At the beginning of the film, Margaret is seen leaving her first husband and heading straight for San Francisco bringing only a few suitcases and her daughter with her. She then meets Walter Keane at a street fair where she is doing portraits of people on request. Walter is a few stands down sweet-talking two ladies into buying artwork. He then approaches Margaret and flatters her into going on a date with him. The two eventually get married and both become Keanes. At the time, neither artist is successfully selling their artwork. Margaret paints young children with disproportionally large eyes and Walter is known for artwork scenes of Italian streets as he claims to have lived in Italy for a while. Walter and Margaret’s personalities are very different. Walter is a big talker and con man while Margaret takes pride in her work and feels connected to each painting. Multiple times throughout the movie, she states how artwork is a personal and emotional matter. Walter convinces the owner of a club to allow the Keanes to hang their artwork on the walls. Much more interest is expressed in the big eyes than Walter’s street artwork. When someone notices a big-eyed painting, Walter happens to be nearby. He then jumps in and offers to sell the artwork claiming that it is his. Once Margaret’s work rises in popularity, Walter continues to take credit and convinces Margaret that the work will not sell if he says it’s hers solely because she’s a “lady painter.” Because Margaret is not a fighter and enjoys seeing her work being appreciated, she agrees to go along with the fraud although she is not happy about it. Walter becomes very famous and wealthy by selling Margaret’s work. He opens his own gallery, goes on TV, sells her work as copies in supermarkets, and makes his way into big events. When an interview was scheduled with Walter to discuss is motive for the work, he quickly realizes that he needs to fabricate a back story. He claims that he spent time in Europe after the war and was heartbroken by all of the orphans on the street. He also says that orphans of the world are his inspiration for the paintings. In the meantime, Margaret has been working so hard creating the art that has led to their wealth while hiding her accomplishments from her daughter, friends, and the world unable to enjoy her fame. Margaret eventually finds the power to leave Walter after she realizes that she is not the first person he has done this too. The Italian streets that he claimed were his were done by a different artist. Walter then gets filled with rage, and alcohol, one night and tries to harm Margaret and her daughter. This is where Margaret draws the line, moves to Hawaii, continues to paint, and eventually tells the truth about Walter to a local radio host. She then takes Walter to court and wins the acknowledgment for all of her artwork of the past and future after the judge holds a “paint off.”

Big Eyes has a few underlying themes that were appreciated by the audience. The film has a feminist theme as Margaret fights against being overpowered and dominated by the men in her life. At first, she felt so undermined and didn’t know how to be independent and think on her own. Eventually, she realizes how much she enabled this and fights against both marriages, which was not common in this time, and move to a completely different state fighting for what she feels is right. The film also questions the significance of art, fame, and popularity. It showed how art is only considered “good” if it is craved by the public. Although Big Eyes is not one of Burton’s most famous films and doesn’t follow his traditional themes, the film was well done. It’s a very emotional and personal look into Margaret Keane’s life and all that she faced along the way before her, quite literal, claim to fame.

Margaret draws and paints kids, such as her daughter, as well as adults and animals on canvases, the figures have regular sized bodies, yet big, abnormal sized eyes, which is what makes her paintings so different and unique compared to others. Just like many artists, every drawing and painting that Margaret makes has a story behind what is going on when you look at it. In the film, when the camera shows Margaret painting, they show all the little detail that she puts into her paintings and drawings that make them look so visually realistic and very nice to look at in my opinion. As you see her paintings in the movie, you see how she puts so much detail into the background of her artwork. She blends certain colors of paint so she can get the right color she needs for the painting she is working on. You can visually see very detailed figures such as creases in their skin, along with most of her paintings having a very serious face, almost as if the child and or adult is angry or going through something personal or tragic. Walter takes credit for all his wife’s paintings and refuses to let her put her mark on her own work.

