Christoph Waltz, Amy Adams, Danny Huston

The tabloids in that time rated this movie as ‘Burton’s best in years back’. I wouldn’t so easily ‘push aside’ his great ‘Sweeney Todd’, nor ‘Dark Shadows’ or ‘Alice in Wonderland’, from just a few years back (…and where is a bunch of older titles which are worth mentioning ?).

They probably meant ‘titles without elements of fantasy’, and as such this biographical drama is really worthy of praise. The atmosphere of the 60’s is faithfully conveyed, music and costume design as well. ’Masterpiece’ by the genius Tim Burton, with whome there is no mistake in terms of visual pleasure, regardless of the genre.

The only ‘little thing’ that bothered me a bit was the stereotype in C.Waltz’s acting. As much as he’s among my favourite actors, I have to make a remark for a characteristic way of acting that doesn’t look appropriate in every role.

It is undeniable that he was the perfect choice for the role of Dr. Schultz in ‘Django’. Also, the character of Colonel Landa in ‘Inglourious Basterds’ was masterfully acted out. But in this case, it was kind of ‘too much’ theatrical.

Here we have a true story about the artistic family of Keane, more precisely Margaret as a painter, and her husband Walter – an artist of lies and deception.

The talented painter, known for her portraits of children with disproportionately large eyes, came to the situation of leaving her husband (at a time when women were not doing that without previously being secured). But Margaret did just that – packed only the most valuable of her personal belongings – her paintings and went with her daughter in search of a better life.

San Francisco was her destination, where she will very quickly meet Walter, a sweet-spoken swindler, who introduced himself to her as a renowned painter. Of course, it was impossible to assume the opposite at that moment, so she married him very quickly.

Walter, resourceful as he is, and seeing that people like ‘big-eyed’ paintings, soon begins to make cash on them. With one immoral difference – he omits his wife as the author, but sells paintings under his own name !

Margaret will soon discover that in an ugly way, but because of her husband’s sweet talk, better common future, and financial aspect (which began to progress dizzyingly), she will suppress common sense, put herself on the second place and continue to paint in the shadow of her ‘popular’ husband.

Unsure of the decision she made, she will seek advice from the church, where the priest will tell her that ‘her husband may be trying to do his best in an imperfect situation, and that she trusts her man as the head of the house‘.

But Walter is becoming more and more ‘greedy’ and ‘hungry’ for fame, at times even aggressive. In order to end the depression she is falling into due to the injustice towards her and her works of art, she decides to leave him, as well to prove and restore the copyright to her paintings through the courts.

If perhaps (by my opinion) this wasn’t the best Burton’s film in years back, for Amy Adams it certainly is among the best in the genre. The repressed emotions of wife and artist, who, in addition to her manipulative husband, barely managed to fight for herself and her ‘Big Eyes’, are faithfully portrayed.