Perhaps best summed up by the title card:
“I think that what Keane has done is terrific. It has to be good. If it were bad, so many people wouldn’t like it.” Andy Warhol.
Yes, but which particular Keane is it? And is it actually art?
And then there’s the part about gender. A decade or so before the advent of full-blown feminism. Not many options open for women:
Boss: [to Margaret] We don’t get many ladies in here. So, you’re husband approves of you working?
In other words, what most women today just take for granted [in terms of options] had to actually be struggled for by women politically. Though the woman here is about as far removed from the feminist movement as one might imagine.
And then there’s Walter. He is big in real estate but, as he points out to Margaret, “all I ever wanted was to support myself as an artist”. It’s not as though Walter is a monster. Well, not at first. But as the film unfolds he turns out to be quite the scumbag.
Bottom line: His wife paints the actual Big Eyes and he takes the actual credit for it. Put yourself in her shoes. How much would that matter to you? That he is able to talk her into going along with it for so long [years and years] speaks volumes.
This one is smack dab at the intersection of Art and Money and Ego. And Kitsch. And [of course] celebrity. This is capitalism as its grubbiest. On the other hand, if money is your thing, the sheer fucking genius of it all might be more the reaction.
Look for the part that revolves around The Great Debate: What is Art?
IMDb
[b]When Margaret and Walter are painting in front of the San Francisco palace of Fine Arts, the real Margaret Keane can be seen reading a book on the park bench behind them.
The amount of sales of Margaret Keane Paintings soared ahead of the release of the film, with small paintings being sold for $8,500 a piece. Director Tim Burton also owns an extensive collection of her work. Keane has also painted portraits of Burton’s partner Helena Bonham Carter and Burton’s former Chihuahua.
Amy Adams liked the script when it was offered to her at first, but she originally turned down the role, because the character lacked “a stronger sense of self”. However, working on American Hustle (2013) gave Adams a new perspective of the character, and she was won over because she was intrigued by the character’s “quiet dignity”, while the relationship between the mother and the daughter spoke to her as well.[/b]
at wiki: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Big_Eyes
trailer: youtu.be/2xD9uTlh5hI
BIG EYES [2014]
Directed by Tim Burton
[b]Dick Noland [voiceover]: Back then women did not have good job prospects. All she had was her paintings in the trunk and her daughter in the backseat.
…
Margaret [at job interview]: I’m not very good at tooting my own horn but I do love to paint. So if I could just show you my portfolio. I studied at the the Watkins Ar Institute in Nashville. This is a pastel that I did. And this is a charcoal portrait.
Interviewer: You do understand that this is a furniture company. [/b]
Still, she does get to “paint” there.
[b]Walter: Of course walking away from the bourgeois scene wasn’t easy. I had to quit my job…leave my wife. These choices aren’t easy.
Margaret: I’ve never acted freely. I was a daughter and then a wife and then a mother.
…
Walter: Don’t knock your work. You have an amazing talent. You can look at someone and capture them on canvas. You can paint people. I can only paint things.
…
Walter: I’ve got to ask you a question. What’s that with the big crazy eyes?
Margaret: Oh. Well, I believe that you can see things in the eyes. The eyes are the window to the soul.
Walter: Yeah, but you paint them like pancakes. They’re way out of proportion.
Margaret: Well, eyes are how I express my emotions. I’ve always drawn them like that.
…
Reuben: Walter, you know we don’t go for the representational jazz. You’re too literal.
Walter: But art isn’t fashion.
Reuben: Yes, it is. People want Kadinsky or Rothko. They don’t want goopy street scenes.
…
Reuben: Why are their eyes so big. Like big, stale jellybeans.
Walter: It’s expressionism. Surely, you recognize it.
Reuben: It’s not art.
Walter: “It’s not art?”
Reuben: It’s like the back of a magazine. You know, “Draw the turtle! Send in a nickel! Win the big contest!”
…
Walter to Margaret]: We’ll never break in! There’s a secret society of gallery owners and critics who get together for Sunday brunch in Sausalito deciding what’s “cool”.
Margaret: I think people buy art because it touches them.
Walter: You’re living in fairyland. People don’t get to discover anything. They buy art because it’s in the right place at the right time.
…
Margaret [to Walter]: I’ve bever posted bail before.
…
Dick: So, tell me about your work.
Walter: Well, when I was in Paris…
Dick: Oh, Jesus, not those. I mean the little hobo kids.
…
Walter [to a table of young ladies at the hungry i…Margaret overhears him]: The eyes are so powerful. You know, a poet once said that the eyes are the window of the soul. That’s why I paint them so big. I’ve always done it that way.
Margaret [taking him aside]: Walter? Why are you lying? You were taking credit for something that isn’t yours.
Walter: No, I was just trying to close a deal.
Margaret: Those children are a part of my being.
Walter: I’m a salesman. You know buyers pay more if they meet the painter.
Margaret: They couldn’t meet me because you told me to stay at home.
Walter: Look, we’re making monmey. Your pocket, my pocket. Where’s the difference?..Would you rather have your children piled in a closest or hanging in someone’s living room?
…
Margaret: But what about honesty?
Walter: Come on. The painting says Keane. I’m Keane. You’re Keane. From now on we’re one in the same.
…
Priest [in confessional]: What is troubling you?
Margaret: I lied to my child and I’m just not that kind of person.
Priest: Is your husband that kind of person?
