Director Tim Burton next to one of the "Big Eyes" illustrations
Big Eyes is a true story about an "artist" who makes creepy, cartoonish illustrations of little girls with giant eyes.
Who are these drawings for? Young children would be creeped out, and older people, well, why would they want such juvenile art adorning their walls?
This is what Burton says about these paintings, which he saw all over the place as a young child:
“At my doctor’s office, there was a big-eyed girl with a poodle. At my dentist’s office, there was a series of kids with cats. When I went to the market, there were greeting cards with Keane ballerinas, Keane waifs, Keane cowboys, and so on. I was fascinated by their huge, sad, Big Brother–ish eyes. I loved that these strange children always seemed to be watching me. It was like being in a bizarre, captivating dream.”And now, Burton is directing a film based on these images.
But who would want to star in it? Well, one actress, at least: Amy Adams.
Burton continues:
“I happened to be standing next to her at the luncheon for the Academy Award nominees. I was there for Frankenweenie, and Amy was there for The Master. We chatted, and she called me the next day and said she had read Big Eyes. She wanted to play Margaret.”Actresses all want to look glamorous, a la Old Hollywood.
But, none of these contemporary actresses are making films worthy of those classic times. Instead, they are quite happily playing ghouls, vampires, and now creators of ghoulish art.
Adams was all set on making a movie on Margaret Keane, as Tim Burton recounts:
“I happened to be standing next to her at the luncheon for the Academy Award nominees. I was there for Frankenweenie, and Amy was there for The Master. We chatted, and she called me the next day and said she had read Big Eyes. She wanted to play Margaret.”
Creepy-eyed girl in Margaret Keane's 1963 In the Garden (there are many variations to the tile and date of this image, but here seems to be an authentic one).
Here is Adams as Margaret Keane, next to one of the creepy eyed "Big Eyes":
And here is Adams, in her Versace and Tiffany's:
Amy Adams in her lilac Versace gown
at the Golden Globes on Sunday
Adams was fully decked in Tiffany's at the Golden Globes, according to this site, with:
...drop earrings, a platinum and diamond five-row bracelet and a platinum and 2.12-carat square cushion modified brilliant diamond ring.None of the major film critics are talking about the creepiness of Margaret Keane's illustrations (I cannot call them paintings). But a few dare to voice the obvious (albeit in single lines, or as their article heading).
Here's a review at the Nashiville Scene:
If you’re like me, perhaps you saw the trailer and groaned, “Why why why Margaret Keane?! Yack.”...What [Burton] can do is tell a stranger-than-fiction story about a creepy man who pretended to paint his wife’s creepy kid art.
Detail of Our Children, painted by Margaret Keane around 1960
In 1961, The Prescolite Manufacturing Corporation bought Our Children and presented it to the United Nations Children's Fund. It is in the United Nations permanent collection of art.
Here is the website of the artist, Margaret Keane.
Posted By: Kidist P. Asrat