Zee Cine Awards 1998 Full Show
Ilene Dycus
The Truman Show is a 1998 American psychological comedy drama film[4] written and co-produced by Andrew Niccol, and directed by Peter Weir. The film depicts the story of Truman Burbank (played by Jim Carrey), a man who is unaware that he is living his entire life on a colossal soundstage, and that it is being filmed and broadcast as a reality television show which has a huge international following. All of his friends and family and members of his community are paid actors whose job it is to sustain the illusion and keep Truman in the dark about the fiction he is living.
The Truman Show held its world premiere in Los Angeles on June 1, 1998, and was released in North America on June 5. The film was a financial success, grossing $264 million worldwide, debuting to critical acclaim, and earned numerous nominations at the 71st Academy Awards, 56th Golden Globe Awards, 52nd British Academy Film Awards, and 25th Saturn Awards. The Truman Show has been analyzed as an exploration of simulated reality, existentialism, surveillance, metaphilosophy, privacy, and reality television, and described as a genre-blending work that features elements of dystopian fiction, meta fiction, psychological drama, romantic comedy, satire, and social science fiction.
Selected at birth and legally adopted by a television studio following an unwanted pregnancy, Truman Burbank is the unsuspecting star of The Truman Show, a reality television program filmed and broadcast worldwide, 24/7, through approximately five thousand hidden cameras.
Truman's hometown, Seahaven Island, is set inside an enormous soundstage, which allows Christof, the show's creator and executive producer, to control most aspects of Truman's life, including the weather. Truman's world is populated by actors and crew members who serve as his community, while carefully keeping him from discovering the truth. They also earn revenue for the show by cleverly-disguised product placement. To prevent Truman from escaping this world, Christof orchestrated scenarios to instill thalassophobia, such as the "death" of Truman's father in a boating disaster. The rest of the cast reinforces Truman's anxieties by messages about the dangers of traveling and the virtues of staying home.
Truman is intended by the producers to fall in love with and marry fellow student Meryl, but during his college years he develops feelings for Sylvia, an extra. Sylvia sympathizes with Truman's plight and tries to tell him his life is a fiction, but she is fired and forcibly removed from the set before she can convince him. Truman marries Meryl, but his marriage is stilted and passionless, and he secretly continues to imagine a life with Sylvia; he dreams of traveling to Fiji, where he was told she had moved. Meanwhile, in the real world, Sylvia joins "Free Truman", an activist group that calls for Truman's liberation from what they see as a prison.
As the show approaches its 30th anniversary, Truman begins to notice unusual occurrences: a stage light which serves as the star Sirius in the night sky falls and nearly hits him; an isolated patch of rain falls only over him; he accidentally overhears the crew's radio transmissions describing his movements through town; and the reappearance of his supposedly drowned father, who is rushed away by crew members before Truman can confront him. Truman suspects that the city revolves around him, and begins questioning his life and asking who he sees as his closest confidants to help him solve the mystery.
Truman's suspicions culminate in an attempt to escape the island as increasingly implausible occurrences attempt to block his path. Eventually, he is caught and returned home under a flimsy pretext. There he confronts Meryl and challenges the sincerity of their marriage. Panicking, Meryl tries to change the subject by performing a product placement, causing Truman to snap and hold her at knifepoint. In the ensuing confrontation, Meryl breaks character and is later removed from the show.
Hoping to bring Truman back to a controllable state, Christof reintroduces his father to the show under the guise of him having developed amnesia after the boating accident. The show regains its ratings, and Truman seems to return to his routines. One night, however, Christof discovers that Truman has begun sleeping in his basement. Disturbed by this change in behavior, Christof sends Truman's best friend Marlon to visit, and discovers that Truman has disappeared through a makeshift tunnel in the basement. Christof suspends the broadcast for the first time in its history, leading to record viewing numbers.
Christof orders a citywide search for Truman and is soon forced to break the production's day-night cycle to optimize the hunt. Truman is found sailing away from Seahaven, having apparently conquered his fear of water. Christof resumes the transmission and creates a violent storm in an attempt to capsize Truman's boat. Truman nearly drowns, but he continues to sail until his boat strikes the wall of the dome.
