The Truman Show

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The Truman Show

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 Holland Taylor
Music by	Burkhard Dallwitz
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 movie directed by Australian Peter Weir, written by New Zealander Andrew Niccol, and starring Jim Carrey. The film chronicles the life of a man who does not know that his entire life is a constructed reality designed for the purpose of a television show. 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.

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.

1 Cast
2 Synopsis
3 Plot
4 Characters' names
5 Soundtrack
6 Awards
7 See also
8 External links

[edit] Cast

Jim Carrey as Truman Burbank
Laura Linney as Meryl, Truman's "wife"
Noah Emmerich as Marlon, Truman's "best friend"
Natascha McElhone as Lauren/Sylvia
Holland Taylor as Truman's "mother"
Brian Delate as Truman's "father"
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
Paul Giamatti as Control room director
Adam Tomei as Control room director
Harry Shearer as Mike Michaelson

[edit] Synopsis

Spoiler warning: Plot and/or ending details follow.

Truman Burbank begins his life by being the chosen one of five unwanted babies to be the star of a continuously running reality television show called The Truman Show. Contained within a completely artificial town called Seahaven, itself contained within a gigantic dome, 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, wife and family fake friendship with Truman, and in the case of his "wife", bury their real feelings of disgust.

Truman's childhood ambitions to be an explorer are strongly discouraged by his "teachers" so as to keep him from attempting to leave Seahaven and discovering the truth about his reality. Eventually the creator and director of the show, Christof, "kills off" Truman's father during a staged yachting accident, thus generating in Truman a fear of water which will keep him on Seahaven Island.

Working against Christof's vision is a movement of viewers wanting to shut down what they see as an inhumane experiment and free Truman. Several of these activists manage to steal onto the "set" and cause disruptions over the course of Truman's life. The most important of these is "Lauren", a woman Truman falls in love with almost at first sight while he is attending university. They steal away to the beach at night and Truman gets a chance to kiss her, but a man arrives by Land Rover, claims "Lauren" is crazy and drags her away, saying they are moving to Fiji.

Truman ends up marrying "Meryl", the actress actually intended by the studio to be his wife, but does not forget about "Lauren".

The movie picks up on Day 10,909 of Truman's life. It follows Truman as he slowly discovers the true nature of the reality in which he lives, then makes increasingly determined attempts to escape it, fly to Fiji, and be reunited with Lauren.

[edit] Plot

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[edit] The Truman Show: Day 10,909

The film starts in the style of a television program, with opening credits and interviews of three main characters: Christof (the program's creator), Meryl (Truman Burbank's wife), and Marlon (Truman's best friend). Throughout the film, footage of Truman is interspersed with scenes of people in the real world watching The Truman Channel. The episode itself begins with Truman stepping out his door on Day 10,909 (revealing that Truman is 29). Truman cheerfully greets two of his neighbors with his soon to be signature line: "Good morning! Oh, and in case I don't see ya - Good afternoon, good evening, and good night." and walks towards his car. As he opens his car door, he hears a shrill whistling and turns round in time to see a small object smash onto the road at great speed. Perplexed, Truman cautiously picks up the item, which resembles a stage light designated "Sirius (9 Canis Majoris)".

Truman is next seen in his car, driving into town and listening to a classical radio station. The presenter announces in an offhand way that an aircraft flying over Seahaven a few moments ago had been forced to jettison parts, providing a screened explanation for the light falling from the sky, and then asks the audience to relax and listen to the music, and forget about the "dangers of flying" (psychological manipulation to prevent Truman from travelling... much more of this later on). Truman goes to work as usual, and is seen from a variety of secret video cameras watching his every move, including one in his pencil sharpener. A coworker shows Truman the headline of Seahaven's newspaper: "The Best Place On Earth." Later, one of Truman's colleagues explains that he will be required to deliver an insurance policy to a neighboring island. Truman voices his concern, but goes anyway. It is revealed that Truman is deeply afraid of water, and while walking gingerly along the jetty, he stumbles across a half-sinking rowing boat. Overcome with anxiety, Truman walks back to dry land. While doing yardwork that afternoon, Meryl comes home and advertises (or shills) a "Chef's Pal". That night, Truman and his long-time best friend, Marlon, sit drinking beer and taking swings at golf balls at a half-constructed bridge. Truman confides to Marlon that he is bored of Seahaven and wants to explore the world, in particular to visit Fiji. Marlon dismisses the idea, claiming that there is nowhere worth visiting, and Truman heads to the beach alone.

