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Plot - Truman Burbank (Carrey) is the biggest TV star in the entire world. He just doesn't know it. He is the unwitting star of a TV experiment which developed into a reality show of immense proportions. He lives in Seahaven, a quaint town which in reality is the world's biggest studio set, monitored by thousands of cameras and overseen by the show's creator, Christof (Harris). Every single person in the town is an actor, even his family and closest friends. His whole existence is an illusion. A staggering fact that Truman slowly begins to awaken to. When he attempts to leave the town, a series of highly coincidental roadblocks pop up in his way, but Truman won't let that stop him.
While this is generally a very well thought of film I realise I love it a lot more than most people and I'm not entirely sure why. There's just something about it that I find rather special. I think it's a really well written, intelligent story which is both funny and touching, and has a number of scenes which I think are just beautifully executed and which just stick in my mind. Working from a terrific concept it's an intriguing film which is also surprisingly moving and thought-provoking.
As will have become quite obvious to those who have stuck with me throughout this list I am a huge Jim Carrey fan, so obviously his presence here helps with my love for the film. Once more I think he is excellent here, very funny but also portraying a real emotional honesty when it comes to thinking of the mysterious girl from his past. His Truman Burbank is such a sweet, loveable everyman in a Tom Hanks/James Stewart kind of way that you can buy people wanting to spend their lives watching his exploits. He also excellently portrays Truman's growing paranoia and disconcertion as the walls of his reality begin to come crumbling down. And while it certainly is Carrey's show (no pun intended), he's not alone however, with great support coming from Laura Linney, Noah Emmerich and Ed Harris. Linney does this great thing where she appears to be constantly posing for a catalogue photo shoot or a TV commercial. Her character is just so completely fake and forced; and its got to be about the only occasion where seeing how hard someone is acting is a good thing. Noah Emmerich is very impressive as Truman's best pal, Marlon, and everytime I watch the film it always surprises me how little I've seen of him since. While Ed Harris is an inspired choice to play the creator of Truman's world who is pretty much playing God. At times he appears to genuinely care for Truman but I think it's only as a creator in a “look what I've created, look how special he and by extension I am.”
When it comes to favourite scenes there are so many the jump to mind. Even if they are just quite small scenes they are delicately and wonderfully created. Truman being followed by the cloud, orchestrating the traffic with just a movement of his hand, becoming exasperated as his wife advertises a product while talking to him and then the touching finale. Christof's continuing attempts at throwing obstacles in Truman's way are also highly entertaining. I admire the creative and unique way that Peter Weir shot the film, playing into and mimicking the hidden camera style of the TV show within the movie. So we get no tracking shots, cameras hidden in objects such as a pencil sharpener, surveillance-style filming and numerous examples of awkward framing which are done completely on purpose.
And it's amazing (and sad) just how prescient the movie is when it comes to detailing the obsession with reality shows and celebrity in our current culture. Who'd have ever thought that within such a short span of time we've come so close to our own Truman Show? At the time of its release, such an idea may have seemed completely far-fetched but these it is worryingly plausible. I mean let's be honest, would anyone really be all that surprised if some TV channel had a press conference tomorrow to announce that they actually had plans for such a show? I think Billy Connolly sums up my views on reality shows perfectly - “The world's gone crazy. You've got people sitting in their house...watching people sitting in a house!!! I mean, what's going on here?” In later years Peter Weir remarked that at the time "This was a dangerous film to make because it couldn't happen. How ironic."
And while it may skewer television producers and the era of celebrity-obsessed reality shows we currently find ourselves in, if anything it is a film that is harsher on the viewing public with its criticisms. No matter how pervasive and manipulative the show becomes the viewers never turn off, they never abandon the show. In that way Truman's situation works as a symbol of our own cultural imprisonment at the hands of the media and consumerism. And the film utilises its final moment to hammer home the fact. Eskewing the chance to fade out on the happy ending of Truman's freedom, we are instead shown an example of we the viewing public in the form of two security guards. After an initial and brief burst of celebration at Truman's achievement, what does the audience do - turn off the TV, go out and experience life, muse on what was done to Truman Burbank in the aid of entertainment? No, they change the channel to see “what else is on.” How very, very sad.
The setting and design of Seahaven is fantastic. Amazingly it actually is a real town that proceedings were filmed in. Seaside in Florida is a 'master-planned community' where members of the cast and crew actually lived during filming. So the production designers had a great basis with which to work but they added so much on top of it. The fashion and colour schemes gave it a highly stylised and hyper-real appearance, rather akin to a classic 1950s sitcom; capturing that cosy and comfortable feel of picket fences and friendly neighbours. As a city boy I may find it lacking in character, and even feel it has a sort of Twilight Zone creepiness to it, but had someone been raised there I can see how they would find it like a paradise and never want to leave.
