Why is the movie Big Fish included in my Gerontological Movies blog? The answer is not simple. But before answering, let me make a small confession: I am an admirer of the director Tim Burton. I think that watching his movies "James and the Giant Peach", and "Edward Scissorhands" with my kids - made me fall in love with him. I believe I've watched all his films up to day. So, as you can by now understand - Big Fish - is a classic (and one of the best) Tim Burton movie: a combination of fantasy, color, extravagance, and darkness.
The movie's plot is about a dying father (Edward, played by in his old age by Albert Finney; and in his young age by Ewan McGregor) and his adult son (Will, played by Billy Crudup). Will and his wife return to his childhood home in Alabama, to spend time with Edward, his dying father. During this visit, and through flashbacks, Edward tells his life story, which includes fantastic and unbelievable tales about witches, giants, Siamese twins, and wars. These stories all seem to Will and his wife as imaginary and unrelated to the truth. But.....I will not tell you how the movie ends - as this is a surprise I would like you to enjoy.
So going back to my original question: why is it a gerontological movie? The answer is simple: Edward is a dying old man. Throughout the movie - one realizes that this "old man" - is not what we see; But rather it is the rich, fascinating, human and unique life story - that spans for many years, eras, times and places. All of these are behind this "old man". Hence, the only way to "understand" older people, women and men, is by knowing their life stories. And, eventually, as human beings, we are all about our unique stories. This is one of the cores of our gerontological understandings.
Note: I have used this movie many times in methodology classes - when teaching about the "narrative approach" within qualitative methods: this is a classic example of a qualitative narrative study ...
Director: Tim Burton
USA
2003
Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D0kiS4ROWkQ
Comentários