Andrew Niccol completed a one-page film treatment titled The Malcolm Show in May 1991.[13] The original draft was more in tone of a science fiction thriller, with the story set in New York City.[11][14] Niccol stated, "I think everyone questions the authenticity of their lives at certain points. It's like when kids ask if they're adopted."[15] In the fall of 1993,[16] producer Scott Rudin purchased the script for slightly over $1 million.[17] Paramount Pictures agreed to distribute. Part of the deal called for Niccol to make his directing debut, though Paramount executives felt the estimated $80 million budget would be too high for him.[18] In addition, Paramount wanted to go with an A-list director, paying Niccol extra money "to step aside". Brian De Palma was under negotiations to direct before he left United Talent Agency in March 1994.[16] Directors who were considered after De Palma's departure included Tim Burton, Sam Raimi, Terry Gilliam, David Cronenberg, Barry Sonnenfeld and Steven Spielberg before Peter Weir signed on in early 1995,[5][19] following a recommendation of Niccol.[15] Bryan Singer wanted to direct but Paramount decided to go with the more experienced Weir.[20]
Weir wanted the film to be funnier, feeling that Niccol's script was too dark, and declaring, "where [Niccol] had it depressing, I could make it light. It could convince audiences they could watch a show in this scope 24/7." Niccol wrote sixteen drafts of the script before Weir considered the script ready for filming. Later in 1995, Jim Carrey signed to star,[11] but because of commitments with The Cable Guy and Liar Liar, he would not be ready to start filming for at least another year.[5] Weir felt Carrey was perfect for the role and opted to wait for another year rather than recast the role.[11] Niccol rewrote the script twelve times,[5] while Weir created a fictionalized book about the show's history. He envisioned backstories for the characters and encouraged actors to do the same.[11]
Weir scouted locations in Eastern Florida but was dissatisfied with the landscapes. Sound stages at Universal Studios were reserved for the story's setting of Seahaven before Weir's wife Wendy Stites introduced him to Seaside, Florida, a "master-planned community" located in the Florida Panhandle. Pre-production offices were immediately opened in Seaside, where the majority of filming took place. The scenes of Truman's house were filmed at a residence owned by the Gaetz family, which included Florida State Senator Don Gaetz and U.S. representative Matt Gaetz.[21] The scene at the Seahaven Nuclear Power Station was filmed outside the front entrance of the Lansing Smith Generating Plant at Lynn Haven, operated then by Gulf Power. Other scenes were shot at Paramount Studios in Los Angeles, California.[10] Norman Rockwell paintings and 1960s postcards were used as inspiration for the film's design.[22][23] Weir, Peter Biziou and Dennis Gassner researched surveillance techniques for certain shots.[22]
Filming took place from December 9, 1996, to April 21, 1997.[24][25] Its overall look was influenced by television images, particularly commercials: Many shots have characters leaning into the lens with their eyes wide open, and the interior scenes are heavily lit because Weir wanted to remind viewers that "in this world, everything was for sale".[22] Those involved in visual effects work found the film somewhat difficult to make because 1997 was the year many visual effects companies were trying to convert to computer-generated imagery (CGI).[23] CGI was used to create the upper halves of some of the larger buildings in the film's downtown set. Craig Barron, one of the effects supervisors, said that these digital models did not have to look as detailed and weathered as they normally would in a film because of the artificial look of the entire town, although they did imitate slight blemishes found in the physical buildings.[26]
The Truman Show: Music from the Motion Picture is a soundtrack to the 1998 film of the same name and was composed by Burkhard Dallwitz. Dallwitz was hired after Peter Weir received a tape of his work while in Australia for the post-production.[27] Some parts of the soundtrack were composed by Philip Glass.[28] Philip Glass also appears in the film as an uncredited cameo playing his composition "Truman Sleeps".
Also featured are Frdric Chopin's second movement (Romanze-Larghetto) from his first piano concerto, performed by the New Symphony Orchestra of London under the direction of Stanisław Skrowaczewski with pianist Arthur Rubinstein, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's Rondo alla turca from his Piano Sonata No. 11 in A Major, performed by Wilhelm Kempff; Wojciech Kilar's Father Kolbe's Preaching performed by the Warsaw National Philharmonic Orchestra; as well as the song 20th Century Boy performed by rockabilly band The Big Six.[29][30]
c80f0f1006