[edit] Father's death

While sitting on the beach, Truman has a flashback of his father, who, while sailing with Truman as a child, drowned during a storm. It is suggested that Truman feels responsible for his father's death, as he insisted they sail a little further from land, right into the teeth of the storm. Back at the beach, a concentrated cone of rain falls on Truman. Truman gets up and walks a few feet before realizing that it is only raining in the exact spot where he was previously sitting. The cone of rain then moves and covers Truman again. Truman runs away with the rain trying to catch him, before the heavens open and rain covers the entire town. Back at his home, Truman excitedly tries to convince his simpering wife Meryl to go traveling with him. Like Marlon, Meryl dismisses the idea as foolish, and tries to convince Truman that trying for a baby is an equally exciting adventure, and coaxes him to get out of his wet clothes and come to bed. The sexual act itself is concealed. Despondent, Truman goes to the cellar and rummages through his hidden treasure chest, bringing out a red sweater that belonged to the woman he desired most of any, Sylvia Garland.

[edit] Sylvia Garland

The producers of The Truman Show create another flashback, composed of footage from episodes aired when Truman was a university student. Truman first met Sylvia, who was just supposed to be an extra on the show, when he was in college. The directors were forced to bring in Meryl quickly (her cameo is shown as clumsy and rushed), and remove Sylvia from Truman's view. At a dance, Truman sees Sylvia again and tries to break away from Meryl to meet her, but sees Sylvia bundled out of the dance hall by security officers. Later, while studying for his finals in the college library (just after an interaction that somewhat recalls the "this is how Austrians say goodbye" scene in Indiana Jones) Truman spots Sylvia at a desk and asks her out (Sylvia is shown as an actress when pretending to study Japanese; Truman speaks to her in Japanese and she does not understand, a mystery which Truman does not pursue). Truman asks Sylvia on a date and she shocks him by telling him if they are to go on a date, it has to be that evening, or it will never happen. Sylvia and Truman escape the cameras and arrive at the beach, where Sylvia says that she shouldn't be talking to him and makes a cryptic comment referring to "them" coming for her. They kiss passionately as a car bounces onto the beach at full speed, and a middle-aged man steps out. Sylvia tries her best to explain to Truman that it is all fake and that he's the star of a TV show. Truman does not understand, and when questioning the man in the car (an actor claiming to be Sylvia's father), he is informed that she has schizophrenia and that they're moving to Fiji. This is the last time Truman sees Sylvia and the camera fades back to Truman in his basement. Truman takes out, from a photo of Meryl, a collage picture he has been building of Sylvia, using pictures torn from fashion magazines, revealing that years after the event, he is still in love with Sylvia. Meanwhile, Sylvia is shown, in the "real world", to be sitting in front of her TV, gazing longingly at Truman gazing longingly at his collage of her.

[edit] Paranoia

The next day shows a new episode, starting with Truman's familiar cheerful greeting to his neighbors, and follows Truman driving into work while listening to the radio. The radio begins to relay static and when Truman fiddles with the dials, he picks up a bizarre frequency, on which a man appears to be describing Truman's every move, including him turning his car left into Lancaster Square. As Truman hears this, he stares stunned at the street sign indicating his current heading. Not paying attention to the road in front of him, he nearly hits a pedestrian, and the announcer senses that something is awry. He announces "Something's wrong! Change frequencies!" All of the extras stop and wince in pain, clasping their ears as the loud sound of feedback is heard for a few seconds. The original radio station is then heard, with the announcer feebly explaining that the frequency had picked up a police transmission. Unconvinced, Truman wanders around the square, and the scene becomes eerie as Truman, confused and suspicious, wanders around wondering what is really going on. Instead of going into his office building, he picks a random building and marches towards the elevators. As two panicked security guards rush towards him, the elevator doors open to reveal what appears to be a backstage area, where actors are sitting at a refreshments table, before a camera technician hurriedly places a cardboard elevator backing in place. Deeply confused, Truman asks what is happening but is thrown out of the building for no apparent reason by the security guards. Confused, Truman sits down at an outdoors café and sees a man watching him, who immediately scurries away when he sees that he has been spotted. Following him, Truman steps into the road right in front of an oncoming bus, whose driver appears to have been carefully watching Truman, as he slams on the brakes in time. By this stage, Truman has no idea what is happening, and goes into a shop where Marlon is working, explaining his paranoia and suspicions that he is being followed, or watched. Marlon brushes off Truman's idea, but agrees to follow him to the deserted bridge for a talk.

