The Truman Show
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| The Truman Show | |
|---|---|
| Image:Trumanshow.jpg | |
| Directed by | Peter Weir |
| Produced by | Edward S. Feldman Scott Rudin Andrew Niccol Adam Schroeder |
| Written by | Andrew Niccol |
| Starring | Jim Carrey Laura Linney Ed Harris Noah Emmerich Natascha McElhone |
| Music by | Burkhard Dallwitz Philip Glass |
| Editing by | William Anderson |
| Distributed by | Paramount Pictures |
| Release date(s) | June 5, 1998 |
| Running time | 103 min. |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $60,000,000 |
| IMDb profile | |
The Truman Show is a 1998 film directed by Peter Weir, written by Andrew Niccol, and starring Jim Carrey and Ed Harris. The film chronicles the life of a man who does not know that his entire life is a constructed reality soap opera, televised 24-hours-a-day to millions across the globe. The plot takes many ideas from Philip K. Dick's 1959 novel Time Out of Joint, as well as the 1960 Twilight Zone episode "A World of Difference", and the 1968 feature The Secret Cinema (later remade as an Amazing Stories episode in 1986).
Contents |
[edit] Plot
Truman Burbank began life by being the chosen one of five unwanted babies to be the star of a documentary of the first year of life of a child. The program became so popular that it expanded into a continuously running reality television program.
Contained within a completely artificial town called Seahaven, itself contained within a gigantic dome, the "Omnicomm Ecosphere" Truman grows up as the only person in the town unaware that he lives in an almost solipsistic constructed reality for the entertainment of those outside. His friends, family, and wife are all actors following direction. His life-long best friend, Marlon, has been on the show since he was 7 years old.
The movie picks up on Day 10,909 (near the end of year 30) of Truman's life. It starts in the style of a television program, with opening credits and interviews of three main characters: Christof (the program's creator); Hannah Gill, the actress playing "Meryl," Truman Burbank's wife; and Louis Coltrane, who plays "Marlon."
Throughout the film, footage of Truman is interspersed with scenes of people in the real world watching The Truman Channel.
The movie depicts many instances of Truman's need for safety and security — his job as a life insurance agent, his fear of water and sailing, his avoidance of flying. However, throughout his life, Truman has also indicated a conflicting wish to explore the world, to travel, and to leave Seahaven. Attempts to keep him on the island (and thus unable to discover the truth of his TV-show existence) include the staged drowning death of his father, the use of an intimidating and threatening dog in his path while attempting to explore the island, and others' explicit discouragement of his wishes to be an explorer. Also, the general media available to Truman consistently present the good points of staying home.
Despite the producers' wishes, Truman makes several choices that confound their efforts to control him and his world. He falls in love with an extra playing fellow student "Lauren," who reveals her real name is Sylvia and then is subsequently whisked away by a TV producer who pretends to be her father and explains that she is mentally ill. Truman is told that she and her family are moving to Fiji, thus provoking a lifelong wish in Truman to travel to Fiji to find her.
Encountering a man in the street whom he recognizes as his dead father, only to see him forcefully removed, Truman's doubts about his world grow. He has a growing suspicion that he is the observed center of the world. His friends and family give the same sorts of manufactured responses in attempts to change the subject, calm, and distract him.
With an inability to raise suspicions in anyone else, Truman begins to suspect he's the only one not aware of some kind of plot. He spots that in their wedding photos, his wife wears her ring on the wrong hand and is crossing her fingers as if to cancel out a lie, and begins to notice that she constantly launches into impromptu praise of new household products, as though she is within a commercial. Trying to make Meryl admit the truth, Truman takes her hostage in their car, forcing her to drive over the bridge connecting Seahaven with the outside world, though the attempt to leave is thwarted by a fake forest fire followed by a simulated evacuation from a disaster at a nearby nuclear plant. After Truman pulls a knife on her in their home, Meryl calls out, apparently to no one, "Do something!" in a plea for help. Marlon promptly knocks on the door with a six-pack of beer, at which point Meryl collapses on him, sobbing, "How can anyone expect me to carry on under these conditions? It's not professional!" and leaves Truman (and the show).
Afterward, Marlon — coached by Christof through an earpiece — insists on his loyalty and honesty, pointing out that any conspiracy would have to include him as well, then claiming "the last thing I would ever do is lie to you." He brings forward Truman's father in a moving reintroduction scene. The reunion is followed by an episode of a call-in show, "Truman Talk," in which Christof is thanked for granting the interview despite guarding his own privacy zealously. When Sylvia/Lauren calls in to the show to insist, not for the first time, that Truman deserves the truth, he defends lying to Truman on the basis that the "real world" is far more painful and "sick" than the idyllic existence he has created for Truman in Seahaven. He also asserts that if Truman ever did develop a genuine determination to leave, there would be no way for the producers to stop him.
