Big Fish

(Tim Burton, 2003)

IMDB

The story of Edward Bloom, now an eccentric old man whose, once amazing, stories of his exaggerated life now become the source of unrest between him and his son, who has outgrown the fantasies and longs to know the plain truths. The film is constantly back and forth between “today” and Edward's exaggerated past.

A typically Tim Burton scene is the scene in which young Edward Bloom takes the old, haunted road out of town. As you would expect, the trees tower over the dark, damp path, casting dark, crooked shadows across the dirt track. The screen is engulfed by winding, intertwined branches of deep browns and thick cobwebs. At the end of the track lies the town of Spectre, a town so perfect that “no one ever leaves”.

Spectre is like a suburb within the American south, wooden houses of pale grey, with their wooden porches. The road is a perfect green carpet of grass, inviting and fresh; so green in fact that it's almost overpowering. It is perfectly linear and the town's white church lies right at the end of the grass road, perfectly centred.

In the evening, Spectre appears equally inviting and visually warm. With warm white fairy lights draped between buildings, creating a blanket of lights above the dancing town's people. All the women dancing in long flowing cream and pastel dresses, all with equally flowing long hair. The ribbons in their hair providing the perfect finish to these “perfect” people in this perfect town. The whole town is so intense that it's almost scary, the spinning camera shot during the dancing sequence only seems to heighten the madness.

When Edward returns to Spectre, as an older man, the magic seems to have faded and the place has decayed. The whole town is dull and shut down. The wood, dull and decaying and the houses completely overtaken by weeds and ivy. Jenny's house particularly, lies at the end of the town, slanted and wonky, (very Tim Burton) the house completely claimed by vines.