That evening, Truman, Meryl, and Truman's elderly mother are going through old photo albums. When he sees a picture of himself as a child at Mount Rushmore, his mother explains that he slept during the entire journey, and when Truman remarks that the monument looks so small, his mother immediately turns the page to stop him looking at it. Meryl and his mother eventually leave, and Truman flicks through his wedding photos. In the first picture, Truman is smiling, but Meryl looks resigned if not disgusted. At the picture of himself and Meryl kissing at the ceremony, he suddenly notices that in the picture, Meryl is crossing her fingers.

The next day begins with Truman scanning radio frequencies, trying to find the one he came across the previous day. Meryl who is dressed for work as a nurse is about to leave for work, and tells Truman that there was an elevator accident next to the building where he works (where he saw the backstage area) as a poor explanation of what Truman saw. Truman replies "I'll cross my fingers for you"; Meryl is momentarily caught off-guard, but retains her composure as a professional actress. Determined to find the truth, Truman follows her to the hospital on his bicycle and makes his way through the hallways, where various carefully-arranged incidents attempt to stall him in the corridors. He reaches the operating theater and peers through a window as the actors pretend to perform surgery on a patient. The "surgeon" tries to appear calm, but blatantly does not know what he is doing, and when he cuts into the patient's leg, Truman sees that the "leg" is made of metal. In addition, one of the doctors knocks a bedpan onto the floor and the apparentely anesthetised patient sits up in alarm.

Truman is once again bundled away by a security guard, and is next seen at a travel agency (where he sees a poster for travel insurance depicting a plane being struck by lightning and other terrifying pictures to dissuade travel), trying to book a flight to Fiji. The agent explains that all planes are booked for at least a month, and Truman instead books a coach ticket to Chicago. He boards the coach (filled with stereotypical travellers including nuns and a serviceman in uniform), but the actor playing the bus driver either does not know how to drive the vehicle and accidentally damages the engine, or intentionally ruins the transmission to prevent the bus (and Truman) from leaving Seahaven. The other passengers immediately get off the bus without complaining, leaving Truman alone and despondent.

Back at their house, Meryl arrives home from work and finds Truman sitting in his car on the driveway. Truman, who is carefully watching his rearview mirror, tells her to get in, and astounds her by predicting that in a moment, they will see a lady on a red bike, followed by a man with flowers, and a Volkswagen Beetle with a dented fender. Meryl tries to laugh it off but Truman forces her to remain in the car, and surely enough they see a lady on a red bike, a man with flowers and a dented Beetle. Truman begins to act strangely and says that they are on a continuous loop - they are not actually travelling anywhere, but are just going around the block again and again. Meryl tries to change the subject, and angrily, Truman says he's leaving. Meryl gives in and tells him to go wherever he wants (knowing that he will never be allowed off the island), but Truman instead locks the car doors, tells Meryl she is coming too, and drives off. While on the road, Truman tells her that he wants to go to Atlantic City, but when he turns the car onto a different road, traffic emerges from nowhere and immediately forms a traffic jam in front of him. Suspicious, Truman reverses and instead decides to go to New Orleans. Turning onto the same road, the cars have magically disappeared. When he reaches the bridge connecting Seahaven to the mainland, his fear of water makes him too scared to drive over the bridge, and when Meryl soothingly suggests they go home, he places her hands on the driving wheel and they hurtle across the bridge. After leaving the bridge, Truman ignores a sign warning of forest fires and plunges the car straight into a hurriedly-prepared fire, which appears to be nothing more than a hasty pyrotechnics display on the tarmac itself. As the car heads towards the edge of the geodesic dome, the producers try one last effort to stop Truman, and fake a reactor leak at the local nuclear power station. Truman is stopped by a police officer who advises them to head back, and when Truman thanks the officer (whom he has never met), the officer replies, "You're welcome, Truman". Meryl looks nervous and Truman, stunned, jumps out of the car and starts running into the forest, which contains trees planted in a perfect grid. He is followed by men in radiation suits and eventually captured while trying to fend them off. Finally, he is taken back home by two police officers who surprisingly let him off with only a verbal warning.

Truman sits in the kitchen staring into space, and asks Meryl why she wants to have a baby with him, as she clearly does not love him. To change the subject, Meryl offers to make him some Mococo and slips into one of her rehearsed advertising speeches, telling Truman about the cocoa's country of origin and ingredients. This angers Truman even further and Meryl wildly tells Truman that he's having a nervous breakdown. She tries to defend herself with a kitchen contraption she had advertised earlier in the movie, but Truman lunges towards her and puts her in a headlock, prompting Meryl to look straight into the nearest camera and scream "Do something!". Truman asks her who she's talking to and she tries to dismiss the incident. Marlon suddenly appears and Meryl runs towards him, screaming "How can anyone expect me to carry on under these conditions? It's unprofessional!".

