You watch movies and you get some lessons, reactions and emotions from them. As I write my first review in this community, it feels good to start with an interesting satirical drama. One of the beautiful and touching movies I've watched is “The Truman Show.” The movie was a reality television of an adopted orphan’s life, right from birth. Everyone was a character and everything was cast. Well, except him and his actions.
“The Truman Show” features 24 hours of live coverage of a man's life from birth till adulthood where he was married, had a job and lived his life. It explores the raw and unfiltered life of a man who unknown to him, was in his own reality show. Millions around the world stay tuned watching this unedited display of life and character. In a world where entertainment is scripted and acted, “The Truman Show” offered a true reality show.
The movie starts with Truman Burbank, a happy and cheerful man in one of his morning routines looking in a mirror and talking to himself. He was saying some funny things, part of which had the audience loving him and watching the show. The next scenes showed the producer (Christof) talking about the point of the show and about Truman himself with succeeding scenes showing his wife (Marlon) and best friend from childhood (Marlon) both talking about the show being their life and how real it gets, no fake.
Truman heads to work, but he greets the family next in his usual and funny way. He then heads to work where he meets some specific people along the way, he buys a women’s model magazine and that is as much his constant routine. Unknown to him, everything was a show and millions around the world are watching while he lives the life he thought was just a simple quiet life. But you can't take away the fact that a man's curiosity always gets him.
Later, he begins to find signs which show something was odd. Coming across his supposed dad who died by drowning while out in the water together in his childhood, he was left confused when some mysterious people instantly seized the dad away. Some time later, the production team had some glitches in their communication which had him listen to them through the radio, heightened his suspicion. You know it's just a matter of time before he figures out something was wrong.
His family, love life and friendship were all cast. Everything was being cast. Did I mention that the town he lived in was created and designed far away from people for this very purpose? Simulations of the sun, rain, weather and all that were done in an enclosed dome, covering the town. Truman had always wanted to leave the town to experience some place else called Fiji, but his effort was frustrated restricting him to the town and obviously keeping the show running.
It happened that the magazines Truman always bought in the morning while going to work was him trying to find the face of a lady he was interested in while in high school. It wasn't supposed to be so, and the lady who also liked him was taken off the show. Meryl, his wife was cast to get close to him and eventually end up as his wife which went that way. His childhood friend, Marlon had always played a role influencing his actions and decisions. Beyond doubts and suspicions, Truman was certain that something was wrong and he had to leave the town by all means possible, even if it meant confronting his fear of water.
He ended up playing them smart and eluding the production team who was constantly watching and monitoring the show, with thousands of hidden and well-set cameras, even micro cameras that fit into a shirt’s button. This called for a great search and for the first time since the show started, it went off. He was later found to be on water, trying to escape. Who would expect that, knowing his fear of water? The show came back online and the producer taking control, released simulated storms, hitting him back and forth.
He nonetheless remained resilient and didn't give up. His boat arrived at the end of the dome where it hit the wall. He traced his way up to the door on the wall. But before leaving, the producer, Christof called to him through the sound system, letting him know what the show was about, trying to persuade him not to leave. However, he wouldn't stay back. With a satirical smile, he uttered his iconic greeting, "Good morning! And in case I don't see ya, good afternoon, good evening, and good night!" And he left.
The movie displays the characters of determination, resilience, and how crafty humans can be. It explores reality and illusion, and human free will in a world full of media surveillance. Not only that, but how much we can buy into all of that. It explores one of the major concerns of society in the modern world. It was a good watch.
Thank you for reading!
Rating: 90/100