There are many artistic techniques shown in this film, such as the detail and shadowing in Margarets paintings. The detail in the skin  and the outfits of the children and adult figures are wearing in each painting, along with the animals that Margaret paints next to the kids in some of her paintings where the dogs even look sad because their faces are straight with no emotion or expression. When Margaret paints her children with big eyes, it is clear that each child looks different, each has a different appearance and the children are a mixture between boys and girls. Some have long hair, some have short hair, but two of the things that the children have in common are how serious they are, and their posture is straight and firm. Although, the movie was well produced and directed, credit should be given where it is due. For example, Margaret paints every painting that Walter decides to sell or give away. During these actions, the people he would talk to about the paintings would tell him that they were very nice and he would take full credit for paintings that were not even his. Therefore, he should have given Margaret credit for her paintings that he is selling and giving away.

A few things that I really enjoyed about this film were how the audience could visually see how passionate Margaret was about her paintings. The audience could tell that if she was credited, she could have been famous for her artwork, which technically she was because she painted the paintings, but everyone knew them as her husband Walter’s works. Margaret was passionate about her painting and liked the way she did what she loved because when Walter would suggest a new style to her, she would brush it off and continue to do the style she was comfortable and familiar with. Now, when it comes to aspects of the movie that I did not like, that would include, Walter not giving Margaret any credit for all the hard work that she put into the paintings that she would spend months working on. Along with not realizing how passionate she was about painting. He would sell or donate her paintings, like they were nothing at all just to make money from them. He sold one of her paintings that he claimed as his own and got a $5,000 check for one of the paintings that Margaret had painted. While watching this film, I did not agree at all with the fact of Margaret not getting any credit due to her for everything she had worked hard for. Everyone deserves credit for their work that they had created. Walter should have given Margaret credit for the paintings he would ask her to make for him to sell and give away, but he did not. He would tell everyone that he is the one who painted everything he sold and gave away.

In the end, Walter never accepted the facts. He went on for the rest of his life insisting he was the true artist of the big eyes paintings and the other paintings that Margaret had made. He said that he only took credit for the paintings because he needed money and Margaret’s paintings sold for a lot so he would sell them without her consent. He kept the money for himself but later on, gave the money to Margaret because it was supposed to be hers for the paintings she made for him, after she had filed for a divorce from him. Walter passed away in 2000, angry, homeless and broke because he did not want to be honest with the people he was lying to his whole life. He never made another painting after that. After Walter passed away, Margaret found happiness within herself  and remarries. After living in Hawaii for many years, she decided to move back to San Francisco where she previously lived and decided to open a new art gallery. To this day, she still has the passion to paint every single day despite what she went through with Walter.

I feel as though in some ways, Margaret is a role model to young artists. I say that because even though she went through a lot in her marriage, with her husband taking all the credit for the work she would spend countless hours and months working on, she never found the need to give up or stop standing up for what she had a passion for. She proved her point after so long that she was the one telling the truth and that she was the one behind all these paintings that Walter was taking the credit for, selling and donating. I feel as though most artists back then would not have stood up for painting the way Margaret did, and for that a lot of people should look up to her if they don’t already. The movie made me feel this way because I feel as though most artists back then would have let people criticize and take credit for their work then give them credit for what they had created with their talent. As shown in this film, Margaret chooses to stand up for herself and bring Walter to court because he refuses to give her credit for the beautiful paintings she has made and to divorce him because he was a drunk and physical with her. There is a scene in the film when Margaret is in her painting room and Walter walks in and sees that she is painting in a completely different style. He asks her why she decided to change it up and she tells him she wants to try something different. In this scene if you watch Margaret’s hands carefully while she is painting, you can see how she uses this brush strokes to make the outline of the faces.

Art during this time period was very modern. It had a very dull color palette diversity and detached brush stokes and one lined work. The painting was supposed to uplift this inspiring abstract perspective within yourself though simplistic and unpersonalized painting. I picked up on the connection that the art didn’t make sense just like how this male dominance power trip didn’t not as well. People tended to go with what was considered normal both with art and status quo. 

