"Big Fish" With love in the imagination - a fairy tale in which the artist's "heart" dwells

The image of water symbolizes boundless love

``Big Fish'' is also a movie with a variety of expressions of love. Finally, I would like to conclude this paper by mentioning this part.

In the past part, when Edward meets Sandra (Alison Roman), there is an excellent production in which ``time stops''. The setting of the circus is effective here as well, but everything in the colorful and colorful venue stops moving, and Edward steps through a ring of acrobats, pays attention to the cat as it jumps, and brushes off the popcorn that is stationary in the air. and stands in front of Sandra. It's a technique that can only be seen in movies, and includes the romantic line, ``When you meet your soulmate, time really stops for a moment.''

The time lapse effect, in which time then speeds up and Edward loses sight of Sandra, is also wonderful. The continuation of this scene strengthens the impression of the scene in which he ``meets his future wife,'' and at the same time, it also strengthens the sense that ``the narrator can freely edit the story.'' This can be said to be a technique inherited from works such as `` The Fantabulous Awakening of One Harley Quinn '' (20).

Edward joins the circus to get information on Sandra and reunites with her after three years, only to find out that she has a fiancé. But he didn't give up, and once he hid a Arrival saying "I love you" in the slides he used in a university lecture, and once he drew a heart symbol in the sky on an airplane and created a field of daffodils in his girlfriend's garden to make a big appeal. . Afterwards, her fiancé continues to beat her and shows her his manhood, just as she had requested not to fight. In the scene that follows, if you look closely, you can see that the daffodil field that was trampled by the fiancée has become heart-shaped, which is a neat trick.

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In the scene where Edward is safely returned after being conscripted into the army, his silhouette is reflected on a sheet that has been hung out to dry, and it turns out to be a dramatic scene. In this way, the fairy tale scenes told by the father are interspersed with many romantic scenes.

However, there is one important love scene in the modern part, that is, in the real world. This is the scene where my father Edward is soaking in the bathtub. When the past episode opens, Edward is shown fully clothed in the bathtub. It's a scene that surprises viewers, but Sandra, who is watching from the side, smiles and gets into the bathtub herself, fully clothed. The two then hug each other, and Edward gently tells his tearful wife, ``Don't cry.''

This scene shows that his death is near, and it also symbolizes the theme of the entire work. Even up until then, whether in the past or present day parts, Edward has uttered lines that remind him of "water." In the modern part, he tells Will's wife, ``For some reason I've always been thirsty,'' and in the past part, there's a scene where he is compared to the circus leader, ``You're a fish.'' ``Big Fish'' is a word that refers to a ``tall tale,'' but the motif of ``fish'' is handled extremely carefully in every scene of the work. And that "device" comes to fruition towards the climax. It can be said that it is a truly splendid idea that fully enhances the catharsis after viewing it.

"Big Fish" (c)2003 COLUMBIA PICTURES INDUSTRIES, INC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

As we watch these love scenes, we realize that what seemed like a ``tall tale'' to Will is still ``reality'' between his father and mother. In other words, love turns reality into fantasy and colors it. If you visualize states such as ``time stops when you fall in love'' and ``the world appears to change'', you will get closer to the story Edward tells. And the scene where the two embrace in the bathtub is a ``crystal of love'' whose true intentions can only be felt by those who love each other.

As a side note, director del Toro said in an interview for " The Shape of Water " what he meant by the title, ``Love has no set shape. Just like water,'' and once again he said, ``Big Fish.'' When I watch it, I can't help but feel a strange sign. Director Bong Joon-ho also used water as a symbol of ``fate'' that ``flows from top to bottom'' in `` Parasite '' (2019), and director Barry Jenkins similarly used it as an image of love in `` Moonlight '' (16). It is depicted as one of the. For filmmakers, water is something that stirs their sensibilities and is imbued with a sense of poetry.

If the act of ``soaking in water'' depicted in ``Big Fish'' is ``understanding fantasy'' = ``symbol of love,'' then fantasy and love are the same thing. In other words, what Edward was telling Will was a Arrival of love from beginning to end. What an insincere expression of love. However, this complicated way of conveying the story is also very typical of director Burton.

Even if you are an outcast, even if you are lonely, even if you are not understood... Love sprouts and grows equally for everyone. And because it's the most honest way for me to convey my message, I may be able to convey it to the other person without sacrificing quality.

Love is not a means, it is what you are.

Text: SYO

Born in 1987. After The Graduate from Tokyo Gakugei University, he worked at a film magazine editorial production site and a film information site before becoming a film writer/editor. Works on a wide range of topics including interviews, reviews, columns, event appearances, and recommendation comments. Contributed to ``CINEMORE'', ``FRIDAY Digital'', ``Fan's Voice'', ``Eiga.com'', ``Cinema Cafe'', ``BRUTUS'', ``DVD & Video Distribution'', etc. Twitter「 syocinema 」

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"Big Fish"

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(c)2003 COLUMBIA PICTURES INDUSTRIES, INC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.