Big Eyes
2014 · Directed by Tim Burton
Original language: English
- drama
The story
In the late 1950s and early '60s, artist Walter Keane achieves unbelievable fame and success with portraits of saucer-eyed waifs. However, no one realizes that his wife, Margaret, is the real painter behind the brush. Although Margaret is horrified to learn that Walter is passing off her work as his own, she is too meek to protest too loudly. It isn't until the Keanes' marriage comes to an end and a lawsuit follows that the truth finally comes to light.
What it’s like
Bright, pastel mid-century California rendered with Tim Burton's storybook confectionery: saturated candy colours, pale sunlit interiors, and rooms cluttered with the big-eyed waifs themselves, staring out from every wall. The camera is mostly steady and composed, with frames that sit a character inside a wide, airy space and let the unease of a closed-in marriage show in the gap between them. Burton's usual gothic flourishes are held back in favour of a clean, bright gloss, and Danny Elfman's score moves between wistful piano and a brisk, playful swing. The vibe is wry and bittersweet, a little sly, with a sense of quiet injustice simmering under the lacquer. Its pace is unhurried in the domestic scenes and sharper in the courtroom, and the central arc follows a gentle, self-effacing woman finding the nerve to speak up after years of being overshadowed by a louder, charming husband. The intensity is low: some verbal cruelty and marital coercion, no violence or gore, and a few tense moments of threat. It suits a lazy afternoon or a rainy evening for viewers who enjoy period drama, art-world satire, and stories of a quiet woman's slow reckoning.
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