Big Fish
Tim Burton's latest movie Frankenweenie has hit the big screen today and we continue to look back at some of the director's best work as we celebrate the release.
And today it is the turn of Big Fish in the spotlight - and I have to admit that this is one of my favourite Burton movies.
And this is one of my favourite Burton movies because it is so different to anything he had done before as he tackled wider issues rather than just looking at the plight of a single character.
Big Fish looks at the complex relationships between fathers and sons and this is rather a sad take on this subject - played wonderfully by Albert Finney and Billy Crudup.
He sets this story firmly in the here and now while the stories that Finney's character tells have more of a wonderland/fantasy feel about them.
With Big Fish Burton really lets his imagination spill onto the big screen and he encourages the audience to also let their imagination run wild as well.
And with that you get larger then life characters as well as Burton creating a very beautiful world.
This is a stunning piece of work from the filmmaker, remaining one of his best films, as it is heartwarming and full of passion as well as heartbreak and sadness.
There are some great performances in the movie as Finney and Crudup play a father and son who have never seen eye to eye - Crudup's character never believing in the stories that Finney has told him all his life.
Ewan McGregor plays a younger version of Finney's character Ed Bloom and he plays his journey with such a wide eyed wonder that you can't help but get swept along with him.
Big Fish is a movie about the power of the imagination and storytelling and how it is so easy to transport yourself and others to another world.
There is a real charm and magic about that idea but Burton has also delivered it with heart and emotion.
Big Fish is one of Burton's movies that you really can get lost in and it is a fine piece of work.
Frankenweenie is out now
FemaleFirst Helen Earnshaw
Tagged in Tim Burton Frankenweenie