Robyn Candyce
With 2015 here and the Golden Globes Awards Show airing live in a couple of days movie lovers can’t help but reflect on 2014, and not notice that it was a year heavy in epic biopics. While not every biopic released this year was honored with Golden Globe nominations “Big Eyes,” written by Scott Alexander and Larry Karazewski, and directed by Tim Burton (“Beetlejuice,” “Sleepy Hollow”), was presented with three nominations. The well-deserved honors are for Best Actress (Amy Adams), Best Actor (Christoph Waltz) and best original song (“Big Eyes,” by Lana Del Ray).
The art intensive film gives audiences an invitation to discover the world of the artist, Margaret Keane (Amy Adams), a woman whose works forever changed the way people see, and have access to owning art. The movie begins in the late 1950’s, when struggling to support her daughter and herself Margaret takes on a job painting furniture, and also attempts to sell her works at art shows, where first meets Walter (Christoph Waltz) – a manipulatively charming man, who is revealed to be mentally unstable. Shortly after meeting, the two are married, and Walter befriends Jon Polito (Enrico Banducci), owner of the Hunger I, who agrees to let Walter hang his and his wife’s paintings on walls next to the bathroom. After bearing witness to negative remarks about his paintings Walter gets into brawl with the club owner, which positively impacts both of them.
Jon soon stages another tiff between them, which is overheard by columnist Dick Nolan (Danny Huston), who writes an article about the event benefiting all three of them. Walter convinces Margaret to let him put his name on the paintings, telling her they’ll sell better if patrons think a man created them. As the paintings gain in popularity Dick Nolan continues to write articles about the works, and their artist Walter Keane, and by doing so aids in the Keane’s continued success.
Recently, in New York, I was able to catch up with Danny Huston for an interview. As much as we talked about his work on the film, and appreciation of Tim Burton, we also discussed the actor’s perspective on the art scene.
Would I be correct in saying in preparation for this film you revisited some of your favorite Tim Burton films in order to study the style of his work?
I don’t know if I studied his technique because I’ve loved his films for so many years. I suppose it wasn’t a study, it was just an appreciation of his films. I was just thrilled to be part of it. I wasn’t really studying his work as a way to prepare to work with him. It was really just an excitement.
Where I saw similarities with Keane’s work was the world of animation, and those little kicks in the eyes, little highlights in the eyes that sort of belong to cartoons [such as] anime and Bambi. You know the doe eyed sentimentality of them, and the sort of veneer; in a way sort of what they are covering up. Suddenly I started to find an appreciation to Margaret Keane, especially when her art becomes a little bit more hollow, the eyes become darker and more profound and you start looking more into the souls of these children. I thought to myself there not just this sort of chocolate art. There’s something else going on here, and I missed it all these years.
Then the question finally was what is art, and what Tim was talking about in the press conference was interesting about subjectivity and what you consider something of value, or means something to you – one could go on eternally about this – with the question of subjectivity; do you like Picasso or don’t you? It doesn’t really matter, Picasso’s great, so then it doesn’t matter what you think [laughs].
So what research if any did you do for this character?
None really. He’s kind of a simple character, this Dick Nolan. He understands that the artist NEEDS him to promote, and there is an interesting incident [in the Hungry I], and he can now sell this guy, and I think much to his surprise it wasn’t the actual artist, and I don’t think he’s necessarily aware of that, but he is aware of what a good story is, and that’s what he wants to report. He wants to report a good story, and finally that gives a story element to the story.
If asked by another person could you justify telling another person what they should think good art or bad art is, cause that’s what critics due right?
Yes, exactly, and I think that in the case of Picasso you can. Picasso might be confusing to someone who doesn’t appreciate it, “Why does this character have three eyes?” “What does the nose look like a cube?” or something like that. I can see someone who doesn’t necessarily appreciate art, or who doesn’t belong to the art world looking at it and saying, well that’s silly, and you look at it and go well actually you just don’t get it, you’re silly. I think at that point you can kind of say for sure that the person observing it is wrong, with quite strong judgment of that person.
When you’re talking about more figurative art, Michelangelo [for example], I think it would be impossible for anyone to say that don’t like it. Then when you venture into conceptual art, pop art, and then the area becomes a little more gray. Then it becomes more about the person whose creating it, and hopefully there is an audience there who will appreciate it before you die.
And all of that can trickle into film too.
Yes, this is an eternal subject. That’s what interested me really, and that’s the conversation that Tim and I had without a conclusion.
How did working with Tim Burton’s unique directorial style effect you?
I’m always surprised when I meet someone that I really admire, and that’s kind of my guiding light in a way, I want to work with people that I really respect, and admire in my life, and he’s such a gentlemen. He’s supportive and kind; he’s not overly assertive. I’m sure he’s got to have an ego, how could he not, right [laughs] ? But you don’t see it. You don’t see it. I was utterly charmed by that.
So he gave you guys free reign but he was also really specific to detail.
He was caring, engaged, he would laugh along with the performances as well. There was a lot of humor I think within the film. It was like you could see that your performance made him happy, and you wanted to make him happier [laughs]. It’s a very encouraging wonderful way to work. He’s not dogmatic or controlling in anyway. He wants quite the opposite result.
How important do think it is to understand the work that past artists have done and what their impact is on the present art world?
It’s all linked, in that sense, to take that question just a little further if I may-
Yeah sure. Go ahead.
The question of copyright; in a way we’re all stealing from each other. It’s progressing. When you’re going into poster art, when you’re sampling music, and it’s just a continuous progression. In a way you don’t want a consumer to be stealing a product. In that sense you want to have some sort of copyright control of whatever it is that you make, because you have to pay for the recording studio or the film that you’re printing, but there is theft between artists always.
Is there a favorite Tim Burton film that you have?
Since we’re talking about art and art is such a strong character in this film – and the question of what art is – I’d like to answer that question that I love every period because one period links to the next because when you love an artist’s work you love their entire body of work. Not only his films, also his drawings, and his exhibitions, etc…I mean I just whole heartedly love practically everything he does.
“Big Eyes” opened in theaters on December 25, 2014. For more information about the film visit http://bigeyesfilm.com/.