Upon seeing his father again, Truman ostensibly resumes his light-humored routine, only to surreptitiously escape from the house by training the camera on a replica of himself asleep. Unable to find Truman, Christof orders the transmission cut, creating a large media stir in the real world. After thorough searching on land, Christof realizes the sea is unwatched, and quickly finds Truman with a camera on his boat, and resumes transmission of the show.
In an attempt to deter Truman, Christof orders an artificial storm, nearly drowning Truman despite the objections of his crew and his superiors. Defeated, the producer clears the weather just in time to save his star's life. Truman resumes sailing until hitting a wall painted like the sky, the physical edge of the show's enormous set. Truman follows the wall until he discovers a door labeled as an exit. As he opens the door, Christof introduces himself through a loudspeaker and tells the truth. He entreats Truman to stay, or at least say something to his TV audience, at which point Truman casually bows out and says his famous line from the show "...And in case I don't see ya, Good Afternoon, Good Evening, and Good Night!" then steps through the door, with Sylvia rushing to meet him at last.
The film ends by showing the devoted fans of Truman's adventures touched by his struggles and his triumph - then quickly changing the channel.
[edit] Cast
- Jim Carrey as Truman Burbank
- Laura Linney as Meryl, Truman's wife / Hannah Gill
- Noah Emmerich as Marlon, Truman's best friend / Louis Coltrane
- Natascha McElhone as Lauren/Sylvia Garland
- Holland Taylor as Truman's mother / Alanis Montclair
- Brian Delate as Truman's father / Walter Moore
- Blair Slater as Young Truman
- Peter Krause as Lawrence, Truman's boss
- Heidi Schanz as Vivien
- Ron Taylor as Ron
- Don Taylor as Don
- Ted Raymond as Spencer
- Ed Harris as Christof, the creator of the show
- Una Damon as Chloe, production assistant
- Paul Giamatti as Control room director
- Adam Tomei as Control room director
- Harry Shearer as Mike Michaelson
[edit] Production
Niccol was due to direct the film until Carrey was signed. It was felt that Carrey's $12 million salary was too great an investment to leave in the hands of a second-time film director, and Weir was drafted.
Exterior shots of the town of Seahaven were filmed in Seaside, Florida, a master-planned community located in the Florida Panhandle. Members of the cast and crew lived in Seaside during filming. The rest of the scenes were being shot in Los Angeles, California. [1]
[edit] Soundtrack
Philip Glass appears very briefly in the film as one of the in-studio composer/performers. The soundtrack for the scenes of freedom contain excerpts from his scores for Mishima: A Life in Four Chapters, Powaqqatsi, and Anima Mundi, as well as some music composed specifically for The Truman Show. Glass shared a Golden Globe Award with Burkhard Dallwitz for the score.
The film also contains a Frédéric Chopin composition, 2nd Movement from Piano Concerto No. 1 in E, Op.11: Romance-Larghetto, which was performed by pianist Artur Rubinstein, and snatches of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's Rondo alla Turca and Horn Concerto No. 1 in D Major.
[edit] Reception
The film was a commercial success, earning $125,618,201 domestically and $138,500,000 elsewhere - for a worldwide total of $264,118,201.[2] Critically, the film was also a success, with 96% of registered reviews by selected critics on the website Rotten Tomatoes[3] being positive. The Truman Show was also nominated for three Oscars (original screenplay, achievement in directing, and best supporting actor: Ed Harris) and six Golden Globes. It won three Golden Globes, including a Best Actor in a Motion Picture-Drama win for Jim Carrey, thus generating a substantial amount of Oscar buzz. Carrey was not nominated for an Academy Award for this film (or any other film to date).
The movie won the 1999 Hugo Award for Best Dramatic Presentation.
[edit] See also
[edit] External links
- The Truman Show at the Internet Movie Database
- "The Truman Pro", 1998 Entertainment Weekly cover story on the film's making
- "Director Tries a Fantasy As He Questions Reality", 1998 New York Times article about Weir and the film's making
- An Analysis on the Truman Show
[edit] References
- ^ Eric Young (Executive Producer). "How's It Going To End? The Making of The Truman Show, Part II" [DVD (Special Feature)]. Paramount Pictures Home Entertainment.
- ^ http://www.boxofficemojo.com/movies/?id=trumanshow.htm
- ^ http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/truman_show/
Films by Peter Weir |
|---|
Homesdale • The Cars That Ate Paris • Picnic at Hanging Rock • The Last Wave • Gallipoli • The Year of Living Dangerously • Witness • The Mosquito Coast • Dead Poets Society • Green Card • Fearless • The Truman Show • Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World • Pattern Recognition • Shadow Divers |
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