The Eyes Are the Windows to the Soul

By Blogs By Cha - 1:08 AM

It was a boring Thursday afternoon for me that even a caramel frappuccino can't fix it. So, I decided to scour the internet for good movies to watch.

Enter Big Eyes - a 2014 biographical film which stars Amy Adams and Christopher Waltz who play as famous painter Margaret Keane and art plagiarist Walter Keane, respectively. The movie is directed by Tim Burton, a Keane collector.


YAHOO! MOVIES

The story circles around the life of Margaret Keane who was being manipulated by Walter Keane to produce her paintings while he takes credit for her artwork, hiding her in a room so that no one else will discover that she is the hands and brush behind the phenomenal paintings of the signature over-sized doe-like eyes of her subjects.

Both painters, they met at a local park in San Francisco while displaying their works. Flirtations and discussions of art were exchanged and after a few dates, it led to marriage which made Margaret start signing her paintings  'Keane'. This opened a window of opportunity for Walter to sell the idea of her paintings as his own.




THE DULLWOOD EXPERIMENT

Years of hiding the real creator of those artwork has taken its toll on Margaret. She left Walter and moved to Hawaii to start a new life with her daughter from her first husband. In Hawaii, she found solace and the courage to tell the world that she is indeed the painter. She sued Walter in federal court for slander and won when the judge asked them to create a painting of the big-eyed child as Walter gave an immediate excuse of a sore shoulder.


GETTY IMAGES / UPROXX | Margaret and Walter Keane in 1965

Amy Adams did a wonderful job in portraying as Margaret Keane. She was phenomenal and embodied Margaret's struggle as she lived under her husband's shadow. This also goes to Christopher Waltz who showcases how Walter Keane turned from the charismatic man that he initially displays to a lunatic who will not admit defeat until his last breath. By the way, he died penniless but before that, he still insisted he made those paintings.


MOVIESTILLSDB | Margaret Keane (L) and Amy Adams (R)

Big Eyes is a fresh look from the usual Tim Burton movies in the past as you would notice that they have creative dark hues to mark a classic Tim Burton. However, the movie still hints a sense of weirdness (you need to see the trailer at least to know what I mean).

All in all, the movie was enjoyable and it has some light funny scenes that were wittingly written. As for memorable lines, not much, but it all falls down to how each characters were interpreted by Adams and Waltz to which they did such a great job. You'll share the grief and turmoil of Margaret Keane's life and the desperation of Walter Keane as he struggles to make himself relevant due to his frustration to be considered as an artist where he fails miserably at.

I'm giving it a 9/10 rating.

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Hey, guys! I'm back after a very, very long hiatus, I might add. It has been well over a year since I've written anything on this blog. Hopefully that by starting this first post for 2015, I'll regularly place content here - maybe get on some DIY work again and probably travel this year. Who knows? Here's to keeping my fingers crossed and typing for the months and years to come.

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