At the beginning of the movie; Margaret  Keane was trying to escape her first husband with only her daughter and her paintings. Being a woman who is divorced and with a child was not a good look so she needed a solution quickly if she wanted to survive. Shortly after she met Walter Keane. Walter is a businessman who can sell anything down to a simple black pen like a wolf on wall street. Jordan Belfort was a motivational speaker and former stockbroker who plead guilty to fraud and related crimes in connection with stock-market manipulation and running a boiler room as part of a penny-stock scam. He sold people lies in broken promises just to build himself an empire just how like Walter sold himself to Margaret as a reliable honest man who wanted nothing but just to showcase his wife`s underestimated works. Walter fooled the masses, the press, and even himself. 

Margaret’s artwork was unique. Her artwork had a woman’s touch; it was vulnerable and had a personal connection and attachment because it was based on a unified daughter and mother relationship.  This is why her artwork was so loved because it has a sense of realism and a legible aesthetic of emotion and reason. The big eyes were inspired by her childhood experience of temporary deafness when she had to rely on sight to understand and communicate. In the movie, you can see that Walter couldn’t explain the actual context of the artwork because he had no actual connection to people and love. His whole life was a facade, from his intentions with Margaret to his life as an “artist”. He was also a deranged and greedy person. People like that lack empathy for the lives of others and are selfish. 

The cultural value of traditional gender roles and status quo was very evident thought the movie. While frustrating to watch, it gave me a view of the foundation of feminism and women’s rights. I got a “ Rosie the Riveter” sensation from the portrayal of women entering the workforce and gaining independence. That feeling you got of “ Yes, Margaret, you go girl” is what the movie is trying to stimulate and make you aware of.  The movie focused on Margaret and did not incorporate much cinematic drama and exaggeration for audience appeal. There was very little nudity and the story focused on the big issue at hand which was a lack of women’s power and control in society. Positive attributes that came from this movie also included its focus on Christianity. Margaret goes to the Christian church with a feeling of disgrace from lying to her daughter and causing her to feel sinful. The movie portrays Margaret’s redemption as coming through her conversion to the Jehovah’s Witnesses, when two members of the Watchtower Society visit her home and share their beliefs with her. Some people call Jehovah’s Witnesses as a cult to the New Testament but, for her, it was a sisterhood and a group driven by feminist power, and leading to uprising of feminist strength through Christ. They mention how God values a man as the head of household but for Margaret, Christ gave her the willpower to be both mother and father. 

On the other hand, there were a lot of unanswered questions. The movie never explains fully why she fled her first marriage. But  Margret also had a lot of unanswered questions regarding Walter so it could have been a method by the director to add to the theme of hidden secrecy and lying in a marriage. Overall I think the movie did an amazing job showcasing  Margaret’s emotion and how she challenged the art world, male dominance, and found female empowerment and independence. The movie is inspiring and leaves you wanting more. You leave with a sense of satisfaction knowing that Magaret got what she deserved all alone in the end; courage, happiness, and recognition. It also gave a look into extreme abusive relationships which was a great perspective as well. I must also add that the director took advantage of the landscape of San Francisco and Hawaii, and the richness of color was appropriate to the film’s subject. It was amplified by the vivid period detailing of Rick Heinrichs’ production design and Colleen Atwood’s costumes. The movie itself, therefore, was also a piece of art; personal and with purpose. 

After a quick title sequence featuring prints being made of one of these big eyes paintings, the story begins with words from our narrator, gossip columnist Dick Nolan, that accurately describe the climate of the film; “The ‘50s were a grand time, if you were a man.” We see Margaret rushing to pack a few suitcases and quickly leave her current marriage. She then finds herself in San Francisco, and that’s when our story really takes flight. She meets Walter, marries him quickly, and then the two take the art world by storm, but only Walter receives the credit.

The film managed to remain fairly accurate to the way the events played out. Margaret did meet Walter at an outdoor exhibit in San Francisco, and the paintings did rise to fame after being displayed and sold in a nightclub. This was also the place where Margaret first realized that Walter had been claiming that the paintings were his own. In the movie, Margaret overhears him boasting about the paintings to a group of young ladies, but according to the real Margaret Keane, she realized what was going on when Walter was making sales and someone approached her and asked if she painted as well. Other important aspects of the story remain historically accurate, like Margaret’s reasoning for painting such unique portraits. For Margaret, the classic idea of eyes being windows to the soul combined with a childhood surgery that left her deaf for a period of time is what inspired her to portray her feelings the way she did.