I also find The Truman Show to be extremely, and perhaps surprisingly, moving as it approaches its conclusion. With Truman sailing across the sea in search of escape he really is on a journey that acts as a rite of passage. He's on a road to discovery, moving from being a boy to becoming a man. It's almost like he's a teenager for much of the film, feeling isolated and confused, before he eventually rejects the way things are and embarks on his own life. It is just perfectly shot by Weir, holding on Carrey's back as we see his crushed demeanour through his body language before revealing his anguished face. It's another great piece of acting from Carrey which is accompanied by a wonderful piece of music from the film's composers, Burkhard Dallwitz and Philip Glass. In fact the whole score is fantastic, beautifully complimenting the film throughout.
While the film can easily be enjoyed for its humour and thought-provoking concept, there are other layers to it. Alongside the obvious media satire, the most notable being the theme of religion, though I suppose there are two different views you could take of it. You could easily see the film as a journey to becoming atheist. You've got this man in the sky named Christof who has created this world below; who talks to his subjects and instructs them how to go about their lives; who orchestrates every little event and outcome to his whims, removing free will from the life of Truman, pushing him towards a pre-ordained destiny. He is a God-like figure in every way. As the one individual he does not communicate with, Truman eventually begins to challenge and reject his thoughts and his reality, resulting in him stepping through the door to enlightenment and escaping. Or you could take the more pro-religion stance and see it as a story about the folly of man trying to play God when there can be only one. Or that he is even an anti-Christ figure of a sort, manipulating Truman for his own nefarious means.
Conclusion - I just adore The Truman Show. I think it's a wonderful, beautiful little film. It's an intelligent, witty, funny and terrifically uplifting experience for me every time I watch it. A commentary on media manipulation and those of us who consume it, and featuring a tremendous performance from the man who I'd class as my favourite actor, this is a film that I've enjoyed time and time again. And imagine that I will continue to do so.
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Year of release
1998
1998
Directed by
Peter Weir
Peter Weir
Written by
Andrew Niccol
Andrew Niccol
Starring
Jim Carrey
Ed Harris
Laura Linney
Noah Emmerich
Natascha McElhone
Jim Carrey
Ed Harris
Laura Linney
Noah Emmerich
Natascha McElhone
The Truman Show
Plot - Truman Burbank (Carrey) is the biggest TV star in the entire world. He just doesn't know it. He is the unwitting star of a TV experiment which developed into a reality show of immense proportions. He lives in Seahaven, a quaint town which in reality is the world's biggest studio set, monitored by thousands of cameras and overseen by the show's creator, Christof (Harris). Every single person in the town is an actor, even his family and closest friends. His whole existence is an illusion. A staggering fact that Truman slowly begins to awaken to. When he attempts to leave the town, a series of highly coincidental roadblocks pop up in his way, but Truman won't let that stop him.
While this is generally a very well thought of film I realise I love it a lot more than most people and I'm not entirely sure why. There's just something about it that I find rather special. I think it's a really well written, intelligent story which is both funny and touching, and has a number of scenes which I think are just beautifully executed and which just stick in my mind. Working from a terrific concept it's an intriguing film which is also surprisingly moving and thought-provoking.
As will have become quite obvious to those who have stuck with me throughout this list I am a huge Jim Carrey fan, so obviously his presence here helps with my love for the film. Once more I think he is excellent here, very funny but also portraying a real emotional honesty when it comes to thinking of the mysterious girl from his past. His Truman Burbank is such a sweet, loveable everyman in a Tom Hanks/James Stewart kind of way that you can buy people wanting to spend their lives watching his exploits. He also excellently portrays Truman's growing paranoia and disconcertion as the walls of his reality begin to come crumbling down. And while it certainly is Carrey's show (no pun intended), he's not alone however, with great support coming from Laura Linney, Noah Emmerich and Ed Harris. Linney does this great thing where she appears to be constantly posing for a catalogue photo shoot or a TV commercial. Her character is just so completely fake and forced; and its got to be about the only occasion where seeing how hard someone is acting is a good thing. Noah Emmerich is very impressive as Truman's best pal, Marlon, and everytime I watch the film it always surprises me how little I've seen of him since. While Ed Harris is an inspired choice to play the creator of Truman's world who is pretty much playing God. At times he appears to genuinely care for Truman but I think it's only as a creator in a “look what I've created, look how special he and by extension I am.”
