The Truman Show (5 Stars)

Dancer's Top Films #29

This is the film I've watched more often than any other. I can't say exactly how often. At least 30 times, maybe 40 or even 50. I didn't see it in the cinema in 1998 when it was released, but I taped it when it was on television a year later. Something about it touched me, so for months I was watching it two or three times a week. It was one of the first films I bought on DVD after I bought my first DVD player in 2003. I still watched it fairly often in the first few years when I didn't have many films on DVD. This is only the fourth time I've watched it since September 2010. I've binged out now, if that's the right expression. I still like it a lot, but I can't watch it as often as I used to.

One problem with the film is that it's become dated. It doesn't fit in with modern technology. When it was made in 1998 it was feasible. The creation of Truman's world would be immensely expensive, but not impossible. It depends on the year. The date isn't named, but the film takes place in the 30th year of the Truman Show. It could have been constructed in the early 90's at the earliest, so the film would have to take place in the 2020's. It was the 2020's as they were imagined in 1998. But now things have changed. The Internet has completely changed our society. The Internet already existed in 1998 (I personally have had an Internet account since 1995), but it wasn't as important as it is now. It's difficult to say exactly when the Internet took over our society. I didn't notice, because I was one of the first users and blind to what was happening around me. At a guess, I'd say that the watershed was in the mid 2000's with the advent of social media. It was no longer just computer geeks who used the Internet, it was also semi-educated teenagers who wanted to chat with their friends.

That's the problem. The Truman Show is a world without Internet. If we watched a reality show without Internet today it would seem quaintly old-fashioned. But if the Internet were allowed in Truman's world he would soon discover the truth about his existence.

So, when we watch "The Truman Show" (the film) we have to think of it as taking place in 1998 or close to the turn of the millennium. If we put ourselves in that mindset we can enjoy the film, but that means that the Truman Show (the television show) must have begun round about 1970, which isn't feasible. Apart from that, the Truman Show is based on the new wave of reality TV shows, which didn't start until 1997 with "Big Brother", the first series that allowed viewers to observe people 24 hours a day.

Some reviewers make the mistake of calling "The Truman Show" a comedy. Even the film's Wikipedia page makes this mistake. Sometimes I doubt the intelligence of my fellow reviewers. I can understand the reason for their error, but it's still unforgivable. The film's lead actor is Jim Carrey. All his previous films were comedies, so they assume that this film is a comedy as well. Obviously they didn't watch the film closely. It's not a comedy at all. "The Truman Show" was Jim Carrey's first attempt at making a non-comedy film. There have been many more since. In the film Truman Burbank is an amusing character at times, but that doesn't make it a comedy. Jim Carrey's next film, "Man on the Moon", makes the distinction even clearer. The film is about a comedian (Andy Kaufman), but the film isn't funny at all.

"The Truman Show" is a psychological drama that borders on horror. The futuristic world justifies those who want to call it a science fiction film. It's a virtual world, an artificial reality that closely mimics our real world. The people in the film who watch the Truman Show can relate to it because they can see themselves living in Truman's place. He's a man doing a dull office job, barely making enough money to get by. He's married to a shallow, annoying wife. On the plus side, he has a good friend with whom he can drink beers and discuss the meaning of life.

I'm not blind to the film's religious messages. If you're a religious person you'll see your own religion in the film, whatever it is. I see Christianity, as the religion that I've grown up with. Truman is given the rare privilege of meeting his Creator. First he fights with his Creator, refusing to submit, even if it means his death. Finally he turns his back on his Creator.

"The Truman Show" is a film that will make you question the nature of reality. It's so deep and meaningful that it's nothing less than a disgrace that it didn't sweep the awards at the 1999 Academy Awards. It's a much better film than "Shakespeare in Love", which won the Best Film award.

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