‘Big Eyes’ big on sentiment

When I first heard the term ‘Big Eyes’ bandied about at this year’s Oscars, with the camera turning to capture a bug-eyed and demure Amy Adams, I thought it was some tasteless in-joke I’d initially missed out on hearing. I certainly hadn’t heard of the biopic that stars Adams as modern artist Margaret Keane, famous for her paintings that depicted children with, yes… very big eyes.

I was, however, familiar with Keane’s work. Indeed I’d seen it on just about every wall growing up – in mine and my siblings’ bedrooms, in the living rooms of mum’s friends, even in doctor’s and dentist’s waiting rooms.

Little did I know then that so much controversial history was attached to these artworks (or reproductions by the time they got to suburban North Perth); that Keane had indeed been forced by her controlling husband to keep her artistic identity an intense secret while he took all the glory for her work – and most of the profits.

The film co-stars Christoph Waltz as the horrid svengali in question, with Walter Keane portrayed as the best – and worst – salesman ever. Best, because his sly charm saw him get away with the huge lie for over a decade. Worst – well, you’ve just got to see how scary Waltz gets when his charm dissolves into sadistic violence; it’s as horrible as some of cinema’s more iconic villains including The Shining’s Jack Torrance and The Dark Knight’s Joker.

The poster art for Big Eyes paints the perfect metaphor for this film, whose premise is so twisted, the audience is left wondering if it’s for real. In the poster, Waltz (as Walter) holds a portrait of Adams (as Margaret) who holds a painting of one of her famous big-eyed waifs. The con artist framing the genuine artist in the cleverest art of deception.

Adams is perfect at playing the petrified Margaret who eventually breaks out of her wishy-washy role to vilify her conman of a spouse. The actress has played both trophy wife (Enchanted; American Hustle) and strong independent woman (Man Of Steel; Night At The Museum: Battle Of The Smithsonian). It was only a matter of time before she got to throw herself into a role with dichotomous qualities of both the feminine and feminist kind.

As for Waltz, he’s danced through his share of creepy roles, from Django Unchained’s king hick Dr Schultz to The Zero Theorem’s eerie Qohen Leth and the most obscure of German TV villains. But far be it for his role in Big Eyes to be a simple matter of typecasting. The actor goes beyond adding ‘just another nasty character’ to his CV; instead full-pelt screeching down the halls of Cinema’s Most Horrible Monsters. In fact I wouldn’t be surprised if a few folk go dressed as the dubious Walter Keane for Halloween this year…  Antonino Tati

‘Big Eyes’ is in cinemas March 19.