The Truman Show

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Movie
German title The Truman Show
Original title The Truman Show
The Truman Show.png
Country of production United States
original language English
Publishing year 1998
length 99 minutes
Age rating FSK 12
Rod
Director Peter Weir
script Andrew Niccol
production Edward S. Feldman ,
Andrew Niccol,
Adam Schroeder ,
Scott Rudin
music Burkhard von Dallwitz ,
Philip Glass
camera Peter Biziou
cut William M. Anderson ,
Lee Smith
occupation
synchronization

The Truman Show (Original title: The Truman Show ) is an American film directed by Peter Weir from 1998 with Jim Carrey in the leading role. The film opened in German cinemas on November 12, 1998.

action

The central character of the film is the insurance employee Truman Burbank, who - without knowing it - is the leading actor in a television series that aims to document the life of a person from birth and to present it live on television ( simulated reality ). To this end, Christof, the producer of the series, had Truman adopted by his company as a baby and built Seahaven, a coastal town surrounded by water under a huge dome, the OmniCam Ecosphere building . Seahaven is an idyllic, harmless small town in the style of the 1950s with simulated weather, starry skies, sun and moon. The dome is located on the piled up Hollywood Hills , above the Hollywood sign . This is where Truman grows up, surrounded by actors, watched daily by over 5,000 cameras. The Truman Show , which is broadcast live 24 hours a day, is financed mainly through product placement .

Only after more than 29 years (on day 10.909) does Truman slowly become suspicious when a spotlight that was supposed to represent a star accidentally falls to the ground directly in front of him. As a result, various other mishaps on the part of the producers additionally increase his distrust, whereupon he behaves irregularly from the producers' point of view. So he suddenly recognizes his father in a homeless man on the street, which irritates and confuses him very much, since his father is said to have died in a boat accident in his childhood.

In flashbacks, the viewer learns more about the beginning of the series, which documented Truman's life almost completely. One learns of incidents where outsiders intruded to tell Truman that he lives in an artificial world. The former extra Lauren is also introduced, who Truman still loves even though he has married another woman. Lauren was removed from the series after attempting to tell Truman the truth about his world. Truman only knows that she allegedly traveled to Fiji , which adds to his desire to leave Seahaven.

It becomes clear that the producers of the series had to try everything in Truman's childhood to keep him from leaving. This was achieved by the fact that through various incidents, most notably the apparent death of his father, Truman was made to develop a severe fear of bodies of water , so that he refused to even use a watercraft or to cross a pier.

Truman tries to break out of this world, whose artificial character he recognizes more and more. After Truman's father sneaked into Seahaven, Christof reintegrated him into the series to bring Truman out of his crisis. But the knowledge that his father did not perish in the sea frees Truman from his fear of the water. Eventually he escapes from the city built especially for him by stealing a sailing boat. Christof, who watches over all camera movements and settings in a studio in the replica moon above the city, appears as a god-like figure who watches over the fate of Truman, observes, controls and manipulates him. After trying unsuccessfully to capsize Truman by an artificially created storm , he speaks to Truman and implores him to stay in Seahaven, since the world outside his shielded and peaceful world is cruel and harsh. But Truman chooses the exit. Before he leaves, he quotes the saying he says with every greeting in the film: ("Good morning ..) Oh, and if we don't see each other anymore: good day, good evening and good night!"

background

  • Originally, the film was to be directed by the screenwriter Andrew Niccol . But after Jim Carrey got a $ 12 million salary, the producers found it too daring to hand over the direction of a novice and they decided on Peter Weir (director of The Dead Poets Club ).
  • When Andrew Niccol was still under discussion as a director, he favored Gary Oldman as the lead actor.
  • Instead of Ed Harris , Dennis Hopper was originally planned for the role of Christof.
  • Ever since cases were described in the British Journal of Psychiatry in 2008 in which patients were convinced that they were leading actors on a reality show , there has been the “Truman show madness”.
  • The main location was the small seaside resort of Seaside , in the US state of Florida . The film was also shot at Paramount Studios in Los Angeles .

