I recently saw the 2014 biopic BIG EYES, directed by Tim Burton, who is responsible for some of the best and most well-known films of all time, including Beetlejuice (1988), Edward Scissorhands (1990), Sleepy Hollow (1999), and Corpse Bride (2005). This Academy Award and Golden Globe nominee American film director never fails to deliver.
BIG EYES is a drama based on the life of Walter Keane (played by Christoph Waltz), an American plagiarist who became famous in the 1950s and 1960s for a series of paintings depicting vulnerable waifs with enormous eyes. The truth had to come out as he gained popularity by selling those paintings and commercializing the business.
Tim Burton keeps it simple by introducing the painter Margaret Keane (played by Amy Adams), who was the actual painter of those waifs with dark, enormous eyes. She had been duped by a man named Walter Keane, who had always wanted to be an artist and often pretended to be studying the arts.
Watch the BIG EYES Movie Trailer
Margaret, who was already divorced from her previous marriage, fell into the trap of Walter, who saw great potential in her paintings. For a long time, she let her second husband take credit for her work. A man and woman relationship was more binding at the time; women did not usually leave their husband abruptly. As a result, Margaret stayed in her relationship despite the fact that her artistic self had a different voice.
BIG EYES is about Margaret’s personal relationship struggles, the enormous popularity of her paintings, and her awakening as an artist to defend what is rightfully hers. The film also depicted her legal battles with her husband, who claimed credit for her work.
It’s an intriguing story, and Burton has crafted it well, with strong performances from the lead couple. He, on the other hand, alters the timeline. Nonetheless, a Hawaiian judge did order Margaret and Walter to each paint a large eye picture in the courtroom within an hour in order to determine who was telling the truth. Margaret finished hers, while Walter complained about a sore shoulder and didn’t paint anything.
Amy Adams and Margaret Keane tell Big Eyes Movie Story
Watch this priceless “Big Eyes” movie Q&A with Amy Adams and Margaret Keane (born 1927) at The Wrap Oscar Series Screening.
To learn more about or buy Margaret Keane’s paintings, please visit www.keane-eyes.com.
Amy Adams in BIG EYES. Photo ©The Weinstein Company
Where to watch Big Eyes (2014)