With the film being directed by Tim Burton, you have to expect at least one scene that can be classified as a bit of a trip. To me, although it was a short scene, it stood out more than most in the movie. As her husband gains popularity with the big eyes paintings, Walter decides to make the art as accessible to the public as possible, eventually having prints and post cards for sale around town. Margaret’s simple trip to the corner store turns into a bit of a personal nightmare after seeing the art displayed for sale. As she looks around the store and makes her way to the checkout counter, every person around her begins to appear as her paintings, staring at her with the haunting gaze of those disproportionate eyes.

Amy Adams, the leading lady of the film, does a wonderful job of capturing the southern sweetness and naivety of Margaret. She was just a simple woman looking for a new life with her daughter, having no idea what she was going to get herself into, and how it would affect the world of art. It’s no wonder that Amy Adams ended up receiving a Golden Globe for her portrayal of Margaret in the film. Christoph Waltz does a phenomenal job of portraying the delusional narcissist that Walter was. From the first time we meet him while he’s selling his art outside, we’re charmed by his charisma and charm. As the story develops and we realize just how egotistical he is, we witness Walter slowly losing his sanity, all the way up until his lies unravel in court and he attempts to make pathetic excuses for the last time. Waltz does a wonderful job at portraying the fall of a man who truly believed he was great. In fact, the real Walter Keane stuck to his word and still denied that his wife had created the paintings, all the way up until his death in 2000. 

Women have often been looked at as inferior by men, and that thought is especially evident when women try to make their way into spaces that men feel are their own. The film does a great job of showing the patriarchal climate that always existed in the art world, and just how much damage that environment can do to a woman. Margaret had no idea any of this was going to happen. She found solace in Walter, as he was established in her new city, could help provide for her and her daughter, and charmed her from the moment they first met. He used his personality to his advantage up until Margaret finally had the strength to stand up to him. He threatened her life if she were to come out with the truth, and she still had the bravery to stand up to him in court when the opportunity finally arose. Of course not every scene is perfectly accurate to the way things played out between Margaret and Walter, the film does a wonderful job of portraying the conniving nature of the situation, and allows us to understand all the difficult and overwhelming emotions Margaret was experiencing.  Before I first saw this film years ago I had never heard of Margaret Keane and her story, so I definitely think that producing these films helps to bring awareness to the realities that female artists needed to face. Overall, I think this is a great film that displays the empowerment of a female artist, despite so many difficulties weighing her down on her journey.

It seems fitting that the first shot of the film is that of a printing press hurriedly spitting out images of a big-eyed painting, as it’s through the mass printing of Margaret’s big eyes that Walter conquers not only the popular culture but makes himself known in the elite art world too. As a site of interest for the wealthy middle class, the art market of the 1960s was domineered by an exclusive circle who held what they defined as “art” to incredibly high standards: in an early scene, Walter takes his simple “Sunday paintings” to a hip San Franciscan gallery displaying Expressionist art, only to be told that “People want Kandinsky, or Rothko! They don’t want goopy street scenes”, by owner Ruben (Jason Schwartzman). To become successful, artists created works that conformed to the fashionable trends at the time, even if it wasn’t to their own style, and Walter’s Parisian street scenes just don’t cut the mustard.   Desperate to make money, he hangs his and Margaret’s artworks outside the restrooms of the hungry-I, a popular jazz club,hoping that its wealthy patrons will take an interest, only to find himself rapidly selling all of Margaret’s paintings rather than his own. From then on,Walter invades not only the homes of the middle class by selling the works Margaret secretly paints, but also the world of the local working class, selling posters and postcards to those who can’t afford the real thing. Ruben later sees the duplicated images in a shop window and exclaims: “Christ, it’s a movement!”. Certainly, following the Pop Art movement of the 1950s, it no longer mattered if artwork was tasteful or rose to any academic standards, what was important was its presence in popular culture. People wanted art that was deemed “cool” and trendy in any form, and even if they didn’t have the money to spend on an original, mass print meant they could access it in cheap copies, as Walter tells Margaret: “Folks don’t care if it’s a copy. They just want art that touches them!” Walter is proved right when patrons rush to the gallery to pick up cheap photocopies of the Big Eyes, and he is thrilled knowing he can cater to the wants of both the middle-class art world and the local mainstream audience, as he tells Margaret, “Would you rather sell a $500 painting, or a million cheaply- reproduced posters?!” This moment also suggests that art consumption was now based on trends and profit, rather than any particular talent; no doubt Margaret’s paintings were well done, but it seemed buyers wanted her work because it was immensely popular, not necessarily because of any artistic knowledge or interest.

