2. Release date: December 10, 2003
Directed by: Tim Burton
Produced by: Dan Jinks, Bruce Cohen, Richard D.
Zanuck
Screenplay by: John August
Based On: Big Fish: A Novel of Epic Proportions by
Daniel Wallace
Music by: Danny Elfman
Distributed by: Columbia Pictures
Running Time: 125 minutes
3. Ewan McGregor Albert Finney
Young Edward Bloom Old Edward Bloom
Billy Crudup Helena Bonham Carter
William Bloom Jenny Hill
Alison Lohman Jessica Lange
Young Sandra Old Sandra
Steve Buscemi Matthew McGrory
Norther Winslow Karl
Marion Cotillard Tim Burton
Josephine Bloom Director
4. Released in 2003, Big Fish
is Tim Burton’s film
adaption of the 1998
Daniel Wallace novel of
the same name, which
incorporated elements of
both Homer’s Odyssey and
James Joyce’s Ulysses
(most notably the lead
character’s last name).
Using a series of
flashbacks interspersed
between “present-day”
events, it tells the story
of Edward Bloom’s
fantastic adventures as a
young man. All the
while, his son William
tries to determine the
truth of his father’s past
in among the
embellished tales.
5. William Bloom returns to his childhood home with his
pregnant wife to visit his father Edward, who has been
diagnosed with cancer and is effectively on his deathbed.
The two haven’t spoken in 3 years, ever since William
accused Edward of upstaging him at his wedding.
William, now a published journalist, feels compelled to
investigate his father’s history to attempt to understand
his “real” father, as opposed to the man his father built
himself up to be in his many stories, which William
proceeds to relate to us.
6. The tales begin with Edward as a young boy who, along with
some friends, sneaks up to a “witches” house deep in a swamp
near his hometown of Ashton, Alabama. Dared to go inside
the house, Edward approaches the door and is confronted by
the witch, who shows him how he will die (her glass eye
serving as a crystal ball). He then is confined to his bed
(hooked up to a large amount of medical machinery) because
his body is growing too fast. It is there he reads about
goldfish in an encyclopedia, and notes that some fish, given a
small habitat, will stay small, while some given a larger
habitat will grow. Using this to influence his outlook on life,
he decides to leave town after graduating high school, despite
being very successful as both an athlete and in managing his
own business. First, however, he must rid the town of a rogue
giant that steals and devours the farmers’ sheep. He does this
by simply convincing the giant (actually a kind-hearted soul
named Karl) to leave town with him, as it isn’t large enough
for either of them.
7. A few miles into their journey the two come upon a crossroad, and
Edward decides to take the harder path that runs through a dark forest,
saying that he’ll meet Karl on the other side. While the path proves to
hold many dangers, it eventually comes out in a small idyllic town called
Spectre. There Edward finds Norther Winslow, a poet formerly from
Ashton who had gone missing some time ago. Norther had stumbled
upon Spectre in his own travels and had decided to settle down there
permanently, just like all the other inhabitants of the town. Despite the
peace and tranquility of Spectre, Edward soon decides to leave
(something that no one had ever done before) and continues on through
the forest, meeting Karl on the other side, just as he said. The two then
begin working at a circus, where Edward first sees his future wife Sandra
Templeton. After working three years and being paid only in information
about Sandra by the circus ringmaster (a friend of the family), Edward is
told her name and where to find her. He then ventures to Auburn
University where she is studying and is confronted by her fiancé Don (a
high school rival), who beats him mercilessly after Edward promises not
to fight back. Sandra calls off the engagement and instead marries
Edward (an aside explains that Don eventually died of congenital heart
failure, as seen in the witch’s eye).
8. Edward is then drafted by the military and sent to North
Korea, where he undertakes a dangerous mission to steal
important enemy documents, succeeds, then persuades
a pair of conjoined twins to help him smuggle himself
back into America. Edward soon returns to Sandra (who
had been told he was dead), and takes up a traveling
sales job. While on the job, Edward runs into Norther (in
the middle of a bank robbery), who tells him that
Spectre has become a ghost town in his absence. This
revelation leads Edward to begin buying the different
buildings and homes in Spectre so he can rebuild the
town.
9. Back in present-time, William finds the deed to the home of
one Jenny Hill (a resident of Spectre) in his father’s shed.
