by Garene Tay

Created on: September 13, 2008

Proclaimed as director Tim Burton's masterpiece, the film Big Fish tells the story of Edward Bloom, a man who lived an amazing life with even greater tales to share. As his son, Will grows older, he begins to doubt his father's incredible words and father and son stopped talking to each other until Edward's days were numbered. Will then decides to find out who his father really was and finally discovers that his impressions of his father had been inaccurate all along.

Themes:
In my opinion, immortality, Irony and love make up the 3 major themes in this film. Edward had repeated his tall tales to anyone who would listen. Will's narrative at the end explained that his stories had immortalised him. I think this is very true because each time an Edward Bloom story is told, Edward comes back to life once again in the memories of others although he is no longer with them. I particularly enjoyed the way immortality is portrayed in the film. Instead of physical immortality, spiritual immortality is emphasized and this enlightens the audience because we often think of immortality as a physical thing and hence choose not to believe in it because nobody lives forever. However, this film shows us that we have neglected the more attainable aspect of immortality. The theme of love is weaved throughout the film. For example, Edward spent 3 years of his life working for information on Sandra, the woman he was going to spend his life with and in his tales and Sandra was constantly mentioned as his motivation in most of his adventures. At the end of the day, it was the love for his father that made Will decide to find out the truth about his father and to tell the last of Edward's life stories. The theme of irony was touched on very briefly when it is revealed that Sandra was initially engaged to Don Price, the man who was constantly overshadowed by Edward back in their hometown. Don Price was always the loser next to Edward in their younger days but yet he had gotten to Sandra first. I don't think anyone would have expected that irony and this twist in the otherwise very romantic plot keeps the audience on their toes for more unexpected events.

Symbols:
The fish frequently seen in the film is the most important motif because it represents many interpretations. First of all, the fish represents Edward's happiness. Edward often told others that he caught the fish that could never be caught on the day that Will was born. In my opinion, having a family with the woman he loved was

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