The scene changes to Marlon and Truman at the deserted bridge. Truman, who is indeed on the verge of a breakdown, confides to Marlon his fear that he is losing his mind, and that he no longer understands what is happening in his life. In the next scene, Christof is shown whispering to Marlon through his earpiece what to say to Truman. Unknown to Truman, Marlon's response that he would never betray Truman, that he would never lie to him, is shown to be a lie. Truman starts to cry, and at this point, Marlon stands him up and turns him towards the road, where a figure is approaching through the mist. As he approaches, he is revealed to be Truman's father. The scene again changes to Christof in the directing suite. It becomes clear that although Truman is lost and deeply emotional, the entire sequence is being stage-managed for entertainment, regardless of Truman's feelings. The scene ends with Truman breaking into tears of joy as he hugs his "father" (an actor), and the staff of the directing suite cheering Christof's "creative genius".

[edit] Truman Show Special

The scene suddenly changes to what appears to be the beginning of a television program, which is revealed to be a special on The Truman Channel. While a sequence of shots show Truman as a child, a baby, and even a fetus, and show the gargantuan geodesic dome he unwittingly lives in, right behind the Hollywood letters in the middle of greater Los Angeles, a narrator summarises the history of The Truman Show, proudly stating how popular the program is and the engineering genius of the dome. The show itself begins with host Mike Michaelson summarising the events that have taken place thus far, and Michaelson goes on to conduct an interview with the con-man. Christof summarizes Truman's life and gives details of upcoming storylines, including an apparent new romantic interest for Truman and a very weak explanation that Truman's father's disappearance will just be explained away as amnesia. In response to Michaelson's questions, Christof replies that:

The producers had to manufacture ways to keep Truman on the island. They came up with the idea of "drowning" Truman's father so Truman would be terrified of water and so afraid to leave the island.
There have been several attempts by people to tell Truman that he is on TV, including a man hiding in one of Truman's Christmas presents as a child, and an apparently recent attempt by a man parachuting inside the dome.
The Truman Show has an annual revenue equivalent to the GDP of a small country, the show requires a massive workforce to keep running, and all the items seen on the show, from foodstuffs to houses, are available through a catalog.
The show relies heavily on advertising and product placement, explaining Meryl's bizzarely detailed descriptions of products during the show.
There are almost 5,000 cameras secretly placed around Seahaven so that Truman can be seen at all times. The show began with a single camera, watching Truman while he was still in the womb.
Truman was chosen as he was born on cue, competing against five other unwanted pregnancies.
Truman was the first baby to be legally adopted by a corporation.
If Truman was determined to discover the truth and leave the island, they could not stop him.

Christof answers a few on-air telephone calls, including one from Sylvia. She boldly accuses Christof of cruelly imprisoning Truman, and judging by posters seen in her room, it appears that there are campaigners in the real world who believe that the show is morally wrong, and wish to free Truman. Despite her protests, Christof coldly replies that Truman has everything he wants, that he lives in a perfect world, and that if he did leave his world, it would be worse out in the real world than in Seahaven.

[edit] "Cut transmission"

After the special, the channel again turns to continuous transmission of Truman's life, and in the next scene, Christof witnesses the image of Truman sleeping. The next day begins as normal, and the show's staff feel relieved that Truman is back to his old self. They even introduce Truman's next intended love interest, Vivian. They do not realize that Truman is faking it. By this point, Truman and "Meryl" have separated and Truman has started sleeping in the basement. That night, Christof suddenly becomes suspicious of this unpredicted behavior and pans the basement camera to try and get a better view. The audio relay suggests he is sleeping, but Christof is worried and orders Marlon to drive to the house immediately, under the pretext of bringing a six-pack of beer (exactly as he did when Truman was having his fight with Meryl) to help cheer his buddy out of the slump. Marlon goes down to the basement and instead of finding Truman, finds an inflatable toy under a blanket, with a tape recorder playing snoring in a loop. Worried, Marlon keeps his composure and hunts for Truman in the basement, finding a hole dug from the closet into the lawn. Realizing that Truman has escaped, Christof tells Marlon to keep up the pretence and stay light-hearted, but instead Marlon looks straight into the camera and says "He's gone". Panicking, Christof cuts the transmission for the first time ever, shocking the world as The Truman Channel goes off-air. Every actor in Seahaven is called out to look for Truman, and the studio takes increasingly desperate measures. As the actors search the town, the moon (an observation platform high up in the dome) lights up and sweeps the town as a giant searchlight. In need of more light, Christof cues the sun ahead of time, and the actors of Seahaven see the sun rising in the middle of the night.