William journeys to Spectre to interview Jenny, who he
assumes had an affair with his father. Jenny informs him that
while she harbored romantic feelings for Edward, when she
attempted to act on them during Edward’s rebuilding of her
home, he rebuffed her, insisting that Sandra was his only
love. Upon returning to his father’s house, he finds that his
father has had a stroke and is in the hospital. William stays
the night with his father, during which time his father asks
him to “tell [him] how it ends.” William tells his father an
imaginative story about an escape from the hospital that ends
with the two at a river surrounded by all of the characters
from Edward’s stories, where William drops his father into
the water, only to have him transform into a giant fish.
Edward then dies, and at his funeral William sees these same
characters (without his father’s embellishments), proving
that his father’s stories were at least partly true.
10.
11. Plays the role of
Telemachus
Son of main character
Both characters
searching for
information about
fathers
Both have spent
extended periods apart
from their fathers
12. Obvious similarities to
Polyphemus
Eats sheep
Cave littered with bones of
previous meals
Edward initially tries to trick Karl
into leaving, similar to Odysseus’
tricks
Friendship with Edward
emphasizes Edward’s charm and
geniality (his defining traits) in
the same way as the Polyphemus
episode emphasized Odysseus’
cunning
13. • Combination of Phaeacia and
the Lotus eaters
• Peaceful, lethargic citizens
resemble Lotus people
• Spectre holds a dance during
Edward’s stay, just like the
Phaeacians
• Both Spectre and Phaeacia fell
to ruin after the departure of
our protagonists
• Many characters in
Spectre similar to
Phaeacia.
• Mayor, wife, and young
Jenny akin to king, queen,
and Nausicaa
• Not to mention…
14. Parody of the Phaeacia’s
greatest poet Demodocus
Townspeople’s attitude
towards Norther mirrors the
admiration of the Phaeacians
However, as Edward would
point out, his poetic abilities
were lacking
Character would serve as
comic relief not only in
Spectre, but also later as an
unsuccessful bank robber
15. Implied to be the
witch that
prophesied Edward’s
death, despite being
younger than
Edward (“circular
logic”)
Believed to be a
witch by many
younger denizens of
Spectre
Not only does she play the
role of Nausicaa (as the
younger Jenny), she also
resembles both Calypso
and Circe
16. Edward spends a
large amount of
time with Jenny,
like Odysseus with
both Calypso and
Circe
Unlike Odysseus,
Edward chooses to
remain faithful
Interestingly
enough, not only
does this choice go
against The
Odyssey, it also
goes against
Wallace’s novel
17. Reminiscent of
Odysseus’ journey into
the Underworld
Idea of death present in
both depictions
We also see a veritable
parade of old friends in
both works
Odysseus’ war comrades
Major figures from
Edward’s adventures
18. Both protagonists renowned in their home towns
Sandra’s fiancé Don represents Penelope’s suitors
Edward refuses to fight Don, Odysseus refused to fight the suitors (for a
time)
Both men were drafted into war, were a part critical missions during those
wars (Edward’s mission versus the Trojan Horse), and were assumed dead
before returning home
Edward’s drive to keep searching for new adventures is a nod at Joyce’s
Ulysses (“Ulysses” being the Roman name for Odysseus) The Roman’s
believed that Odysseus was in constant pursuit of new places and
experiences
Water is an ever-present element in both works. Odysseus is at sea for most
of his journey, while Edward says that he was always thirsty (perhaps a pun
on “thirsting” for adventure, another reference to Ulysses)
19.
20. As you can see, Big Fish borrows heavily from the plot of The Odyssey.
However, this modern interpretation of the epic emphasizes the
reconciliation of father and son and the importance of story telling,
instead of simply chronicling the hero’s exploits. Just as Telemachus grew
up knowing his father only through stories told to him by others, William
Bloom feels as though his father uses fantastic stories to distance himself
from others, thus leaving William believing that he has never known his
real father. William searches truth in the same way that Telemachus
journeyed to Nestor’s realm to find information on his father. Both even
question their relations to their fathers, with Telemachus being told he is
too immature to be his father’s child, while William admits that “I [don’t]
see anything of myself in my father.” In the end, however, both are
reconciled and live up to their father’s legacies, Telemachus by dealing
with the suitors, and William by finishing his father’s story. This is the
other important theme of the movie. Despite William’s original disdain for
his father’s fantastic stories, in finishing his father’s tales he finally realizes
the one fact that his father had been trying to teach him all along. We are
our stories. His father told larger-than-life stories because he was larger-
than-life.
