On the 29th of September (Last Thursday) we watched tim burtons 2003 Big Fish. Big fish is an american fantasy drama film.
Background info on the film;
He film was directed by Tim Burton and stars Ewan McGregor, Albert Finney, Billy Crudup, Jessica Lange, and Marion Cotillard. Other roles are performed by Helena Bonham Carter, Matthew McGrory, and Danny DeVito among others. Edward Bloom (Finney), a former traveling salesman in the Southern United States with a gift for storytelling, is now confined to his deathbed. Will (Crudup), his estranged son, attempts to mend their relationship as Bloom relates tall tales of his eventful life as a young adult (portrayed by Ewan McGregor in the flashback scenes).
our task;
My class' task was to watch the film and then write/discuss about a list we were provided. I chose the options truth, lies and exaggeration as i personally believe these were key during the duration of the film as the film itself was all about exaggeration and storytelling.
The film itself is based on Edward Bloom exaggerating all his storytelling that he is telling his son Will. The storytelling ultimately infuriates Will so much that he continuously argues with his dying father explaining he does not believe in what he is saying, however in the end will soon realizes that exaggerating stories actually improves them. It makes boring everyday seem much more fun and exciting.
This confusion between the truth and lies is something that continues throughout the entire film. At first the viewer believes the stories they hear to be a true account to what actually happened, but as the film goes on they soon begin to become more hesitant of the honesty within them. This foreshadows when Will was younger as he started off believing his father, however when Will started to age he soon realized that the stories his father was telling him may not all be true. The film makes the viewers go through a similar journey to wWill, as they start off believing Edward Bloom, however towards the middle section of the film viewers may/probably will become doubtful (just like Will). This ultimately leads Will to become distrustful in his father, where he eventually gives up trying with him.
This eventually has an effect on the relationship between Edward and Will - as will started to lose all trust in his father, Edward continued to stay adamant that he was telling the truth. This then leads the audiences with a line of curiosity as they do not know who to believe, logically the audience and Will want to believe that his father is just an old man who wants to extravagant life than he actually led, but the romanticized stories about Edward Bloom are hard to not trust. this conflict between father and son and also truth and lies intrigues and encourages the audience to keep watching.
throughout the film there is a sense of realism, this is portrayed by Will's viewpoints on the stories that he is being told, as it acts as a constant reminder of what 'reality' truly is within the film. in one of the end scenes, Edward Bloom is on his death bed, explains to will how he was born - he was telling the story in an ordinary boring way - included within this scene, the doctor states 'if i were to chose between the truth and elaborated version, including a wedding ring and a fish, i would chose the fancy version. This may suggest that the best way to explain a story, is not always telling the truth. sometimes a different version of reality is better.
The idea of fantasizing stories highlights the question that is 'is honesty/truth as important as we make it out to be?'
Does the truth actually dramatically change anything?
As Edward Bloom lived his entire life inna fantasy and by the end, he seemed more than happy that way...
It reveals towards the end of the play that the stories were not intact lies, they were just exaggerated. For example Edward bloom states that he met a giant on his travels, however it comes out in the end that man he met was not intact a giant he was just extremely tall. Another example, it the two header performer was intact just a set of women twins.
The film itself is based on Edward Bloom exaggerating all his storytelling that he is telling his son Will. The storytelling ultimately infuriates Will so much that he continuously argues with his dying father explaining he does not believe in what he is saying, however in the end will soon realizes that exaggerating stories actually improves them. It makes boring everyday seem much more fun and exciting.
This confusion between the truth and lies is something that continues throughout the entire film. At first the viewer believes the stories they hear to be a true account to what actually happened, but as the film goes on they soon begin to become more hesitant of the honesty within them. This foreshadows when Will was younger as he started off believing his father, however when Will started to age he soon realized that the stories his father was telling him may not all be true. The film makes the viewers go through a similar journey to wWill, as they start off believing Edward Bloom, however towards the middle section of the film viewers may/probably will become doubtful (just like Will). This ultimately leads Will to become distrustful in his father, where he eventually gives up trying with him.
This eventually has an effect on the relationship between Edward and Will - as will started to lose all trust in his father, Edward continued to stay adamant that he was telling the truth. This then leads the audiences with a line of curiosity as they do not know who to believe, logically the audience and Will want to believe that his father is just an old man who wants to extravagant life than he actually led, but the romanticized stories about Edward Bloom are hard to not trust. this conflict between father and son and also truth and lies intrigues and encourages the audience to keep watching.
throughout the film there is a sense of realism, this is portrayed by Will's viewpoints on the stories that he is being told, as it acts as a constant reminder of what 'reality' truly is within the film. in one of the end scenes, Edward Bloom is on his death bed, explains to will how he was born - he was telling the story in an ordinary boring way - included within this scene, the doctor states 'if i were to chose between the truth and elaborated version, including a wedding ring and a fish, i would chose the fancy version. This may suggest that the best way to explain a story, is not always telling the truth. sometimes a different version of reality is better.
The idea of fantasizing stories highlights the question that is 'is honesty/truth as important as we make it out to be?'
Does the truth actually dramatically change anything?
As Edward Bloom lived his entire life inna fantasy and by the end, he seemed more than happy that way...
It reveals towards the end of the play that the stories were not intact lies, they were just exaggerated. For example Edward bloom states that he met a giant on his travels, however it comes out in the end that man he met was not intact a giant he was just extremely tall. Another example, it the two header performer was intact just a set of women twins.
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