Director
Tim Burton
Leading Actors/Actresses
Albert Finney, Billy Crudup
Supporting Actors/Actresses
Jessica Lange, Ewan McGregor, Danny DeVito, Marion Cotillard
Genre
Fantasy, Adventure, Drama
Language
English
Awards
Academy Award nomination for Best Score
Date of Release
2004
Producer
Bruce Cohen, Richard D. Zanuck, Dan Jinks
Setting and Context
Ashton, Alabama, present day and over the course of Edward's life
Narrator and Point of View
Narrator is mostly Edward
Tone and Mood
Adventurous, fantastical, dramatic, heartwarming
Protagonist and Antagonist
Will and Edward alternate being protagonists and antagonists in one another's story.
Major Conflict
A father, Edward, and son, Will, have been estranged for three years because Will doesn't like his father's tendency to stretch the truth. Now, his father is dying and he must make amends in spite of their major differences.
Climax
Will and his father are reconciled when Will finds that he is able to tell stories the same way as his father did, and he tells the story of his father's transformation into a fish.
Foreshadowing
Don's death is foreshadowed by a literal prophetic vision. Edward's turning into a fish in Will's story is foreshadowed by the shots of the catfish in the beginning of the film.
Understatement
Innovations in Filming or Lighting or Camera Techniques
Allusions
Edward alludes to the traditional legends of werewolves when he casts Amos Calloway as a werewolf in his tales. There are also allusions to giants and witches, as well as other fairy tale creatures.
Paradox
Will tells Edward to be himself, but as Edward attests, he has only ever been himself. The problem is that Will will not accept him.
Parallelism
There is a parallel between Edward as a father and Will as a father, as Will carries on in telling the stories that his father told him.