…
Priest: Well, the world is a complicated place. Occasionaly, children may need to be sheltered from certain truths.
Margaret [chuckling]: No. No, it’s not like…
Priest: It sounds as though your husband is trying to make the best of an imperfect situation. You were raised Christian. You know what we are taught. The man is the head of the household. Perhaps you should just trust his judgment.
…
Woman at art gallery [looking at Margaret’s paintings]: I think it’s creepy and maudlin and amateurish.
Man with her: Exactly. I love it.
…
Announcer [on TV]: New York Times are critic John Canady with a perspective into the work of Walter Keane.
Canady: Keane’s work is completely without disctinction. He is not a member of the Society of Western Artists. He has won no awards. He’s only noteworthy for his appearances in a certain newspaper’s gossip columns. Mr Keane is why society needs critics to protect them from such atrocities.
…
Walter [on the phone with Margaret]: It’s the craziest thing. We started charging for the posters. First a nickel, then a dime. But then it got me thinking. Would you rather sell one 500 dollar painting or a million cheaply reproduced posters? Folks don’t care if it’s a copy. They just want art that touches them. Then we could sell it anywhere. Everywhere!
…
Walter [to Margaret]: Do you want to give back the money? If you tell anyone, this empire collapses. We’ve committed fraud here!
…
Snobby artist #1: Two nuts that fell from the same tree. It’s insufferable. Why are we starving while they print money?
Snobby Artist # 2: Because that nut’s a genius. He sells paintings. Then he sells pictures of the paintings. Then he sells postcards of pictures of the paintings.
…
Margaret: This is what it’s come to, huh? You are the only living soul I can tell my secret to. I painted every single one of them, every Big Eye, me, and no one will ever know but you.[/b]
She’s telling this to her dog.
[b]Walter: For Christ sakes, you’ve seen me paint.
Margaret: No, I haven’t. It’s like a mirage. From the distance, you look like a painter, but up close there is not much there.
…
Margaret: Walter, have you even been to Paris?
…
Margaret [in restaurant]: I will talk as loud as I want!
Walter: No, you won’t! Or I’ll have you whacked!
Margaret [startled]: What?!
Walter: If you tell anyone, I’ll have you taken out!
…
Dick Noland [voiceover]: When people ask me, why did she stay? Was it fear? Lack of confidence? Margaret was trapped in a lie that she helped create. Ans now the cover-up was worse than the crime.
…
Walter: Come on. Wednesday the World’s Fair opens. Thursday our book goes on sale.
Margaret: Friday I file for divorce.
…
Walter: Who wrote this shit!!
Canady: Mr. Keane, this is not the venue. Perhaps you’d like to write a letter to the editor.
Walter: What are you afraid of? Just because people like my work that means it’s automatically bad?!
Canady: No, but it doesn’t make it art either. Art should elevate, not pander.
Walter: You have no idea! Why does someone become a critic? Because he cannot create!
Canady: Oh, dear. That moldy chestnut.
Walter: You don’t know what it’s like! To put your emotions out there, naked for all the world to see!
Canady: What emotions? It’s synthetic hack work. Your masterpiece has an infinity of Keanes, which makes it an infinity of kitsch.[/b]
And all the time Margaret is there listening to every word. The sheer fucking irony of it is completely lost on Walter.
[b]Walter [drunk, shouting at Margaret and Jane]: What’s wrong with the lowest common denominator? That’s what this country was built on!
…
Walter: I’m gonna sue everybody. Everybody. I’m gonna sure this pansy critic. And sue the World’s Fair. And I’m gonna sue UNICEF. I’m gonna take down UNICEF, and all their precious little boxes of dimes.
[he walks over to Margaret]
Walter: But I can’t sue you, can I? You are the ultimate betrayal. You failed me with that painting! You crossed over from sentimentality to kitsch. You enjoyed that! You enjoy people laughing at me!
…
Margaret [on the phone]: Walter, I want a divorce.
Walter: Well, I suppose I could agree to a split, as long as…as you assign me all the rights to every painting ever produced.
Margaret [after a pause]: If that’s the price.
Walter: Really? Well, okay. Then we have to consider future revenus streams.
Margaret: My God, Walter, how much more money do you need?
Walter: If you want me out of your lifem here are my terms. You’ll have to paint me 100 more waifs, 100 more Walter Keanes.
…
Jehovah’s Witness: Hello. We’re visiting everyone in this neighborhood with an important message. We have something to share with you about the wonderful things that God’s kingdom will do for mankind.
Margaret: Well, from where I’m standing, I don’t see much good anywhere. Just a lot of pride and thievery and people treating each other poorly.
Jehovah’s Witness: Do you know what it says in Timothy 3:1-5? “In the last days, critical times hard to deal with will be here. For men will be lovers of themselves.”
Margaret: Sounds like my ex-husband.
…
Girl: Shit, this is crazy man. All these copies. You’re like Warhol.
Walter [scoffing]: Ha! Warhol’s like me. That fruit fly stole my act. The Factory. I had a factory before he even knew what a soup can was. [/b]
But then the shit hits the fan. Margaret finally spills the beans.
[b]Judge: In my opinion there is only one way to clear this up. You are both going to paint.
…
Judge: Mr. Keane?
Walter: I’m just setting the mood. Waiting for the muse to strike.
Judge: Well, your muse has 58 minutes.
…
Title card: Walter never accepted defeat, insisting he was the true artist for the rest of his life. He died in 2000, bitter and penniless.[/b]