It’s this combination of unique artwork and manipulation of new production methods that creates the commercial boom and sends the Keane name into the spotlight. However, it doesn’t come without consequences, as the eerie scene of Margaret in the supermarket demonstrates. She walks through aisles stocked with brightly-coloured multiples of cleaning products, drink bottles and food, most notably, soup cans not unlike those in Warhol’s famous Campbell’s Soup Cans. Like her paintings,these objects too have become copied over and over, blurring into one colourful mass. Suddenly, she turns a corner to see a display of Big Eyes posters,proudly proclaiming: “We have Keane!” Seemingly in disbelief, Margaret passes the display, only to lock eyes with another woman with freakishly large eyes.Hurrying away, she sees that everyone around her, including the checkout girl,and the family in line behind her, all have those huge eyes she gave the children she painted. If, as Margaret claims earlier in the film, she gets her ideas from “the world around her” then it is this warped world that has allowed her to be confined to the home while Walter enjoys the success from the outside world.

Indeed, the film’s bright bubblegum colours echo the optimism of Walter’s success, contrasted only by Margaret’s growing unhappiness from the loss of control of her own identity, both personally and artistically, as Walter tells her: “Keane means me.” Yet Margaret’s sense of artistic integrity is fully recognized and celebrated, with Adams’ character presented as genuinely talented, and being inspired organically from the world around her. Early on, Margaret tells her daughter Jane that “creativity wells up from within”. On their honeymoon in Hawaii,lying beside Walter on the beach, she tells him “Only God could make those colours”, suggesting she sees the world itself as an artistic creation. It is this gifted and appreciative personality that allows us to engage with Margaret, while simultaneously realizing the real struggle she represents, as the film concludes with the intense legal battle between the Keanes. While the courtroom scene is accurate to real life – a Time article confirms that a judge really did ask them to paint a Big Eyes in front of a jury – it also highlights the lack of representation female artists were given in the art world: Walter convinces Margaret to continue painting in secret because he argues that selling the paintings under his name is the only way to be successful. Similarly, the only other female artist mentioned in the film is Georgia O’ Keefe, the only exception to Walter’s statement of “People don’t buy lady art”. Yet against all odds, Margaret can demonstrate her honesty by completing a painting in under an hour, while Walter idles and complains of a sore shoulder, proving that authentic talent is no match for fabricated lies.

Overall, I would argue the film accurately portrays both the 1960’s art world and the struggle of female artists to have their voices heard. Certainly, some aspects of the movie are somewhat dramatized; the scene at the World’s Fair between Walter and critic John Canaday as a prime example. Canaday was a real person and did heavily criticize the “Tomorrow Forever” painting commissioned for the World’s Fair, with a Time article confirming that phrases such as “tasteless hack” and others used in the movie were quoted directly from his review. The same article also adds that, while Walter was probably upset at the review, there are no reports to suggest that he attacked Canaday or anyone else, meaning the scene in the movie where he attacks Canaday (Terence Stamp) is absolutely fictional. The movie generally doesn’t acknowledge any source of historical evidence, only showing a sweet photograph of Adams and the real Margaret Keane in the closing credits. All the same, I think Margaret’s story is one that deserves to be told; Big Eyes manages to offer fantastic insight into how the art market was changed through new technology that made art more accessible to the masses, as well as the fight of women to be recognized for their talent.

