KINORAFIELD GUIDE TO FILM
2003 · 125 min · PG-13

Big Fish

Directed by Tim Burton · Adventure, Fantasy, Drama

Big Fish (2003) is a Adventure film, directed by Tim Burton set in Alabama during the 1950s–2000s. It runs 125 minutes and is rated PG-13.

Themes of family & loyalty, memory & nostalgia, and mortality & aging play out through frame narrative and episodic chapters.

Composer
Danny Elfman
Cinematography
Philippe Rousselot
Cast
Ewan McGregorAlbert FinneyBilly CrudupJessica LangeHelena Bonham CarterAlison LohmanRobert GuillaumeMarion Cotillard

The world of this film

Setting

Where
Alabama
Setting
Rural
When
1950s2000s

Premise & themes

Themes
Family & LoyaltyMemory & NostalgiaMortality & Aging
Structure
Frame NarrativeEpisodic ChaptersUnreliable Narrator
Tone
WhimsicalMelancholicNostalgic

Shape

Protagonist
Two Hander
Pacing
Measured
Based on
Pure Fiction

More like this

  • 1994

    Forrest Gump

    Alabama · Vietnam · Washington, D.C. · New York City — 1950s · 1960s · 1970s · 1980s
    Rural · Urban · Coastal Seadir. Robert Zemeckis
  • 1991

    Fried Green Tomatoes

    Alabama · Birmingham · Valdosta — 1980s · 1920s
    Ruraldir. Jon Avnet
  • 1986

    Manhunter

    Florida · Atlanta · Birmingham · St. Louis — 1980s
    Urban · Suburbandir. Michael Mann
  • 1992

    My Cousin Vinny

    Alabama — 1990s
    Ruraldir. Jonathan Lynn
  • 1979

    Norma Rae

    Alabama — 1970s
    Ruraldir. Martin Ritt
  • 2014

    Selma

    Selma · Alabama — 1960s
    Urban · Ruraldir. Ava DuVernay