[edit] "Resume transmission"

Christof realizes that no one is watching the "sea". Scanning the water, he eventually finds Truman on a small boat, sailing out to sea. Christof is impressed that Truman has conquered his fear of water, and resumes transmission, showing Truman smiling as he heroically steers out to sea. However, they attempt to get Truman to turn back, as Christof orders his technicians to create an artificial thunderstorm directly over Truman's boat, hoping that the memories of his "father's death" will prompt him to turn back. Truman, though, continues to sail out to sea, and after encountering heavy waves, rain, and wind, Truman screams out to the sky "Is that the best you can do? You're going to have to kill me!" and continues sailing as he sings "What do you do with a drunken sailor?" in an act of further defiance. Christof orders the technician to increase windspeed, and when he refuses, Christof does it himself. The president of the corporation demands that Christof cease transmission and end the storm, fearing that Truman will die on live television. He replies in anger that Truman was born before a live audience, implying he should die before one too. As the storm rages, Truman lashes himself to the wheel moments before his boat capsizes, leaving Truman hanging on for life. Christof reduces the storm and the boat rights itself, leaving Truman's body still lashed to the wheel. As sunshine beams down on the boat, Truman wakes up, recovers himself, and continues sailing. As he nears the wall of the dome, Truman sees the shadow of the boat's mast appear against the sky, but before he has time to think, the boat's prow crashes through the plaster wall of the dome.

Feeling his way along the boat, Truman reaches the end of the bowsprit and stretches out his hand. He sees his arm forming a shadow against the sky, and when his hand touches painted-on clouds, he lets out a despairing cry. He looks above him into the sky and finally realizes that he is living in a painted dome, and everything he loved, everything he believed in, was all just a set. The scene follows as Truman, screaming, pounds against the wall with his fists while tears stream down his face. Finally, he collapses onto the deck sobbing, and at this point, notices a gangway running around the edge of the dome at the waterline. He steps onto it, walks a few paces, and finds a disguised staircase leading to a door. Standing at the door, Truman gazes at the handle, which reads "Exit", but he is reluctant to open it.

Christof, with one last trick up his sleeve, takes his seat in the moon room and is connected to a public announcement system so that he can talk to Truman. As Truman slowly stretches his hand towards the door, Christof greets him, and Truman turns around stunned to hear a voice booming from the sky. Christof explains to Truman that he is the creator- of a television show- and that Truman is its star. He tells Truman that there's no more truth out in the real world, with still the same lies and deceit, and that Christof has watched him his whole life, to which Truman replies that Christof "never had a camera in my head". Christof explains that he knows Truman better than Truman himself does, and fondly reminisces to Truman of his life with a grin, indicating that he genuinely is attached to Truman, or believes himself to be. Annoyed that Truman does not reply, Christof tells him to say something, that he's live on television to the entire world, thinking he has won back his power. But to his horror, Truman slowly turns round, grins into the camera on top of his boat's mast, and says his signature line: "In case I don't see ya - Good afternoon, good evening, and good night." He takes a bow, and walks out the door. Across the world, fans of the show cheer, Sylvia breaks into tears of joy and rushes out of her house (presumably to find him), and Christof bitterly sinks his head onto the screen in defeat. The president of the network leans over to a technician and cuts the transmission forever. As The Truman Channel goes off-air, viewers change the channel to watch something else.

[edit] Characters' names

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Truman: The name 'Truman' is made up of two words: "True" and "Man". This might be to remind us of the fact the Truman is the only real personality in the show, and that everyone else is fake. His last name Burbank refers to Burbank, California, the location of many television and film studios. (However an early draft of the script suggested a different etymology of the first name, as an acronym: Totally Recorded hUMAN life).

Meryl: Truman's wife is named for Meryl Streep, an actress. She is so named because she is merely an actress posing as someone who loves Truman; she has no true feelings for him.

Louis Coltrane: The name of the "actor" who plays Marlon (named for Marlon Brando), Truman's best friend. His name is an amalgam of the names of the jazz musicians Louis Armstrong and John Coltrane. The character also plays trumpet in the film, another allusion to Armstrong.

Sylvia: The name of the "actress" who plays Lauren, whom Truman desired to mate with. Her name and character are considered by some to be analogous to the gnostic Sophia. The name Lauren Garland comes from Lauren Bacall and Judy Garland.

Christof: The shows creator’s name is made up of two words, Christ and of. This may be seen to the viewers as Christ of Truman, hence Christof being God in an omniscient context.

[edit] Soundtrack

Philip Glass appears very briefly in the film as one of the in-studio composer/performers; and the soundtrack for the scenes of freedom contain excerpts from his scores for 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.