Bibliography:
Dockterman, Eliana, “The True Story Behind Big Eyes” Time, 25 December 2014
Ronson, Jon, “The big-eyed children: the extraordinary story of an epic art fraud”, 26 October 2014, theguardian.com (last accessed 17 November 2018)

Margaret feels bad for lying to Jane about who does the paintings so she goes to confess her sins. She tells the priest she had lied to her child and the priest tells her “you were raised Christian, you know what we are taught, the man is the head of the household, perhaps you should trust his judgement.” Even when she was looking for support she was told to submit to Walter and at this scene Margaret started to believe this is how it should be. Walter knew people could not afford “his” painting so he started selling copies of posters and postcards. This is when we see him become very popular.

The next scene shows Margaret in the grocery store passing the copies of the painting and she starts to see the big eyes on the people in the store. This is not the most successful part of the movie because it started to become cartoon-like. While I did understand that it was to show how the Big Eyes were taking over her life, it didn’t fit the style of the movie overall. She is getting sick of not being recognized and started a new style that she was going to take credit for. Walters reason for not giving her credit to the big eyes painting “was people do not buy lady art” which was true to the time period however, the movie did not focus on how intense gender roles were at the time period. She signed her new style of painting with just her initials because “people don’t take woman art seriously.” Although they keep making this statement, it is not proven anywhere in the movie. If they possibly showed us a scene of people discussing a women’s art and why
they wouldn’t buy it, or shown us another women artist not being successful. It could’ve given us a better inside look as to how serious it was at the time.

They get very wealthy and are now living in Woodside, California in 1963 in a large home with a pool, five bedrooms, and an art studio. An iconic moment was when she is in her studio that no one goes into because they can’t know she is the artist behind the painting and her dogs gets in and she says “well, I painted em, I did every single one of em, every big eye, me,
and no one will ever know but you”. I enjoyed this scene because we could feel how trapped Margaret was in the lies when the only soul she could tell the truth to was her dog. As she is her studio she come across a box of Walters old street paintings and sees they were also signed by someone else. This part is displayed well because it shows us her hitting her breaking point, she now knows he has done this to someone else before. She finds out that he never could paint in the first place and when she confronts him he goes crazy. I am not a fan of this because he acts way over the top and it turns comedic. The narrator (Dick Nolan) a newspaper editor brings us
back on track saying “when people asked me why did she stay, was it fear, lack of confidence, Margaret was trapped in a lie she helped create and now the cover up was worse than the crime.”

In another scene, Margaret’s daughter Jane looked for her mom who was asleep in her studio. She goes in for the first time and saw her that her mom is the artist. This was done well because throughout the whole movie we see how her and her mother were growing apart from the lie that was coming in between them. And now that Jane knows the truth of her mom being the painter all these years we see them connect again. We see Walter being way over the top in a scene when he goes to stab a man with a fork in the eye. Although we don’t know how Walter was as a person at points his behavior seemed way too dramatic as I mentioned above. But Margaret was alive during the making of this movie and approved it all so this could have been his true personality. In the one scene he is drunk and acting out, he throws matches on Margaret and Jane. He slips a match into the studio they locked themselves in and the room catches on fire so they go out the pool door and drive away. This was a great scene because we see how she didn’t care about the money or the home anymore and just wanted to start a new life for her and Jane. They move to Hawaii and one year later Walter calls her when she files for divorce. He says he will only sign if she sends him the rights to every painting and one hundred more.

Margaret has an interview with a radio station in Hawaii where she tells the truth that she was the artist and she sues Walter for what he has done to her. At the trail the judge says “in my opinion there is only one way to clear this up, you’re both going to paint” and they both had to paint in front of the courtroom. This scene shows Walter fixing the chair and moving around while Margaret is painting and he can’t start anything because he does not know how to paint. Walter finally starts and complains about his shoulder saying he can’t paint today. Margaret won and still painted everyday until her death. This movie was amazing and showed us the details of what Margaret had to deal with as a woman artist in the sixties. It shows the emotional toll it takes on herself and her relationships when she was not being acknowledged for the hard work she put into all her paintings.