With the exception of the abysmal reversion of ”Planet of the Apes”, Tim Burton has for over twenty years amazed us with grotesque surreal gothic fairytales. As one of the most original auteurs of American cinema, his vision has always surrounded an outcast who, himself, has a unique perception of the world around him, who challenges conformity and narrow-mindedness.

Based upon the novel by Daniel Wallace, the story is about William Bloom, who was brought up on amazing tales about his fathers life, only to reject him. Now three years later, he returns home, as his father is about to die, determined to find the truth about his fabulist father.

Screenwriter John August transformed the 25 vignettes of the book into a Burtonesque Southern Gothic tale about the power of stories as wisdom. Hence, a simple vignette based upon the line “the road less traveled”, becomes a story about taking chances, facing dangers and discovering something new and wonderful. The film thus becomes a visualization of metaphors and the wisdom that comes with wandering thru life.

While most of the tales, especially the early ones, are pure myth, some of the later tales comes off as “Forrest Gumpish”; Here I'm thinking about Norther Winslow’s rise from bank robber to millionaire, the Korean war tale and the reconstruction of Spectre. The problem has two sides. Before his marriage, he is a wandering loner, sort of a 3rd person narrator, a personification of “us” within the myth, afterwards he turns into a 1st person narrator, actively creating myth. Also, where the early tales are myth and has Ed being naïve, then becoming omniscient thru his experiences, the later tales lack this and are mere distorted reality. Thus the “reality” of the film relies on our ability to mirror ourselves in the tales.

Nevertheless, it is nice to see Burton back on familiar ground again, after his detour with “Planet of the Apes”. While “Big Fish” is far from the perfection of “Batman returns” and “Ed Wood”, it is still a wonderful film, full of beautiful grotesque imagery.

Henrik Sylow