In 1998, a creative group of filmmakers came up with a rather clever way of ridiculing a craze for television and especially a reality show, releasing a touching sci-fi comedy “The Truman Show,” later recognized as one of Jim Carrey’s best works.
Screenwriter Andrew Niccol is not in vain for complete consistency with the director's intention of Peter Weir, rewrote the script 16 times, the “Truman Show” received favorable reviews. The rating of the film according to IMDb is significantly high - 8.10, the picture in the list of "Top 250 Best Films" confidently occupies 57th position.
Fantasy tragicomedy
Many townsfolk sometimes come up with the idea that life is controlled by an invisible director, and the closest entourage is the actors who are playing someone previously written script. In medicine, such thoughts can be classified as signs of extreme paranoia, but in the case of a key character in one of the most famous films of 1998, the suspicion was absolutely justified.
The hero of Jim Carrey was indeed the protagonist of a grand reality show, only on the eve of his thirtieth birthday he realized that his every movement is fixed by hidden cameras. This prophetic film directed by Peter Weir was named after the nonexistent television program, about which he was telling about the filming process, “The Truman Show”.
Hidden irony
The audience’s reviews of the “Truman Show” film are underscored by the association between the main character Truman Burbank and former US President Harry Truman, who went down in history as a politician who ordered the atomic attack of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. But for the Americans, with unprecedented enthusiasm who responded to the work of Peter Weir, in which the main role is played by actor Jim Carrey, the creators of the tape prepared two tips to immediately catch the hidden irony of the story.
Truman - sounds almost the same as True Man ("real man"), and the name of the main character Burbank is very cinematic, since it is in the city of Los Angeles County with the same name that several Hollywood movie studios are concentrated at once. Therefore, the character’s name and surname initially contained a paradox that became decisive for the entire Truman Show film project, in which authenticity is combined with fiction, and the present is adjacent to the cinema. This authorial move was appreciated by critics in reviews of the Truman Show.
Storyline description
The central character of the tape, the thirty-year-old insurance agent Truman Burbank, lives as if in the toy town of Siheyven, from the moment of his birth, being under the scrutiny of hidden television cameras. At the same time, the man does not realize that his every action is recorded on a film, and he is a true star of a reality show broadcasted “live without cuts 24 hours a day, 7 days a week for viewers of the whole Earth” (advertising slogan sounding in the movie). Once, before being careless and partly frivolous, the hero begins to catch some insignificant, but alarming inconsistencies. His suspicions are strengthened after his failed girlfriend Lorin utters a phrase in which he declares that everything around is a lie and everyone plays their roles.
Following Shakespeare
Practically according to Shakespeare, Kerry’s character, eventually finding out that all the reality around him is the result of someone’s exuberant fantasy, could repeat: “The whole world is a theater, and the people in it are actors.” The life story of Truman, developing according to all the canons of a successful soap opera, changes dramatically after he decides to find out the identity of the invisible puppeteer. It turns out to be the television magnate Christoph, who runs the unreal world, placed in a huge pavilion near Hollywood. Burbank escapes from "heaven on Earth", thereby putting an end to the show named after himself. Reviews and reviews position this ending of the tragicomedy “The Truman Show” as ambiguous, encouraging people to think about the future fate of the character.
Farce comedian
Cinema experts often argue that the actor’s exact and key role makes the film attractive and successful for the viewer, then the story looks much more fascinating, as the viewer sees a living three-dimensional character. This success is the result of careful preparation and painstaking work of the performer, whose methods of immersion in the image cause the “goose bumps” of the beholder.
Before going on rental, many critics and journalists had legitimate doubts about the second attempt by the most successful comedian of the 1990s, Jim Carrey, to change his role and appear before the audience in a tragicomic serious manner. But, as the reviews of the audience confirm, in the “Truman Show” Jim Carrey is impeccable. The idol of millions has proved that he is capable of not only laughing at random and building hilarious faces, portraying the duty “dumb and dumber” on duty, but also forcing the audience to think about the meaning of their existence, to raise the notorious “Hamlet issues”. In solidarity with the leading actor, the authors of the film forbade all participants in the filming process to pronounce cues and phrases from previous "stupid" paintings with the actor.
Solid matches
Critics' reviews of the Truman Show noted that Jim Carrey has successfully evolved from an eccentric comedian to an impressive dramatic actor by comparing him to Tom Hanks. Filmmakers even considered the possibility of Truman Burbank becoming a household name, like Forrest Gump.
By the way, according to promising layouts, Kerry shone the opportunity to be nominated for an Oscar in 1998. However, the coveted figurine was received by Tom Hanks for the tragic image in the "Saving Private Ryan" by S. Spielberg. Another coincidence is that the producers initially persuaded Spielberg to stage the Truman Show, but they failed to reach an agreement. As a result, the director of the tape was the delicately staged and clever Australian film master Peter Weir, who for 15 years tried to fit into the ranks of the artisans of the California “dream factory”.
Producer
Peter Weir himself described his brainchild as the most expensive arthouse project in the history of cinema and openly doubted his rolling triumph. Critics' reviews of the film “The Truman Show” echo the director, reviewers note that he was not seduced by either stinging sarcasm and satire, did not flirt craftyly with Hollywood mania and myths. According to the cinema community, Weir created a truly intelligent, restrained, sophisticated in style, unobtrusive work that everyone is free to accept and interpret in his own way: from philosophical thoughts about the meaning of life and the existence of the Creator’s universal intention to primitive philistine ridicule against sore-mouth soap operas.
Such an approach to the spectacular “Truman Show” reviews is compared with one of the most extraordinary and mysterious films in the history of the world film industry - “Picnic at the Hanging Rock”. The mystical drama was also shot by Peter Weir, but in 1975. Both paintings demonstrate that reality is sometimes more ghostly than the most elaborate fantasy.
An exception
The success of the tragicomedy cannot be attributed exclusively to Jim Carrey, all the participants in the ensemble added a peculiar color to the tape.
Almost all reviews of the film “The Truman Show” contain descriptions of an extraordinary situation that occurred during the selection of the cast of the project. Dennis Hopper was initially approved for the role of TV magnate Christophe, but after a couple of shooting days he quickly left the project. Ed Harris urgently had to replace the Hollywood star. The performer did not have enough time to prepare for the embodiment on the screen of his character, so he relied on his instincts and instinct, which made Christoph so vivid and memorable.
Ed Harris, for masterfully coping with his task, received the Golden Globe Award and an Oscar nomination.
Criticism
Despite skeptical forecasts and preliminary reviews, the Truman Show still shot at the box office. With a production budget of $ 60,000,000, the film earned 264,118,201, significantly more than the second episode of Ace Ventura. For such a project, this was an absolute victory. All leading film critics were delighted with the picture. The project was scolded only by those who did not understand it or expected the usual comical game from Kerry. With particular enthusiasm, the film was accepted by those who are looking for hidden meanings in the movie, like to analyze. Subsequently, the tape was even introduced into the educational program of several American universities.
Behind the laudatory reviews of the Truman Show, nominations for prestigious awards awaited. Of course, it was difficult for Weir's work to circumvent such masterpieces as Shakespeare in Love and the aforementioned Rescue Private Ryan, so Harris, Weir and Nikkol had to be content with only nominations for the awards. But the jury of the Golden Globe was more favorable. Jim Carrey was awarded as a leading dramatic actor, Ed Harris - as a supporting actor, the creators of the original musical accompaniment - composers Philip Glass and Burkhart Dallwitz were also noted. But most importantly, Kerry’s hopes were justified - after the “Truman Show” he began to be perceived as a diverse performer, and not just as a comedian.