When it comes to favourite scenes there are so many the jump to mind. Even if they are just quite small scenes they are delicately and wonderfully created. Truman being followed by the cloud, orchestrating the traffic with just a movement of his hand, becoming exasperated as his wife advertises a product while talking to him and then the touching finale. Christof's continuing attempts at throwing obstacles in Truman's way are also highly entertaining. I admire the creative and unique way that Peter Weir shot the film, playing into and mimicking the hidden camera style of the TV show within the movie. So we get no tracking shots, cameras hidden in objects such as a pencil sharpener, surveillance-style filming and numerous examples of awkward framing which are done completely on purpose.
Film Trivia Snippets - Dennis Hopper was originally cast in the role of Christof, but walked off set after the first day of shooting. /// People on the set were forbidden from uttering catchphrases from the 'silly movies' of Jim Carrey's past. /// Several other directors were in the frame for directing duties. Sam Raimi was considered while David Cronenberg turned down the chance to direct. At one point Andrew Niccol was set to talk the helm with Gary Oldman taking on the role of Truman.
And while it may skewer television producers and the era of celebrity-obsessed reality shows we currently find ourselves in, if anything it is a film that is harsher on the viewing public with its criticisms. No matter how pervasive and manipulative the show becomes the viewers never turn off, they never abandon the show. In that way Truman's situation works as a symbol of our own cultural imprisonment at the hands of the media and consumerism. And the film utilises its final moment to hammer home the fact. Eskewing the chance to fade out on the happy ending of Truman's freedom, we are instead shown an example of we the viewing public in the form of two security guards. After an initial and brief burst of celebration at Truman's achievement, what does the audience do - turn off the TV, go out and experience life, muse on what was done to Truman Burbank in the aid of entertainment? No, they change the channel to see “what else is on.” How very, very sad.
Film Trivia – The Truman Show has actually inspired a condition called 'Truman Syndrome' or 'the Truman Show delusion'. The term, coined in 2008, concerns the occasion when people hold the belief that they and their life are the unwitting stars of their own TV reality show or staged play. Over 40 cases have been reported so far in the US, the UK and around the world, with many of the people affected having specifically name-checked the film while in therapy. These include a man who travelled to New York following 9/11 who thought the attack may just be a plot twist in his own personal TV show. Another individual entered a Manhattan Federal building seeking asylum from his show, while another man wanted to climb the Statue of Liberty in the belief that doing so would provide him with his own personal escape from his 'show.' He described it like this, “I realized that I was and am the center, the focus of attention by millions and millions of people ... My family and everyone I knew were and are actors in a script, a charade whose entire purpose is to make me the focus of the world's attention.” While in 2009 a man in Australia tragically killed his father and sister, because he believed they were broadcasting his life to the world as part of a game show to either murder him or convince him to kill himself.
I also find The Truman Show to be extremely, and perhaps surprisingly, moving as it approaches its conclusion. With Truman sailing across the sea in search of escape he really is on a journey that acts as a rite of passage. He's on a road to discovery, moving from being a boy to becoming a man. It's almost like he's a teenager for much of the film, feeling isolated and confused, before he eventually rejects the way things are and embarks on his own life. It is just perfectly shot by Weir, holding on Carrey's back as we see his crushed demeanour through his body language before revealing his anguished face. It's another great piece of acting from Carrey which is accompanied by a wonderful piece of music from the film's composers, Burkhard Dallwitz and Philip Glass. In fact the whole score is fantastic, beautifully complimenting the film throughout.
While the film can easily be enjoyed for its humour and thought-provoking concept, there are other layers to it. Alongside the obvious media satire, the most notable being the theme of religion, though I suppose there are two different views you could take of it. You could easily see the film as a journey to becoming atheist. You've got this man in the sky named Christof who has created this world below; who talks to his subjects and instructs them how to go about their lives; who orchestrates every little event and outcome to his whims, removing free will from the life of Truman, pushing him towards a pre-ordained destiny. He is a God-like figure in every way. As the one individual he does not communicate with, Truman eventually begins to challenge and reject his thoughts and his reality, resulting in him stepping through the door to enlightenment and escaping. Or you could take the more pro-religion stance and see it as a story about the folly of man trying to play God when there can be only one. Or that he is even an anti-Christ figure of a sort, manipulating Truman for his own nefarious means.
Conclusion - I just adore The Truman Show. I think it's a wonderful, beautiful little film. It's an intelligent, witty, funny and terrifically uplifting experience for me every time I watch it. A commentary on media manipulation and those of us who consume it, and featuring a tremendous performance from the man who I'd class as my favourite actor, this is a film that I've enjoyed time and time again. And imagine that I will continue to do so.