Jordan Crist

Professor Aner Preminger

Israeli Cinema

4 October 2016

                                         Big Eyes Analysis

The motion picture Big Eyes is a unique film which combines a story about love and basketball into
a truly magnificent tale. Head coach and protagonist Benny Furman can’t decide what he really wants
with his life. Where the director blends the themes of temptation and remorse through a multitude
of symbols in the film.

To begin, the title of the film plays a significant role in not only describing the attitude of the
main character, yet symbolizes the overall themes of the film. Moreover, Benny Furman consistently
can’t decide between his wife or his many mistresses who he regularly sneaks out with and behind
his wife’s back. The title Big eyes are linked to the motives noted previously, by the main
character Benny having his eyes wide at every girl he sees turns him into a woman crazed man who is
being torn in every direction. In addition to representing the gesture of being woman crazed by
having big eyes all the time this also represents two general themes. Primarily temptation, when
you have big eyes your mood is constantly being aware or on edge of what might happen next. This
notion can be found in several aspects of the film where Benny is on the verge of having his
paradise collapse all around him. Due to his wife, mistresses, career, his baby, and even his
friends; all of these factors add to his stress of being the peacemaker. On the other hand, remorse
can be found in big eyes where the thought of devastation or even disappointment can echo through
them. Benny encountered this mainly at the end of his hero journey during the falling action of the
film. Specifically, at the wedding when you can see it in his eyes as he is dancing with everyone
and watches his wife leave the reception. His eyes are falling to thought of his life drifting
away.

Along with the dense meaning of the film title the uniqueness and novelty of this film had me
interested for the whole movie. Being a basketball fan I enjoyed all of the basketball scenes where
I made numerous connections to American style basketball as well as multiple differences that
struck me as odd. First off, during the games the crowd was on a new level of wild I have ever
seen. Where storming the court after a bad call or a potential fight between players often led to
an all-out brawl by the fans. Where I am from you cannot even get onto the court without passing
through several layers of security, so seeing that sort of reaction by fans would be unheard of in
America. Also, when the team won the game the fans were heckling the players all the way to the
locker room which surprisingly was very similar to games in the National Basketball Association
here in America. Fans usually performed similar tactics of booing and throwing things at players as
they walk to the Locke room (Not all but some).

To conclude, this film was a great watch and I enjoyed the basketball theme of the film which I
could relate to and the very deep story line between Benny’s multiple double lives he lives.