Differences between the film and the script

The original script has a few differences from the final version of the film:

  • The part of the film in which Truman begins to become suspicious and finally realizes the truth is extended by a few scenes in the script.
  • The scene in which Truman's attempt to escape is stopped by the alleged reactor leak is made even more explosive in the script because Truman almost discovered the "Fiji set" here: an artificial island paradise including a hydraulically liftable airplane and a volcano that is currently being tested becomes. Against this background, Meryl's suggestion that Truman should save a few months and then travel to Fiji is no longer just appeasement, but a further step by the producers to steer Truman in their desired direction.
  • After Truman's attempt to escape, the main actors (Meryl, Marlon, Truman's parents and Vivian) meet with Christof at night, during which changes to the series are discussed: Truman's father is back on the show while Meryl leaves; Vivian's false curriculum vitae is given to the actors and Christof announces that the first live conception is still to take place. From the birth of Truman's child, a second channel is to be set up in order to be able to document both lives.
  • Truman's final escape is also longer; Truman has blackened his face here and at times, camouflaged in this way, walks with the crowd of those looking for him. When he finally makes his way to the harbor, he meets Marlon, who recognizes him, but after a long pause walks past him without a word.

success

The film grossed a total of around 264 million US dollars (around 244 million euros ), the production costs were 60 million US dollars.

synchronization

The film was set to music at Berliner Synchron . Lutz Riedel wrote the dialogue book and directed the dialogue.

role actor Voice actor
Truman Burbank Jim Carrey Stefan Fredrich
Meryl Burbank / Hannah Gill Laura Linney Evelyn Marron
Marlon / Louis Coltrane Noah Emmerich Tobias Master
Lauren / Sylvia Garland Natascha McElhone Claudia Lehmann
Christof Ed Harris Wolfgang Condrus
Angela Burbank / Alanis Montclair Holland Taylor Uta Hallant
Kirk Burbank / Walter Moore Brian Delate Norbert Gescher
Lawrence Peter Krause Martin Keßler
Control Room Director Paul Giamatti Uwe Büschken
Mike Michaelson Harry Shearer Frank Glaubrecht
Network Executive Philip Baker Hall Hans Teuscher

Reviews

source rating
Rotten tomatoes
critic
audience
Metacritic
critic
audience
IMDb

“ With this intelligent satire, the Australian Peter Weir (' Green Card ', ' Fearless - Beyond Fear ') is taking the trend of exploiting even the most banal everyday life on television to extremes. Behind Grimassenschneider Carrey emerges the sensitive comedian - his very comical Truman also becomes a touching figure. "

- TV movie

“ Satire and thoughtfulness meet in Peter Weir's film against the backdrop of a gigantic 'lifelike' television backdrop, and the viewer becomes the voyeur of the voyeur as Truman's gradual discovery of an alternative reality. Brilliantly staged and played, the film targets media manipulation , conformism and commercialization , but does not shy away from existential issues. "

- Lexicon of international film

Awards

For the 1999 Academy Awards , Ed Harris received a nomination for “Best Supporting Actor”, and Peter Weir for “Best Director” and Andrew Niccol for “Best Original Screenplay” were among the nominees.

At the Golden Globe Awards 1999 Philip Glass and Burkhard von Dallwitz won an award for the film music, as well as leading actor Jim Carrey and supporting actor Ed Harris.

The German Film and Media Assessment FBW in Wiesbaden awarded the film the rating “particularly valuable”.

literature

  • Stefan Munaretto: The Truman Show . King's Explanations Special. Bange Verlag, Hollfeld 2010, ISBN 3-8044-3101-1 .

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. Jump up ↑ Ten Things About ... Television . ( Memento of the original from October 7, 2009 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. In: Süddeutsche Zeitung @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.sueddeutsche.de
  2. ↑ Filming locations for The Truman Show
  3. ↑ Andrew Niccol: The Truman Show . Klett English Editions, p. 44ff
  4. ↑ Andrew Niccol: The Truman Show . Klett English Editions, p. 67
  5. ↑ Andrew Niccol: The Truman Show . Klett English Editions, p. 87ff
  6. ↑ Andrew Niccol: The Truman Show . Klett English Editions, p. 99f
  7. ↑ Cinema: "The Truman Show" film and actor database . In: Movie-Gems.com Movies Database . Movie-Gems.com. March 28, 2014. Retrieved March 28, 2014.
  8. ↑ German synchronous index: German synchronous index | Movies | The Truman Show. Retrieved April 2, 2018 .
  9. ↑ a b The Truman Show at Rotten Tomatoes , accessed on November 29, 2019
  10. ↑ a b The Truman Show at Metacritic , accessed on November 29, 2019
  11. ↑ The Truman Show in the Internet Movie Database (English)
  12. ↑ tvspielfilm.de
  13. ↑ The Truman Show. In: Lexicon of International Films . Film service , accessed March 2, 2017 .Template: LdiF / Maintenance / Access used 
  14. ↑ The Truman Show on fbw-filmbeval.com