2021/11/11
Question
Take 2 films you enjoy and break down the character development and story development throughout the film:
Analyse how the main characters evolve and how the characters drive the story. If there are similarities between your films point this out and why you think they are following a similar structure if so.
Big Fish
Big Fish, directed by Tim Burton, was released in 2003.
Edward was a boastful old man. He used to tell people stories about the wonderful things he had done when he was young. But his son, Will, felt his father was vain and pompous, and long estranged from him. It wasn’t until his father died that Will began to regret his treatment of his father. He realized how little he knew about him and how his father’s life had been obscured by his stories. In order to experience the true fate of his father at that time, Will began to fictigate his father’s legendary life according to his father’s experience.
Characters and Story
The story follows the stages of Edward’s life. The big fish in the title also symbolizes him in the story. It all started with the fish he caught with his wedding ring in his story. The story develops as the characters grow. It’s a linear narrative, divided into several parts.
As Edward’s son, Will is the follower of the whole story and the author of the ending. He does not participate too much in the story, but rather explores and experiences together with the audience. As his father’s life came to an end, will came to understand him.
The first part is Edward’s part of the same year, and this part has two main characters, the giant and the witch. The witch is the one the children in the town are afraid of. She can talk about people’s death. And Edward dared to face it. The appearance of this character teaches Will not to anticipate and fear death. Death is an inevitable law of nature. It is better to live each day bravely than to waste it with fear and fear.
The Giant is feared by others because of their height, and he is the pillar of the circus because of his height. Man’s fear arises from his ignorance of the object. When you get to know a person or thing inside out, the fear of that person or thing disappears.
Kept in a small bowl, the goldfish will always keep its size. If there is a suitable space, goldfish will grow several times. Growing up overnight, Edward left town in search of a wider world. He arrives in an isolated town and meets another key character, Jenny. Jenny was eight years old that year. She secretly took Edward’s shoes and hung them with everyone else’s. Perhaps she felt that without shoes, no one would be able to leave, and no one would want to leave such a beautiful place.
The town was no longer the place it had always been. Edward had done his best to help repair the town, and this time he was too late for Jenny, but not too late, only there would be no more waiting. In fact, Jenny had been living in Edward’s fairy tale. She was both the innocent girl who had stolen his shoes and stood by the lake watching him, and the witch he had met when he was a boy. Only this time Edward was eight and Jenny was eighty.
As for meeting his wife Sandra, it was a dream love affair. He met someone in his life to love and cherish. Even when he went off to war years later, his heart remained with her.
There are other characters pushing Edward’s development, including conjoined female twins and a circus owner who turns into a werewolf. They are actually from the reality, Edward described as a beautiful fairy tale. The appearance of these characters enriches Edward’s character and promotes the development of the story.