Anurag Yagnik

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The sadness of Big Eyes

Big Eyes tells an amazing, true story about one of the biggest art frauds in the U.S - in which an overpowering husband took all credit for striking series of paintings, made by his wife Margaret Keane, called the 'Big Eyes' known for depicting children, mostly young waifs with grotesquely oversized, mostly sad eyes.


The real sadness is the casualness, the ease with which the husband is able to takes over and continues to claim credit for the wife's work. She keeps on making new paintings even when she is tortured doing it. In not revolting, Margaret Keane showcases the hopeless state of affairs. Its not that she could not revolt - its that she didn't think it would do much good.


The film is made well but isn't very good unfortunately. Amy Adams is good but in her usual mopey demeanor. But it is Christopher Waltz (yes that guy from Inglorious Bastards and Django Unchained) who ruins the film for me. He is hopelessly miscast in a role that categorically does not require his petty histrionic villanery that worked so well in fantasy films. Here, he is simply ludicrous. He make the film a parody. He robs the film of its implicit sadness. And that’s really sad.