of
resilience and aggressively cheerful fortitude that wins the audience
over early and never lets go of our attention. Finney easily translates
the same winning attitude to the older Edward, and never for a moment
do we doubt the veracity of his stories. Crudup, always just below the
radar, does an excellent job of playing with grace and dignity the only
character who is not won over by his father’s attitudes and stories. We
are made to understand his perspective while cheering for the
reconciliation of father and son. Lange, Lohman, DeVito, Steve Buscemi
and others all round out the cast magnificently, each of them bringing
to life this fine novel by author Daniel Wallace, on which “Big Fish”
is based. The score, by longtime Burton collaborator Danny Elfman,
captures both the fantastic nature of the material and the idea of the
life of not only Edward Bloom but of all of our lives.
 This
is a fine DVD, its special features focusing on all aspects of the
film, from the genesis of the story to the casting of the actors to the
look of the film. There is a particularly interesting piece that
examines the relationships between fathers and sons and the filmmakers’
perspectives on this ongoing fact of life. Burton makes the point that
film allows us to see and create feelings and emotions that can’t
always be expressed in words. This is a particularly strong theme that
flows throughout the film and is brought to life through the DVD. All
of the featurettes are made by the same company and simply focus on
different aspects of the filmmaking experience. Each one is relatively
short and taken as a whole they do cover almost everything. They have
been broken up nicely so that they may be enjoyed piece by piece. In
addition, there is the “Fish Tales” portion, which allows the viewer to
activate icons that pop up during the film. Click on one of the icons
and you will be taken to another behind-the-scenes moment that explains
aspects of that particular scene. Once the clip has played, the film
resumes where it left off.
Director Burton’s commentary
is very good. He comes across as a filmmaker who not only understands
his own style and place within the filmmaking world, but also as
someone who understands the delicate balance required between Edward
Bloom’s contemporary “real” life and his nearly legendary past. Burton
focuses mainly on the production’s portrayal of the world through the
many levels of production. Unlike many directors, he comments
frequently on the performances of the actors and their abilities to
infuse the film with the right balance of reality and fantasy.
The transfer is superb, though the sound is only available in Dolby
Digital 5.1. For those of you with stereo only, the mix still comes
through fine, though some surround elements are diminished. There are a
few very odd Easter eggs, one of which is easy to find and others that
are more of a challenge. Don’t say you weren’t warned. If there was a
downside, it would be the lack of any deleted and/or altered scenes and
the prevalence of trailers that precede the film upon disc insertion.
Luckily, these can be bypassed but prove to be an annoyance at times.
“Big Fish” is a film for any type of moviegoer. It has heart, hilarity,
interesting characters, thrilling moments and, best of all, possesses
that unique Tim Burton outlook on the world. As many of the filmmakers
say in the featurettes, the film is truly “Burtonesque” and belongs on
anyone’s shelf.
| more details |
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sound format:
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English 5.1 Dolby Digital, French Dolby Surround |
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aspect ratio(s):
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1.85:1
Enhanced for Widescreen TVs |
| special features: |
Director
Tim Burton Audio Commentary; The Character’s Journey: Edward Bloom at
Large; Amos at the Circus; Fathers and Sons; The Filmmakers’ Path: Tim
Burton: Storyteller; A Fairytale World; Creature Features; The Author’s
Journey; The Finer Points Trivia Quiz; Fish Tales; English and French
Subtitles |
| comments: |
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| reference system |
| DVD player: |
Panasonic DVD-XP50 |
| receiver: |
Denon AVR-3802 |
| main speakers: |
Polk RT 600i |
| center speaker: |
Polk CS 400i |
| rear speakers: |
Polk S4 |
| monitor: |
43” Sony KP-43HT20 |
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